Book review written by Angie Fraser.
I have just read my eleven-year-old homeschooled girls “The Princess, The Crone and the Dung-Cart Knight” by Gerald Morris. He writes books set in medieval England using characters from Camelot with a spot of fantasy and originality thrown in. He is a Methodist minister from Wisconsin and wrote me a very friendly and fun letter when I wrote to him expressing my appreciation of his book.
I began reading the book aloud to my girls, and found myself thoroughly enjoying it – honestly I haven’t enjoyed a book by a modern author like this for such a long time. I fell in love with the characters, the humour and quality of the writing.
And best of all there was nothing that “jarred” or grieved my spirit – no “toilet” humour, no questionable morality or ethics, and characters with values that I could applaud. Evil was exposed as evil, good was honoured, there was repentance and redemption happened! What more could I ask?
And yes the girls loved it too, and keep pestering me to read more. There are one or two “mature themes” that ran through the book – but he dealt with them beautifully – such as Guinevere’s infidelity with Sir Lancelot. But it was all easily explainable to my eleven year olds.
However, the next book I read (“The Squire’s Quest”) definitely had “adult themes” with a bit of vulgarity and questionable language tossed in, and I will not be reading that one to my girls.
Note from Stephanie: This book is the sixth book is “The Squire’s Tales” series. It tells the story of 13-year-old Sarah, who is determined to find the knight responsible for her mother’s death. This is a story with legendary characters, historical references, fairies and magic.