Matilda Bone

by Karen Cushman

Into the fascinating, pungent setting of Blood and Bone Alley, home of leech, barber-surgeon, and apothecary, comes Matilda, raised by a priest to disdain worldly affairs and focus on spiritual matters. To Matilda's dismay, her work will not involve Latin or writing, but practical lighting the fire, going to market, mixing plasters and poultices, and helping Peg treat patients. She is appalled by the worldliness of her new surroundings, and the sharp-tongued saints she turns to for advice are no help at all. 

Filled with the witty dialogue and richly authentic detail that Karen Cushman’s work is known for, Matilda Bone is a compelling comic novel about a girl who learns to see herself and others clearly, to laugh, and to live contentedly in this world. Author’s note.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Medieval

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Karen Cushman was born in Chicago, Illinois.

She entered Stanford University on a scholarship in 1959 and graduated with degrees in Greek and English. She later earned master’s degrees in human behavior and museum studies.

For eleven years she was an adjunct professor in the Museum Studies Department at John F. Kennedy University before resigning in 1996 to write full-time.

She lives on Vashon Island, Washington with her husband, Philip.

(source: http://karencushman.com/about/bio.html & http://www.arnenixoncenter.org/findin...)

Reviews

[Anney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matilda's dropped off in "Blood and Bone" Alley by this priest that has raised her since childhood. She thinks she knows everything. The bonesetter Red Peg and the rest of the health workers in the alley teach Matilda right.

I'm really torn as to whether this was better than "Catherine Called Birdy" or not. It's so different, it's incomparable. I loved both books so so so so so so much.

In "Matilda Bone," Karen Cushman tells a feminist story set in medieval times. She shows how lower class women influence their society more than higher class women, and in turn, have more power. Meanwhile she teaches girls contemporary lessons about being female through a historical context. She trickles in historical details that are fascinating and informative, but without weighing the story down. It's impossible to predict the turns of scene, what will happen next, or how the story will end. Her characters are funny and endearing.

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cushman is so incredible at bringing the reading back to the middle ages or whatever time period she's writing about. She makes the time periods, that almost feel like other worlds their beliefs and customs are so foreign, feel real and within reach. I also love that she doesn't forgo historical accurateness for the sake of making her stories or characters appeal to the modern reader. A lot of the historical romance authors I read could really learn from this. I don't want a character in the early 1800's performing the heimlich maneuver even if you don't call it that. Maybe consider not letting your characters choke at all if you're going to use something like that? I love seeing Cushman use real medicines and treatments from the 1300's in this book! Are they insane compared to now? Absolutely. Does it mean you should ignore them? Absolutely not! I just love that she talks about these things in an accessible manner for children while still being intelligent and interesting.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at medicine in the Middle Ages. It's been twenty years (more than!) since I read it but I remember it so clearly!

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting, well-researched novel for youth. I highly recommend it.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, though I found it fairly heavy-handed. Young Matilda has been raised by a priest to be humble but learned in Latin, to be obedient and not to question, to be a priggish pain in the tush, in other words. She's suddenly sent to live with Red Peg the Bonesetter, and oh, how Matilda hates this new life where Latin isn't important, and God is about love instead of punishment, and where the unschooled and the ignorant help people in distress. Heavy-handed, but sweet and well-researched and worth reading.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writing with amazing historical accuracy, or at least intentioned and it worked. She nailed it. A young girl raised by a Priest and taught the ways of God and man and saints and well versed in Latin but never given any real life skills. Unlike many in this time she could read and write which she finds later is her "skill". She learns to 'take what you have and work with it'. Her journey there is amazing. She is left in the care of a Bone Setter to learn her trade and assist her but she has no skills for building fires or cooking or even buying fish on the market. She soon comes to learn compassion, trust and becomes less judgemental as she becomes aquainted to life outside the Church. She discovers there is more to life than the Saints and what she believed was her servitude to God. She learns that she can remain in his service but in a very different way. She learns to actually LIVE life. I give this book 5 stars.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Celine Tougas, aged 11.

This is a story about an orphan named Matilda in medieval England. She was raised by a priest in a manor but then was dropped off at Blood and Bone Alley to be apprenticed to Red Peg the bonesetter. At first she feels lonely and misunderstood because no one thinks that reading latin and knowing the names of saints is any use. She is also proud and difficult to get a long with. She meets a friend named Tildy. In the end Matilda learns to be more appreciative of the people around her and content with her place in life.

I liked this book because I thought it was a good story about everyday medieval people.

[Maren Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this in the car with the kids. It was perfect because we just happened to be studying this time in history for our homeschool. It had lots of interesting historical tidbits, and I think it was my eight year old's first experience with an unsympathetic/unlikeable main character. Luckily, Matilda becomes likeable by the end of the book, but her self-righteous attitude at the beginning really had my daughter up in arms.

We'll never forget "Saliva mucusque!"

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apa jadinya kalau sejak kecil kita dibesarkan di sebuah rumah mewah, mendapatkan pengetahuan kita hanya dari seorang guru sekaligus penasehat spiritual, tanpa mengetahui dunia luar sana? Bagai katak dalam tempurung, bukan?

Itulah yang terjadi pada Matilda. Sejak ibunya meninggal, Matilda tinggal bersama ayahnya yang bekerja pada seorang kaya raya sebagai juru tulis di sebuah rumah yang besar. Matilda diajarkan membaca, menulis Latin yang suatu hari nanti akan bermanfaat baginya. At least demikian yang ditanamkan ke dalam pikirannya. Matilda pun menjadi sang katak dalam tempurung yang memiliki cita-cita dan hayalan tinggi menjadi orang besar dan penting.

Setelah ayahnya meninggal, Matilda diperbolehkan tinggal di rumah tersebut dan terus mendapatkan pengajaran dari seorang pendeta yang memberinya semua pengetahuan mengenai surga dan neraka (terutama tentang neraka) bahwa kalau Matilda nakal akan masuk neraka, Matilda mikir jelek akan dilempar ke neraka, dst, dsb.

Suatu hari pendeta tersebut mengantarkan Matilda ke sebuah desa terpencil. Matilda akan bekerja sebagai pembantu di rumah seorang bonesetter (mungkin sebutannya dukun patah tulang, ye?) Matilda yang bisa baca tulis Latin menganggap itu sebuah kesalahan, karena keahliannya dalam baca tulis Latin akan membawanya kepada cita-cita tinggi, bukannya sebagai pembantu di rumah dukun patah tulang. Matilda yakin, suatu hari nanti pendeta tersebut akan menjemputnya kembali dan mengatakan bahwa semua ini adalah kesalahan. Tapi pendeta itu tak pernah datang lagi, dan Matilda harus beradaptasi dengan lingkungan yang sekarang ditinggalinya.

Sekian lama tinggal di tempat tersebut, jika menemukan sesuatu yang berbenturan dengan ajaran sang pendeta, Matilda selalu bingung dan berkonsultasi dengan para saints yang dia ketahui (hanya dalam pikirannya, tentu saja). Namun berkat kesabaran Peg, si dukun patah tulang, dan orang-orang di sekelilingnya, lambat laun Matilda pun berhasil beradaptasi. Jika di awal kepindahannya Matilda tidak pernah mengungkapkan pendapat pribadinya (selalu 'kata pendeta begini', 'kata pendeta begitu') pada akhirnya Matilda bisa mengungkapkan pendapatnya sendiri, dan bisa memutuskan apa yang terbaik bagi dirinya.

Karen Cushman memang terkenal sebagai penulis cerita-cerita berlatar belakang kehidupan di abad pertengahan. Karyanya banyak mendapat penghargaan, diantara lain: Catherine, called birdy dan The midwife's apprentice dan Matilda Bone ini pun mendapatkan penghargaan dari: Newbery Medal, Notable/Best books (A.L.A.), Booklist starred, Child Study Children's Book Committee, Wilson's Children, dan masih banyak lagi. Terlihat sekali bahwa Cushman banyak melakukan penelitian untuk novel-novelnya sehingga terasa sekali kehidupan abad pertengahan tersebut dalam karyanya.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medicine in the middle ages — definitely not like medical practice as we know it today. Here we met a believable cast of interesting characters.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 3rd time reading this book. It's a great story about an orphaned girl (Matilda Bone), who since a young child has been raised by a priest in a monastery. She is taught to be obedient to his belief that God wants her to be meek, mild, quiet and obedient. Circumstances cause the priest to leave her with a woman named Peg who is a bonesetter. Matilda is dismayed because she will be the bonesetters's apprentice.

Matilda is dismayed by the disheveled home she will share with the bonesetter. And the people she will help who are uneducated, poor and don't know Latin.

Matilda learns gradually that the village people have warm and caring hearts and how she can help them to be healed physically.

[Katie Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

When both Catherine, Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice lived up to my memory of them and met the demands of years of history scholarship, I was pleased and shocked.

Matilda Bone makes me want to consume all of Cushman with the fervor of summer reading challenges.

Adult Katie is telling me to slow down and savor each new facet of Cushman's approach to history and humanity.

Matilda is the perfect name for a Medieval girl caught between religiosity and reason; the mysterious and the observed; and the knowable past and the promise of loving people.

The medicine is so good and so frustrating, but Matilda's character arch is what makes this one memorable.

Następną musze być Rodzina!

[Womana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unusual topic. I confess to be completely ignorant of this part of history. I love the way the author has her main character behave like a person who is actually living in a different era. Too often contemporary authors have their historic characters behave like the people of their own time. Strong gradual growth in the main character is the stream of the story. We keep rooting for the character to "get it" but her progress is realistically slow. But she first has to let go of one thing before she can grasp the next. Very engaging, can't wait to read more by the same author. The main target reader is tweens to teens, but at 70 I loved it

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Cushman's since I was wee. I love her snarky, grimy medieval world. I enjoyed the medical milieu of this story, as well as the charming cast of characters. Perhaps it's a little light on character development and plot, but that's not why we read Cushman. We read for the doctor that speaks in rhymes and keeps leeches in a pouch on his belt, for the fishmonger that cheats Matilda into buying a rotten old eel, and for the sniffy replies to her prayers by obscure martyred saints. And we won't be disappointed.

[Claire (Book Blog Bird) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this in the chazza when I was scouting for books for the school library. I don’t even know what made me start reading it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. It’s the story of a frankly annoying super religious girl who goes to work as an apprentice bone setter in mediaeval times. Really good.

[Nancy Hollingsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a glimpse into medical practices, religion, and the hardships of long ago or today. The story is deep and delightful. Read. Read to your children. Introduce the book to your upper elementary students.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot!! It's about a 14-year-old but written at more of a 10 or 11-year-old level so I think it would be perfect for kids who are a little behind on reading level. It was a really interesting look at medieval medicine and the protagonist is great.

[Krijthebold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim from a box of old books, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Though the story is fairly predictable, the characters are well written and it's fun to spend some time with them.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karen Cushman is a wonderful writer. Wonderful. And this is one of her very best medieval novels. Fingers crossed she's writing a sequel!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle grades novel set in medieval England. Lessons on kindness, not being judgmental, and fun info about medieval medicine practices.

[Marta E C R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful YA novel about a young woman seeking her own way in medieval times, finding herself in the midst of the medical community after being thrust out of the opulent home where she’d been living. I enjoyed the relationships and interactions, as well as the author’s excellent description of medicine at that time in her afterword.

[Camzcam · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I have 4 children in 3 different schools and consequently spend a lot of time in the car. Lately I have been listening to a lot of YA fiction to pass the taxi time. I figure with little ears in the back seat, I better keep things safe and select books on CD strictly from the young adult section. It turns out that all teen books these days are about cliques, mean girls, and vampires...blech! So I was thrilled to listen to this little gem by Karen Cushman.

If you aren't familiar with Cushman, she writes books set in Medieval England...generally with a very independent, headstrong young female. This is the story of one orphan, Matilda who is sent to live on "Blood and Bone Alley" as an apprentice of a bonesetter. Up to this point she has been reared by a priest who has taught her the uncommon skills of reading and writing along with a penchant for pious and self-righteous maxims and judgments. It's a story of a girl who slowly learns the difference between people who are "great" because of status, wealth, and education and people who are "great" for their desire and willingness to serve the people around them.

The book is funny and thoughtful and warm. My favorite part is Matilda's introspection that comes in the form of prayers to various saints. In her internal dialogue, she prays for very specific things from very specific saints...and sometimes they answer back.

It was a great treat to listen to this book, as the actress/reader performs all the voices and accents of the age. Cushman is meticulous in research and her description brings you right into the medieval world.

[Tahira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Matilda Bone on a list of feminist novels for girls. Karen Cushman, whom I read and did not fully appreciate as an eight and nine year old, tells the charming and quaint story of Matilda, a girl who aspires to achieve saintly status via the influential teachings of a priest who imparts the importance of being "meek and obedient". When Matilda finds herself in a new place, where bodily presence is not disregarded or sinful, where women are wise and learned, where science is trusted, where life on earth is just as important as the after-life, readers get a truly pleasing read that is quick but still strong in its message. I also really appreciated the research on the Middle Ages that Cushman provides at the very end.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes reading young adult novels that don't include love-triangles and vapid characters. It's a really short but really fun read.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning about the way medieval people lived their lives from day to day, and Karen Cushman managed to teach me not only that, but also the way they might have thought. Usually in books, characters' literacy is seen as a good thing, sometimes even all-important. But Matilda Bone, educated in reading, writing, Latin, and the lives of the saints, learns that there are more important things in life. It is so interesting to see the way her thinking changes through the book. She goes from thinking only what Father Leufredus taught her to thinking for herself, and that is what this book is really about.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to 8yo for Medieval study. I enjoyed this more than The Midwife's Apprentice. I think the main characters had more depth. But still, both books were about 100-150 pages too short. I would have liked more description and more time spent with each scene and event. I feel like we only barely got to know everyone.

[moved to storygraph robina_khalid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cushman's effortless style belies her craft (both in terms of research and writing). This book is beautifully done, with likeable characters and lots of food for thought. A great feminist YA read!

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

HATE IT. VERY BORING. :l

[Hal Schrieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matilda, unlike most 13-year-old girls in medieval England, knows how to read. She was raised in a convent by a priest named Father Leufredus, who taught her about saints, demons, good, evil, and how to speak and read Latin. But when Father Leufredus is called away to London, he abandons Matilda at the home of a woman named Red Peg, who makes her living as a bonesetter (someone who mends broken bones). While Matilda wants to be useful as Peg’s assistant, she quickly becomes terrified by how bloody, physical and heretical (against the Bible) the outside world can be. Red Peg has no use for books or saints, and is frequently fed up with Matilda’s inability to tend a fire, get a good deal at the market, or make use of herbs, balms, or household tools like a broom. Even worse, plenty of people Matilda meets don’t have any faith at all that prayer to saints is the way to Heaven—and that’s if they believe in Heaven at all. But as time goes on, Matilda realizes that the practical medicine that Red Peg provides her customers with—and the humane way she treats them—might be more valuable in day-to-day life than the words of priests.

Cushman has many novels (The Midwife’s Apprentice, Catherine Called Birdy) about smart, independent girls living in what we know as the Middle Ages. Her basic idea, which is a good one, is that even in times when most women’s stories weren’t written down and they were treated by men as property, most women probably thought for themselves and made their own lives on their wits just like men did, when they could. Most history books about this time period leave out details about women and girls’ lives, and also leave out the ways people got medical care when they lived too far away or were too poor to visit famous doctors. Only recently have historians looked at cookbooks, books on medicine, and artifacts to find out more about what women did during the “dark ages.” This book, like Cushman’s other books, draws on a lot of research to paint a picture of what daily life and medicine looked like. Often, that reality was disgusting and bloody.

The gross details of Medieval England in this book include:

-Rotten eels sold as fresh fish

-Gruel

-Streets full of poop and garbage

-Barbers who double as doctors —when someone needs to amputate a leg!

-Eye medicine from “experts” that calls for bull manure

At the same time, Cushman writes about the things people did know how to do, far better than they do today—which they drew on experience for. These include herbal medicine, practical skills like bonesetting, and midwifery (delivering babies at home). This book is more than just a history book, though. Matilda navigates loneliness, panic, and hard work before becoming an independent, admirable woman. Many women like Matilda have probably been forever erased from history. Cushman brings her back.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Lacked the depth of The Midwife's Apprentice or Catherine, Called Birdy, as though Karen Cushman sketched the story, inked it, laid down flat colors, but forgot to add any shading. None of the characters felt fully realized, except perhaps Peg. I like slice-of-life as much as the next person, but the complete lack of anything approaching a climax and the wholly unsatisfying ending didn't help.

This is one of those "kid raised to be prejudiced and snobby meets simple countryfolk, learns humility and kindness" stories, like The Secret Garden; unfortunately, it's hard for such a story not to come off as annoyingly didactic, at least to an adult reader. Though I do wonder whether any 21st-century kid would find Matilda's character arc relatable or instructive—not to suggest there aren't still children being indoctrinated by religious fundamentalists, but Matilda's brand of hellfire and sin and saints and devils seems so specifically medieval, it's hard to imagine a kid drawing that connection consciously or subconsciously. (Then again, maybe I'm not giving kids enough credit.)

I do prefer Matilda Bone to The Secret Garden on the topic of health, though. Sure, it takes place in the Middle Ages, when "medicine" was all bread mold and cobwebs and dried dragon fat and bleeding, but it does a good job of educating the reader on what did and didn't work, why people of this time thought the way they did, how treatments could hurt as much as help. Whereas The Secret Garden is determined to convince children that fresh air is the best medicine, no matter the condition. (Asthma? Get some fresh air! Arthritis? Fresh air! Polio? If you spend more than an hour outside and don't regain the use of your legs, it's down to your own bad attitude.)

One little thing that I loved: the saints' responses to Matilda's prayers. So fun! I would've appreciated even more.

[Int'l librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the author’s note, Cushman says she took most of the medieval medicine out of the story. That’s a surprise, given how much is still here.

It’s good stuff for the most part: pounded earthworm, hare’s foot salve, bull urine, the boiled rags of an Egyptian mummy. All cutting edge I’m sure for its day. Peg is a bonesetter and Matilda Bone is learning the trade as her apprentice. Their professional colleagues include Doctor Margery, Horanswith Leech, Nathaniel the Apothecary, Boggle and Slodge the barber-surgeons, and the pompous Theobold the Wonderworker. I learned a fair amount about all sorts of scary doctoring, and had a fun time doing so.

But Matilda isn’t happy. She longs to return to her former life as a young scholar on a nearby manor. She reads Greek and Latin, revels in her piety, and has an uncanny ability to identify which saint to target with each of her many prayers for deliverance. “Dear Saint Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, I do not like it here at the bonesetter’s, where it is cold and dark as a tomb. I pray you rescue me.”

In return, the saints are pretty consistent in their snark. “My child, she heard the saint replying, I understand your unhappiness, for I too was left in a cold, dark tomb. Of course, I was dead. Have courage.”

And Cushman creates a litany of era-appropriate epithets to add to the silliness. The tone is very similar to the dialogue in Catherine, Called Birdy. It’s funny when Peg says “Great gallstones.” But I liked Birdy’s “Corpus bones” more than Matilda’s “Saliva mucusque.”

And Matilda’s pious sense of superiority persists a bit longer than it needs to. But she has a good heart, and the same can be said for her story.