A Teller of Tales
Marilyn Pemberton
Genre: Historical fiction
Wednesbury, 1820s – Frustrated by the constraints put on females, Lizzie tells tales of independent and courageous girls. Real life, however, isn’t a fairy tale and any bid Lizzie makes for independence is thwarted. Is the life she has always dreamed of worth the price she will have to pay?
Frustrated by the constraints put on females in an English mining town in the 1820s, Lizzie tells Bobbit, her damaged, younger brother, tales of independent and courageous girls; girls who use their prize money to set up all-female schools; girls who spurn the Prince’s offer of marriage because she doesn’t love him; girls who teach young princesses, not the traditional subjects of dance, art and music, but where the stars go during the daytime and where worms live. Only when Bobbit takes one of her stories literally, with disastrous results, does Lizzie realise that her brother really does understand more than she ever thought.
Real life, however, isn’t a fairy tale and any bid Lizzie makes for independence is thwarted.
Lizzie has to make a decision. Is the life she has always dreamed of worth the price she will have to pay? Will it give her a happy ever after?
