Isabel: Taking Wing

This novel is about a girl in 1592 London named Isabel, sort of a tomboyish girl who does not fit her father's image of a "proper" girl. She makes friends with a servant (a definite no-no), and even has the audacity to watch a play at the theater.

In response, her father sends her away to stay with an aunt for a while to learn how to behave in a proper manner. Along the way she ends up in a situation with robbers, is rescued, then has to disguise herself as a boy to join a group of theatrical performers.

She has a really good time doing that but eventually makes it to her aunts, finding out that her aunt's idea of what a "proper" young girl should be like doesn't exactly match the image that her father had.

The novel also shows some of the fear that existed over the various plagues that struck Europe during that time. Most of the "doctors" of that time were not really doctors by our present-day standards. Indeed, many of the "wise women" of the times, knowledgeable in the study of herbs, were better able to handle sickness than the so-called doctors who believed that illness was caused by "bad blood" and who would bleed those who were ill, in effect lowering their chances for survival.

Overall a pretty good book.

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