Alchemy and Meggy Swann. By Karen Cushman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers, 2010. 176 pages. Tr. $16.00 ISBN 978-0547231846
Summary: Unwanted and unloved, Meggy is thrown out of her mother’s house when her loving grandmother dies. She arrives on her father’s doorstep with her only friend, a goose named Louise. When her alchemist father learns that his daughter is a cripple, he doesn’t want her either. Meggy dislikes the crooked, filthy streets of Elizabethan London, and the repeated questions about whether she’s a witch. However, she becomes friends with her father’s previous assistant, Roger Oldmeat, now an actor in Master Cuthbert Grimm and Master Merryman’s theatrical troupe, and finds kindred sprits in her neighbor Cooper and a nearby printer. Meggy is alarmed to hear that her father may be responsible for poisoning Baron Eastmoreland, and fashions a plan to protect the Baron from harm.
Critical Review: Cushman has created another engaging historical novel. Meggy Swann is a strong, inspirational role model. She actively works to positively influence the lives of those in her path. Meggie defends herself from hanging by pretending that she is, indeed, a witch, and promises to harm Master Cooper if he continues his campaign against her. Moreover, she successfully protects Baron Eastmoreland by composing a ballad of the nefarious plot to overthrow him, printing the ballad and selling it in the crowded London streets. Not only does her plan save the life of the Baron, it also protects Merryman’s and Cuthbert’s acting troupe, who continue their theatrical work as Sir Mortimer’s men.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reading/Interest Level: 10-14 years
Awards: School Library Journal Best Books, 2010; Kirkus Reviews Best Books, 2010
Reviews: School Library Journal (2010, April 1); Publishers Weekly (2010, March 29); Booklist (2010, March 1)
Similar Materials: Karen Cushman’s Catharine Called Birdy; Matilda Bone; The Midwife’s Apprentice
Subjects/Themes: Elizabethan London; special needs; disabilities; homelessness and poverty; fathers and daughters; science; philosophy; book binding; printing; theatre; actors; poverty; occultism
Character Names: Margaret (Meggy) Swann; Louise; Roger Oldham; Master Ambrose (Master Peevish); John Allyn; Gilly Allyn; Master Pomfret; Master Old Cloaks; Master Cooper; Master Nicholas; Baron Eastmoreland (Sir Mortimer Blunt); Master Merryman; Master Cuthbert Grimm; Mistress Grimm; Violet Velvet Grimm; Frances Shore
Brief Annotation: A lonely crippled girl assimilates to life in Elizabethan London.
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