A brief history of Montmaray

Title: A Brief History of Montmaray
Series: The Montmaray Journals*

Author: Michelle Cooper

Genre: Young Adult, historical fiction

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Hardcover: 304 pages
Original Language: English (Australian)

Audiobook or physical book: Overdrive Audiobook

*The next book of the Series is currently called The FitzOsbornes in Exile and will be published in Australia in August 2010.

Official Description: 

Sophie FitzOsborne lives in a crumbling castle in the tiny island kingdom of Montmaray, along with her tomboy younger sister Henry, her beautiful, intellectual cousin Veronica, and Veronica's father, the completely mad King John.

When Sophie receives a leather-bound journal for her sixteenth birthday, she decides to write about her day-to-day life on the island. But it is 1936 and the world is in turmoil. Does the arrival of two strangers threaten everything that Sophie holds dear?

From Sophie's charming and lively observations to a nailbiting, unputdownable ending, this is a book to be treasured.

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My review
This book as the greatly detailed diary of Royal Princess Sophie FitzOsborne (ever notice that the diaries of fictional characters are often so detailed that each entry would take a great deal of time to write). She is one of the princesses of the tiny island kingdom of Montmaray. The Kingdom is described as between Spain and England in the Bay of Biscay.

Montmaray was once a prosperous land, making profits from the trade between Spain and England. But a combination of the Great War (World War I where most of the young men of Montmaray were lost in a single day) and the stock market crash have left the royal family impoverished and the island depopulated.

The only inhabitants remaining on the island are Sophie, her tomboyish sister Henry, her cousin Victoria, her old and ill uncle John who is King of the kingdom, their housekeeper Rebecca and their Portuguese Water Dog Carlos. Sophie's brother Toby, heir to the Throne, studies in England with his servant Simon at his side. The remaining villagers move to England during the novel.

The children spend most of their time on the island to their own devices until one day German SS soldiers show up looking for the Holy Grail. After an incident occurs that leaves the German officers promising revenge, the very existence of the Children on the island is threatened.

As we follow the journey of Sophie going from a Naive young girl with a crush on the housekeeper's son to a young woman with responsibilities, the history of the island as well as the secrets of its inhabitants are shared.

While I found it to be an entertaining book with plenty of interesting snippets of history to place Montmaray into a plausible historical location. The characters were lively and well described. And you could really imagine their "castle" in such disrepair that it was crumbling around them.

However the start of the book was long and slow and the end seemed a little rushed.

I've read reviews that describe the book as similar to I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (author of 101 Dalmatians). Not having read that particular book, I can't compare. Brief History is set in 1936-1937 so it must not be a more modern retelling of a similar story.

Overall opinion: I enjoyed the book but found it to be a little slow at times. A pleasant historical fiction for young adults.

Location: Fictional island of Montmaray
Dog Breed Mentioned: Portuguese Water Dog
Historical events mentioned: Russian Revolution, World War I, Spanish bombings