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mat_tobin's review against another edition
4.0
Maria's time at a Victorian all-girl's boarding school is fraught with painful memories and incidents. When her elderly aunt dies, she is sent there will little support from her extended family and finds herself bullied and ridiculed by students and staff alike. As a last grasp of hope she runs away to Oxford in the hope of some support from her uncle, the warden of Canterbury College (another fictitious creation).
There, she finds that both her uncle and his colleague are sympathetic and forward thinking in their approach to mixed-sex education. They think Maria would benefit from being taught at Canterbury alongside three siblings brothers whose rather is a resident Professor. With the current tutor on leave, Maria and the boys are taught by the utterly maverick, Mr. Copplestone, who is both chaotic yet utterly devout in supporting Maria's desire to research.
Although there may be many obstacles in her path, Maria's goal to become a professor of Greek and unravel a local mystery in a stately home is supported by a host of boys and academic men and with her own growing self-determination, Maria's story draws to a satisfying conclusion.
This is the first Avery I have read and as a story of highlighting progressive movements in ensuring education and access to education for women it's right up there.
There, she finds that both her uncle and his colleague are sympathetic and forward thinking in their approach to mixed-sex education. They think Maria would benefit from being taught at Canterbury alongside three siblings brothers whose rather is a resident Professor. With the current tutor on leave, Maria and the boys are taught by the utterly maverick, Mr. Copplestone, who is both chaotic yet utterly devout in supporting Maria's desire to research.
Although there may be many obstacles in her path, Maria's goal to become a professor of Greek and unravel a local mystery in a stately home is supported by a host of boys and academic men and with her own growing self-determination, Maria's story draws to a satisfying conclusion.
This is the first Avery I have read and as a story of highlighting progressive movements in ensuring education and access to education for women it's right up there.
nwhyte's review against another edition
5.0
http://nhw.livejournal.com/705821.html[return][return]Eleven-year-old Maria runs away from school to her great-uncle who is the Warden of an Oxford college. She gets put in with the three sons of the neighbouring house, and their eccentric temporary tutor Mr Copplestone (who would certainly be played by Stephen Fry in the movie version). She also develops her own little research programme, solves a historical mystery, and thus gets her Bildung. It's a lovely little book. My favourite scene is where she manages to talk her way into the Bodleian Library, in a combination of drive to find the answers to the historical mystery that has been puzzling her, and carrying out the terms of a dare from one of the boys next door.
scaifea's review
3.0
Orphaned Maria feels overwhelmed and out of place in her new boarding school, so she runs away to stay with her uncle, a warden at Cambridge, gets tutored along with the neighbor boys (sons of a professor), and becomes fascinated with the history of a local manor house and its family. Her researches into that history get her into all sorts of scrapes and leads her on several adventures.
This one didn't fully grab my attention but it wasn't the worst of its kind, either, and honestly it has aged pretty well, I think. Recommended if you like this sort of thing.
This one didn't fully grab my attention but it wasn't the worst of its kind, either, and honestly it has aged pretty well, I think. Recommended if you like this sort of thing.
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