Thomas;

by Hester Burton

A book that looks at the religious, political and social conflicts of the Civil War period.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Hester Wood-Hill was born on the 6th December, 1913 at Beccles in Suffolk.. She attended Headington School Oxford between 1925 and 1931 and then Oxford University between 1932 and 1936 when she received a honours degree in English. In 1937 she married Reginad W.B. Burton and had three daughters. For a while she was a part-time grammar school teacher and the Assistant Editor of the Oxford Junior Encyclopaedia.

Between 1960 and 1981 she produced eighteen books for children, most of them for the Oxford University Press and many of them illustrated by the incomparable Victor Ambrus. In 1963 she was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature for her story “Time of Trial”. Hester Burton died in 2000.

Reviews

[Tim Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hester Burton was writing during a period generally recognised as being a golden era for children's authors in the UK; others include Rosemary Sutcliffe, Henry Treece, Leon Garfield, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper and Barbara Leonie Picard.

Like Geoffrey Trease, she was interested in a more radical and social perspective of the past than many of her contemporaries; subject matters for her other works include the slave trade, agrarian unrest in the 1830s, the French Revolution etc. This may be why she is now less well known but this perspective never feels forced and her books work simply as stories, which is the ultimate test.

Published in the US as 'Beyond the Weir Bridge,' the story follows three friends as they grow up in the political and religious turmoil following the end of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1651, including the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the 1665 Plague of London and the 1666 Fire of London. In common with other novels by Hester Burton, it is a balanced view of the differing social and political issues current in the period.

Having read a number of her novels, 'Thomas' and 'No Beat of Drum' are probably the best balanced and developed. Worth a look.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a love triangle that didn't interest me so much. So for me, the book was good, but not great. Maybe those who relish that kind of thing would appreciate it more. I did appreciate the historical detail.

I also am perplexed that the original title is Thomas, as that seems to discount the significance of the other two main characters.

Apparently Burton has another book (published a year earlier) set right around this same time period that also deals with Quakers and the Great Fire of London: Through the Fire.

[Kayli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, I found this to be rather boring and predictable.

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very movingly written book looking at the story of Thomas and his friends