The Crystal Palace: The Diary of Lily Hicks, London, 1850-1851

My Story: Girls

by Frances Mary Hendry

Lily Hicks is a housemaid in the London home of Joseph Paxton, designer of The Crystal Palace. Read her diary and find out about life above and below the stairs, and all about the Great Exhibition of 1851

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Diary, 19th Century, Historical

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2001

About the author

Frances Mary Hendry is a British writer of children's historical fiction. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland she now resides in Nairn, where many of her books are set.

Reviews

[juneshin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an account of Lily Hicks over a period of two years (1850-51). She was housemaid to Joseph Paxton who came up with the design of the Crystal Palace, the exhibition building for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Paxton sent Lily in service with his cousin Mrs Judith McKenzie and her family who had just come back from India. The book centres around how the servants were treated by the family and her admiration for Joseph Paxton and his project, the Crystal Palace. Because Lily is later promoted to being the nanny for the family's newborn, she is allowed to visit the Crystal Palace during the period of it being built. In the last few weeks and days before the opening, the family visits the building weekly and later almost daily.

Lily also uses the diary to write down all the accounts of abuse and trickery her and the other servants receive from the family's 10-year old son Edgar which later proofs a smart things to have done as Edgar tries to accuse Lily of stealing. The daughter, Laura, on the other hand wants to be friends with Lily. Not only does she accompany her to her mother's house in the slums of London but she also teaches her better use of the English language. Therefore, Lily's grammar becomes better throughout the book.

This is a most heartfelt account of a young girl from the mid-Victorian era. Her account also contains little snippets from the leading men at the time, i.e.: "Sunday, 30th June: Yesterday Sir Robert Peel was thrown from his horse."

[Wfix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, interesting and engaging, and manages to give you an idea of life in the 1850s. I found the sudden change at the end not very smooth or satisfying though.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book but fun to read - England in the 1800s from the perspective of a young servant

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional historical account of a girl during the creation of the Crystal Palace (albeit, the Crystal Palace on the cover is the wrong building, the one in the story is the Hyde Park building built in 1851, and the cover image is the Syndeham one built in 1854- a minor grievance.)

The characters really are stand-outs in this book, each is likeable in their own way and feels more than characters in a book for such a basic read. Historically accurate and real to the time period, a story of children's friendships and the harsh reality of the Victorian Era.

[Young Adult Historical Vault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I liked this book so much! Realistic, exciting, with a plot that incorporates the building of the Crystal Palace without becoming too "educational." I only wished it had been longer so we could have spent more time with all the characters.

For my full recap and review including spoilers, check out Young Adult Historical Vault. https://yahistoricalvault.com/2016/10...

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of run-on sentences and Lily’s grammar slowly improves as the story goes on. The historical note discusses the downsides of industrialization, but doesn't have anything negative to say about Britain’s imperialism. A couple dates in the timeline were incorrect, such as stating that the American Civil War began in 1862 (not sure why that was even mentioned in the timeline).

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crystal Palace: The Diary of Lily Hicks, London 1850-1851 by Frances Mary Hendry is a kids’ Scholastic book interesting enough for all ages. This book chronicled the construction of The Crystal Palace for The Great Exhibition in 1851 through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old housemaid. I found it charming and revealing. In this novel, Lily becomes a housemaid in the home of Joseph Paxton, the man who designed The Crystal Palace.

Lily learns the great glass structure was fabricated to present the newest products of the capitalist economy, accompanied by exotic displays, fauna and flora at the world’s fair. As Lily tracks the progress of the magnificent building, she also deals with the social hierarchy of London society and her role and responsibilities as a member of the household staff. We learn about her other reality, her own poor family living in the slums. On the one hand this book gives a glimpse into the opulent world of the well-to-do, and then flips and shows us the restricted and sometimes tragic world of the lower class. Naturally, since it’s geared toward the younger crowd, it’s a quick and easy read. But it’s also surprisingly enjoyable and informative.

Fun Fact: Souvenirs of The Great Exhibition included pictures of Prince Albert and The Crystal Palace. Visitors could buy gloves with maps printed on them so they could wear them and find their way around the exhibition. There were also mugs with pictures, cans of candies, soap boxes, and more. Read other reviews at http://readinginthegarden.blogspot.com

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1850, and fourteen-year-old Lily Hicks is a housemaid for a wealthy family in London. Her family once had a more comfortable life, but her father lost the family's home and money, and now Lily must work to help support her mother and siblings. Her life is not so bad, and later she becomes nanny to the family's new baby, and is befriended by their oldest daughter, who is growing up and becoming aware of the great hardships faced by the poor in Victorian England. In her diary Lily describes both her life as a housemaid as well as the wonders of visiting the Great Exhibition, housed in "The Crystal Palace" building designed by her employer.

This was an interesting and enjoyable book from the My Story series. It showed how hard life was for lower-class children in Victorian times, and how sharp the contrast was between the life of the rich and the poor. I'd highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy books in the Dear America or My Story series.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sadly didn't enjoy this one very much! I ended up skimming through it rather fast - which then led to a bit of confusion about the whole Jack-watch-thing. I tried to go back and figure it all out but no luck. The setting and story were actually pretty interesting, but the writing really bothered me. Lily's a servant and while she can read and write, she's not amazingly literate. So, this being her diary, there were grammatical errors up the wazoo... and I know it gives her an "authentic" voice, but it was also really annoying to have to read! Also maybe not that great a idea considering these books are aimed at like eight-year-olds, who may very well pick up and start using some of her mistakes.

[Molly]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

[Renae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little difficult to follow at first for the dialect used. As the character's writing improves, however, this gets better. Quite interesting.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not picked up a bad my storey novel yet, I love this collection.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in P7, and it was the first book I fell in love with. I haven't read it for 4 years though, so I'm not sure what to say...

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really absorbing fictional diary of a maid in the household of Joseph Paxton designer of Crystal Palace.

[Shannon Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review can be found here https://www.instagram.com/p/BIR6SvPAL...