The Diamond of Drury Lane
by Julia Golding
Winner of the 2006 Ottakar's Children's Book Prize, this is a pacy thriller about a spirited orphan girl employed by Richard Sheridan at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Cat Royal's adventures introduce readers to life in Georgian London, from the gutters and gangs to the splendour of the magnificent town houses, although it is doubtful whether such an orphan would really have been befriended by a Duke's children! There is a surprise about the diamond, which adds an insight into political and societal debates of the time, and interesting detail about the press and political cartoonists.
Publisher: Egmont
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Julia Golding
Julia Golding was born in 1969 and grew up in Essex, on the edge of Epping Forest. As a child she used to imagine stories about the mysterious trees she could see from her bedroom window.
After reading English at Cambridge, she joined the Foreign Office and worked in Poland as a diplomat, before returning to England to read for a doctorate in English Literature at Oxford. She went on to join Oxfam as a policy advisor, and then become a campaigner at the UN, where she worked to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones.She now works full-time as a writer, and lives in Oxford with her husband and three children.
http://www.juliagolding.co.uk
