At the Seven Stars

by John Louis Beatty, Patricia Beatty

Richard Larkin, fifteen-year-old orphan from Philadelphia, thought his luck had changed when the famous literary figure Samuel Johnson found him work at an "eating house," called the Seven Stars. As a Colonial, ignorant of the secret Jacobite movement to dethrone King George II, Richard was puzzled by the guarded political conversations at the tavern. Then one night, while serving a gathering of aristocratic men clad in silks and satins, he overhears a dark plot, coded with mysterious names and allusions - and witnesses the cold-blooked murder of the one dissenting voice.

The story moves on, as swiftly and as deftly as the spies and counter-spies who hunt Richard down, involving him deeper and deeper in their dangerous and separate causes. Samuel Johnson, William Hogarth and David Garrick come alive in flesh and blook terms as Richard moves in and out of the intrigues of the famous Elibank Plot of 1752.

Re-created in full costume, are the lords and ladies, the street urchins, the men of art and letters, who peopled the flowering of the Age of Reason. With cloak-and-dagger overtones, a history adventure that is vivid, authentic, and hard to put down.

273 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

John Louis Beatty (1922-1975) was a historian who also wrote children's historical fiction books with his wife, Patricia Beatty.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he earned his MA at Stanford University in 1947 and his PhD at the University of Washington in 1953. He was a professor of history at the University of California Riverside until is death in 1975.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found and recently re-read this book from my Mom's collection. I believe in my early teens this was very the first historical fiction I ever read, and I have warm memories of the discovery of this genre. I remember the intrigue and the Hogarth images, but I could not have really understood then the context of British history revealed in this book. This is a well told tale, giving the reader a true picture of 18th century London. The Jacobite undercurrents that the young boy from the Pennsylvania colony tries to grasp is very well explained with great notes in the back. The writer and his wife did great historical stage setting to this page turner of an adventure. And the star names were added character clues.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

With its sometimes thick London accents or Scottish words with no direct modern translation, I thought I would detest this book. Having these things in mind, I expected leitmotifs and iambic pentameter, with a side of story. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a worthy plot of spies and innocent bystanders thrown in the same situation. I took a liking to the Irish servant girl, Betsy Lewes. She brings a whole other dimension to the story.

[CLM]

This belonged to my aunt Adrienne when she was a teen.

[Lisa]

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