The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

May 12th, 2008

The Diamond of Drury Lane
Julia Golding
424 p.

Egmont UK Ltd., 2006.

Back cover blurb:

At the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, Covent Garden, This present day, being 1st January, 1790,
will be presented

The Diamond of Drury Lane
(written by Miss Cat Royal)

Principal Characters
Miss Cat Royal - orphan and ward of the theatre
Mr Johnny Smith - prompt with a secret
Mr Syd Fletcher - leader of the Butcher’s boys
Mr Billy ‘Boil’ Shepherd - evil leader of rival gang
And a hidden diamond!

With a new musical interlude by Mr Pedro Hawkins, late of Africa.

To which will be added a farce, in which a hot air balloon will land on stage!

I am sorry for the blurb looking so messy - it is actually quite pretty, it’s just that I’m not sure how to present it.  It’s got lots of different fonts and boldnesses, and it is really quite a beauty. In fact, the entire cover, both front and back, is beautiful. It is smaller than most books I own, despite being in hardback. It’s 18×13.4 cm, which, compared to most normal novels, is really quite tiny. Additionally, it is a delight with its colours and its glittering diamond on the cover. Oh, I’ll admit it: I only bought this novel for its cover. I skimmed through the blurb, slightly amused. It is the kind of book I just want people to look at and awe. That is how pretty it is!

Had I been in charge of marketing this book, I would not market it in my age category; I am a bit too old, and maybe a bit too cynical. It is the sort of novels ten-fifteen-year-olds could easily fall in love with. (I ought to try and make my younger brother, approaching fourteen, but barely a reader read it - I have a feeling he might love it.) However, I enjoyed it. Admittedly, there were parts I thought that were a bit too childish, and I constantly hoped Cat to get involved with either of the friendly nobles in this book. Then I got to know that Cat is twelve years old, and then I felt like a pervert. Obviously. Genre-wise, I feel that it has a lot in common with Philip Pullman’s excellent The Ruby in the Smoke and the other novels in the Sally Lockheart-series. I am a big fan of Philip Pullman, and comparing this novel to him should be thought of as great praise.

Also, like in the Sally Lockheart-series, one of the things I love are the characters. Although some of the characters do not feel fully fleshed-out, most notedly (unfortunately!) Cat herself, most of the characters, especially minor such, feel so real. One of my favourite characters in this novel was the Lord Francis, colloquially termed Frank, a young Lord (I assumed he was seventeen-eighteen, but later I had a sneaking suspicion that he was in fact younger than that, and not older than fifteen) who takes an interest in boxing and the lower classes, albeit in a completely loveable way. Disguised as a chimney-cleaner, he finds Cat, who has been held back by the rivaling gang and says “we wondered what had happened to you! I was very perturbed to find that you had not followed us.” (148) Apart from being a quote which still, days later, brings a smile to my face, it more or less sums up Lord Francis. He is foppish and absolutely wonderful.

Another lovely aspect of the novel is the time and location setting as well as the structure of the story. Set in late eighteenth century London, it is a convincing picture of a society which really seems quite ghastly. I am complete tosh at history, but even I could navigate myself through some of the references, to my great pleasure. And, the structure! Portrayed like a play, it is divided in five acts, with act descriptions and parts of maps of London. It was so pretty.

Come Wednesday, I have some free time, and I’ll be able to go downtown, and if I’m lucky, they’ve got the next part. I don’t have a clue the next time I’ll have time to read properly, but it is never wrong to stock up!

Entry Filed under: Children, English, Fiction, Historical