Week Six: A Brief History of Montmaray

A Brief History of Montmaray

by Michelle Cooper

Summary

    A Brief History of Montmaray is composed of the diary of Sophie FitzOsbourne. She lives in a dilapidated castle on the small island kingdom of Montmaray. Her Uncle is the King of Monrmaray making her and her cousins princesses. However, their lives are not easy. The family is running out of money, and hardly anyone lives on the island anymore. It is 1936 and there is tension building in Spain and Europe. Sophie thinks Montmaray is secluded from the effects of war, but when two Nazi soldiers arrive in a small boat her life will change drastically. 

APA Reference 

Cooper, M. (2009). A brief history of montmaray. New York, NY: Knoph. 

My Impressions

    I really enjoyed Cooper's integration of fictional characters into the historical time period and conflict. Many historical fiction books I've read are somewhat dull, but Montmaray balanced the history with a thrilling setting and plot twists. 

Review

    Lauren Nemroff for Amazon.com states, "Michelle Cooper’s A Brief History of Montmaray breathes new life into the dark and stormy romantic suspense novels that made earlier generations ardent fans of the Bröntes, Daphne du Maurier, and Victoria Holt. Teens and 'tweens will be tearing through the novel's second half by the night light."

Nemroff, L. (2009). Best of the Month, October 2009 [Review of the book A brief history of montmaray]. Amazon. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Montmaray-The-Journals/dp/product-description/B004KAB776/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

Library Use

    This would be a good book to include in sampling of history fiction books or a display for historical fiction related to WWII.