A review by luthien3720
The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff

5.0

This was a sweet little book. One of Sutcliff's stories for a juvenile audience, it's a slice of life in Tudor England, under the reign of Henry VIII and his second queen, Anne Boleyn (they have a brief cameo in the story). Pre-teen Tamsyn has been sent to London to live with relatives after her grandmother's death, and the story covers her trying to find her place in her new family and new surroundings. Unlike so many of these type of stories with tiresome "we hate you and treat you badly" families picking on the poor cousin, Tamsyn's aunt and uncle welcome her and her cousins are good to her, but it's hard to find a place in a loving family that seems complete without you. I liked how that part of the plot progressed. Sutcliff's descriptions of 1500s England make you feel like you are there seeing it. The story progresses through a year, covering different seasons and events (May Day--I loved the description of the Morris dancers; Halloween, Christmas). I particularly enjoyed Sutcliff's chapter on the tale of Tam Lin. It wouldn't make a whole novel on its own, but putting it as a story told by Aunt Deborah to the children on Halloween night was perfect. Many historical stories for children put young characters into major world events, meeting famous people, but I think a story like this, just about life at the time, captures the historical feeling much better. This book was a pleasant discovery.