Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Isabel: Taking Wing (Girls of Many Lands)

Isabel: Taking Wing (Girls of Many Lands)
Cordelia avatar reviewed on + 153 more book reviews


London 1502 Girls must always be good and stay at home. But when you are a boy, the whole world can be your home. Men build houses and ships and sail off to discover strange new lands. But women must stay indoors, sewing stitches so fine that no one will ever see them. Our work is only visible if we do it badly. Aunt Elinor says I must be ladylike, like Sabine, But I will never be like Sabine in a thousand years....Inside cover: Twelve-year-old Isabel Campion dreams of freedom and adventure, especially now that her older sister, Sabine, is to be married-and all the household duties will fall to Isabel. When Isabel seizes a chance to sneak away to see a play, it ends in disaster. Isabel's found out, and her father sends her away from London to live with her aunt, whom Isabel hardly knows. On the way, Isabel is attacked by brigands. They leave her alive, but completely lost and alone. A band of traveling players takes Isabel along with them-disguised as a boy for safety. Isabel knows that the life of an actor is only temporary and ultimately not for her. But what is? I enjoyed her adventures of self discovery and coming to terms with her life's goals. If you enjoy the American Girls and other Girls of Many Lands books-you'll like this as well.