Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Lady Grace Mysteries: Exile
Historical Fiction Series
For ages 10 and up
Doubleday, 2005 ISBN: 978-0385608503
Everyone at the court of Queen Elizabeth is excited. They are going to have a very special visitor staying with them in just a few days. The Queen is going to be playing hostess to Banoo Yasmine, a royal lady from the land of Sharakand. Banoo Yasmine is an exile from her country and is seeking refuge in England until the situation in her homeland improves. In the meantime she has in her possession an enormous ruby which is an important symbol for her people. Without it the usurper to the Sharakand throne will never be fully accepted by the people as their rightful king
All is going well during the visit until it is discovered that the precious ruby, the Heart of Kings, is stolen and the Queen calls upon Lady Grace Cavendish, her Lady Pursuivant, to find out where the gem is and to catch the thief. Then a terrible thing happens which makes the situation even worse - Ellie, a laundry maid who happens to be Lady Grace's special friend, is caught with the stolen ruby in her laundry basket. Now Grace has to catch the real thief in order to the save the life of her friend.
With her typical quick intelligence and courage Grace sets about trying to find out who is behind the theft of the ruby.
This fifth book in the Lady Grace Cavendish series is thrilling and further elaborates the picture of Elizabethan life shown to us in the four previous books. Lady Grace is the kind of character whom girls and young women can identify with and admire. Sometimes the only way to get something done is to take calculated risks and to fight for what you believe in.
