Review:
Minna's Quest by K.M. Peyton
Usborne, 2007 ISBN 9780746078815
(10+) I am constantly surprised and thrilled at the number of
historical novels being published of late, and equally astonished that
this one is by K.M. Peyton. Peyton, born in 1929, is an award winning
author, whose novels, now about 50, have been read since her first was
published when she was 15. Her works have been made into TV series, and
are constantly reprinted.
Minna is a young Celtic girl living in a Roman fort in Essex at the
time when the capital of the empire was moved to Constantinople. The
empire is in decline, but here in Britain, life goes on, but with the
added problem of pirates fighting at the edges. Minna retrieves a foal,
discarded at birth by her old friend, Theo, now the Roman commander.
Raising the foal, she is distraught when her brother, in the Roman
army, takes it as his own. But one night when the Germanic pirates
sneak ashore to raid the defenseless fort, Minna rides for her life to
find Tiberius, the commander of the area and report what has happened,
bringing help to the community.
An exciting story, full of the life and times of Roman Britain, Minna's
Quest is an engrossing read for middle school readers. (10+)
Fran Knight
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