The Adventurous Spirit

The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll is an exciting children’s historical novel that is perfect for ages ten years and over. This book will entertain you whatever your age.

The novel is set in 1616 and has its foundations in fact. There really was a Somerset tsunami. The rest of the story is fictional.

Within the book we see the disparity between the classes and the sexes. The ruling class looked down on those they deemed to be beneath them. The working class had large hearts and a spirit of generosity.

Males were seen as superior to females. It was decided that a teenage boy would be better than any woman, to rule a hamlet that consisted of women and children.

A character pretends to be male in order to gain employment. The story shows that the females had more strength of character than their male counterparts.

During the seventeenth century there were infamous witch trials. We see the fear that this spread amongst women. They were no match for the ruthless pack that hunted them.

All the characters were well drawn and believable. They elicited a variety of responses from me.

The Somerset Tsunami is an exciting tale, full of derring-do and adventure.

JULIA WILSON