Rose Rivers (World of Hetty Feather)

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Last year Rupert was allowed to stay up and help Grandpapa light the fireworks. I am exactly the same age bar fifteen minutes, but I’m not allowed anywhere near a match. Grandpapa quotes the poem about Pauline from that silly nursery book Struwwelpeter. He relishes reciting: ‘Her apron burns, her arms, her hair; she burns all over everywhere.’ Grandmama frowns and wags her finger in warning. She is even stricter than Mama. Rose Rivers is the main character of the book of the same name. She is the fraternal twin of Rupert. She lives as the eldest daughter of a wealthy Victorian family. Throughout the book Rose expresses her dislike of her life feeling lonely and unwanted several times throughout the novel. She struggles to make friends, especially with those of a similar social standing, eventually she befriends Clover moon who works for her family as a nursery maid. Then Rupert and I were born, and the grandparents were delighted, in spite of everything. They were especially pleased to have a grandson to inherit their business. Our governess, Miss Rayner, sometimes arranges odds and ends that she feels are ‘artistic’ for us to paint with our shared box of Winsor & Newton watercolours. Last time she gathered a blue and white striped milk jug from the kitchen, a garish china couple won at a fairground, a bowl of fruit and a posy of violets in a pink pot. I tried reasonably hard, but the milk jug tilted alarmingly, the china couple looked drunk, the bowl of fruit wouldn’t stay circular and the posy wilted before I could finish it. I really liked Rose Rivers because of how emotional it made me feel; it was as if I was Rose, standing there and watching everything happen. Jacqueline Wilson is an amazing author andI would really recommend her. The storyfeels so realistic and interesting especially as I love the Victorians. I would rate this book 5 stars.

I thought of the workforce toiling away for twelve hours a day in this nauseating stench. Some are girls my age. It makes me feel ashamed. Our grandmother once worked in this very mill. Not as a mill girl, but in the accounts office, filling little brown envelopes with wages for Friday payday. She didn’t tell us this, of course. While Grandpapa was sorting out some problem with a mill hand, the foreman took Rupert and me for a cup of tea and a slice of Keiller’s Dundee cake. He asked after our grandmama and told us that he’d known her when she was ‘a wee lassie working here’. We boggled at the thought, but neither of us quite dared question Grandmama about this later. Rupert suggested that she wears such strong perfume now because she’s determined to smell sweet. Rose was a very unlikeable narrator. She is a dark-haired, rebellious, pale-skinned, plain child who loves drawing and writing. Oh, where have I seen that before? I’m afraid I’m not inspired by whiskery old gentlemen with bulging waistcoats and tartan trews,’ Papa said.He laughed at this. He doesn’t mind if we argue with him, so long as we do it politely. He actively encourages us to discuss and dispute. When I’d finished sketching, Papa wanted to see my portrait, but I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t want him to see what a failure I was. He is always hopeful that one of us will show artistic talent. He does his best to be encouraging. He praises Algie’s scribbles even when they’re in inappropriate places like the whitewashed nursery cupboards or the hall skirting board.

I would recommend this book to anybody who is curious about the Victorian era and the discrimination and struggles of those who lived in it.As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

I loved this book as it had so many plot twists. I liked the way it teaches how each class in the Victorian times had to cope with life. Girls had a tough time having to stay at home and entertain themselves, and the poorer classes had to survive on very little food and small pay from their jobs. The rich had very easy lives and with their heritage, they did not need to work. This book has also showed me how over the many years how education has changed for girls. It also opened my eyes to the fact that if children that were troubled now were treated like Beth, the carer would be sent to court. This shows how the law has changed for child cruelty and girls' rights. I think that this book is a great book for children aged 9+ so that they understand the deeper meaning to this book. I hope that there is a sequel to this book as it ended on an exciting cliff hanger. I dare say those waistcoats are bulging with purses of gold coins,’ Mama responded tartly. ‘It would be a great help if you cared to contribute to the household finances.’ He spoke with authority because he’d been sent to Kilbourne himself when he was a boy. He didn’t want Rupert to follow in his footsteps, even in his steel-capped boots.One thing that stood out to me was the relationship between Rupert and Rose – they are twins but despite this they were completely different. Rose was way more tolerable against Rupert then she is with everyone else even though he was a liar and can be very self-centred. He laughed again. ‘Perhaps, when you are eighteen or so, I might send you to Paris to be properly trained, though I know Mama will object!’

Will Paris help Rose finally achieve her dreams? And will she be able to help Clover find her own dream? Read more Details How can I wait five whole years anyway?’ I said instead. ‘Couldn’t I go to a boarding school where they have a good art teacher?’ Why won’t you take on respectable commissions for portraits? If you’re tired of London Society, perhaps you should try in Scotland. You know very well that my father would be delighted to introduce you to the members of the Caledonian Club,’ Mama needled him. Decided to take this one slower than other books I've read so far this year. I remember reading Hetty Feather ten years ago not long after it was published, and her brief reappearance, along with Wilson's writing in general, made me feel nostalgic for my cousin's box room where we used to hunch over books with endless cups of tea....

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Public schools are dire and degrading, worse than any prison,’ he said. He knows about prisons too, because when he was young he was rather wild, and after an evening of drinking and tomfoolery he’d once spent the night in a prison cell. That is meant to be a deadly secret, but I’m actually rather proud to have a father who was once a criminal. I am really enjoying Rose Rivers at the moment. I really like the way the descriptive language Jacqueline Wilson uses is so much fun. I find the information fascinating about life in Victorian times such as the privileges Rupert as a boy has that Rose as a girl doesn’t, like going to school.