The Wicked and the Just
Cecily is the only child of an Englishman who has been granted a burgage in Caernarvon, a walled settlement in Wales, at the end of the thirteenth century. Cecily detests Caernarvon, finding the people backwards and sometimes downright threatening. She longs to return to her life of leisure in northern England. Gwenhyfar, a maid in Cecily’s household, seethes with quiet rage at the English invaders. In contrast to Cecily’s whining, her voice is clipped and terse as she reveals the destitute conditions under which she lives and the oppression and fear that define life for her and the other Welsh. Moving back and forth between these distinct first-person voices, author J. Anderson Coats develops two credible characters who, by circumstances, are enemies. Neither understands the other’s perspective, and their encounters, riveting and tension-filled, further illuminate the terrible imbalance of power between them. That power shifts after Welsh raiders storm Caernarvon and slay many of the English—an attack that is shocking yet no less brutal than what the Welsh have already endured. Coats’s vivid novel is authentically harsh, although Cecily offers moments of rueful comic relief in her inability to see the reality around her until she has no choice. The two protagonists are admirably complex and equally affecting by story’s end. A historical note provides additional information about the place and the political tensions in the story, both of which were real. ©2012 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
13th Century
Class Issues
Girls and Women
Historical Fiction
Middle Ages
Oppression
Perspective/Point of View
Politics and Political Systems
Violence
World History
Publishers:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Harcourt
Publish Year: 2012
Pages: 344
ISBN: 9780547688374
CCBC Location: Fiction, Coats