Highway Girl: An English Girl's Diary, 1670

My Story: Girls

by Valerie Wilding

It's 1670. When Susannah and her brother are orphaned she is forced to live on the charity of distant relations in England while he seeks his fortune in America. But when news arrives that her brother is dangerously ill Susannah will stop at nothing to get the money she desperately needs to save his life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Diary, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2009

Reviews

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing lacking in this book was WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I want a sequel, people! It was soooooo good... not what I expected in a Highwaymen novel but there you go.

I’d expected a heartless, blood thirsty murderer to be the MC, but it was actually the tale of a penniless girl forced to rob to save her brother’s life.

Truly worth a try.

Why are these books so SHORT?! 😩

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT BOOK! I was intrigued right from the start I was glued to this book. Susannah Makepeace is left an orphan along with her beloved older brother Dominic when they dear mother dies. The Gracy family who are distant relatives invite her to stay with them while her brother travels to America to make a lot of money. At Gracy Park she meets Juliana Lady Anne and Sir Rogers daughter who thinks if no one but herself and calls Susannah Susan. Since Juliana is afraid of dogs and Su has a dog called Jack and can't bear to be parted from him she moves into Keepers Cottage. A place people say is haunted by a keeper who once lived there. She has a servant called Bid short for Bid who sleeps with her at night because she's terrified of seeing the Keepers ghost. They become great friends. Later in the book Bid meets Ned short for Edward who is Susannah and Dominic old friend and kind of a servant. Someone their mother took pity on. I think Ned and Bid fall in love. They all form a strong friendship. When the news comes that Dominic is really sick Susannah desperately needs money to go over to America and nurse him back to health. The Gracy Family can't give her the money and previously used her to try and marry her to Sir Staveney's son but he is a pretty dumb and she dosen't like his father. She feels betrayed by them but I thought they weren't that nice to her at the start. Susannah turns to Highway robbing feeling she has no other choice and robs a lot of people but one night she tries to rob Sir Staveney but he catches her and locks her up. He despises her since she turned down his son. However there is a fire in there house one night and everyone escapes except Elvina Staveney's granddaughter. Su is about to escape but she is to kind hearted to leave the child and takes her to safety. For that Sir Staveney spares her life and pays her fare for a trip to America on a ship! Ned and Bid can't let her go by herself and they go with her. The book ends with her going to her brother. I'm hoping they arrive safely. I learnt a lot about Highwaymen and women and what happened to them if they were caught in the historical note. Plus there were also famous Highway men and women mentioned in the Historical Note and photographs plus what they did and what their end was. Very interesting in my opinion! :)

[Chloe Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more or less just a read for the sake of nostalgia and a quick and light read just for the fun of it.

These were my favourite kind of books when I was a kid, even then I was a massive nerd for history, I even remember the fact that the first time I read 'The Other Bolyen Girl' by Philippa Gregory when I was around eleven or ten but that's besides the point.

I adored middle grade historical fiction when I was younger, I think my obsession started with 'At the Sign of the Sugared Plum' by Mary Hooper when I was in secondary school in year seven, this was the free book that I received, I don't know if that's thing that just happens at my old secondary school or something Scholastic does even still but I loved that book and read it several times over before emailing the author and receiving a reply, and then found the sequel and her other works, so yeah, this kind of book means a lot to me.

There wasn't much of a challenge to this one, though I'm sure this one maybe darker than a few of the other books, it may not I haven't read the others in this series that I have yet, since it references what happened to Highwaymen and has a picture of a gibbeting in the back, though it's a dummy in a museum it might scare sensitive readers (The image in the back, nothing in the novel is that scary though a ghost is referenced it isn't of much importance apart from the real dead man's junk becoming a hiding place for the things that she stole and the 'ghost' going someway to keep her family out of the little cottage they provided her with).

The thing I'm most dumbfounded by is the ending, that the Lord gave her the money to sail to America inspite of her having tried to rob him just because she rescued his granddaughter, I would have thought he'd have just let her go, it just seems like he was a bit overly charitable to the girl that was ready to rob him and that his men weren't smart enough to think that Bid may have been lying about the plague and the Keepers things and were okay with running off without searching when it would have been a fairly obvious hiding place, idk.

Also, just a side note, its 1670, Dominic had a fever when Ned left him, and if he has a broken leg or maybe even gangrene from his fall on the boat, he's more than likely already passed away by the time that Susannah, Bid, Ned and the animals reach him, especially when Susannah has described how little that settlers have in the new world, so um, yeah, he's probably long gone.

[Kristal Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts:
Quick paced, easy to understand characters and good tone.

Synopsis:
Susannah and her brother are orphaned. They have to flee before the last of their debts are called in so Susannah travels to stay with the De Gracy family. Her brother has headed to America with family friend Ned who is disabled.

They go through a quick, dangerous journey to where her brother leaves her to carry on to the cottage.

Susannah experiences an awkward reception at her relatives and soon learns she can’t stand her cousin Julitta. Her younger brother is cute.

Godfrey comes for walks but Susannah hardly sees the De Gracy’s. She misses her brother and feels responsible for Bid her servant. She lives at the Gate Keepers house and her maid is scared of his ghost.

Susannah hears from her brother and Ned who have yet to leave port, it’s March. Her worries grow as he is running out of money fast.

Susannah still has a hard time with Julitta and her family. Her maid still sleeps in her room. Ned soon appears with Moonbeam to whom she is ordered to keep at the Keepers Cottage. A stable is made, Ned is banned from visiting.

Susannah feels it’s a bit much.

Susannah is hassled by the family to marry and she refuses. She notices they have less money than they advertised. Susannah after hearing about her brother Dominics fall, illness she finds herself robbing on the highway to get money for her to go to America. She is determined. Despite Bid and Ned’s fears of the risk to her.

Susannah continues to rob until she is caught by Sir Staveny who takes her back to his manor. She is guarded there only a fire breaks out and she saves his grand daughter. He decides to ship her to America without Jack, Bid or Ned. He searches her house for the items she stole only he finds none of them.

Bid and Ned catch up with her where they all sail together including Jack. They go to her brother’s aid with more than enough help.

[savage_book_review · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the books in this series are generally great quick reads that give a brief but good insight into how it must have been for a girl throughout time. In this story, Susannah Makepeace is left in the 'care' of her rich relatives while her brother goes off to make his fortune in the New World. Cue a fairly typical tale of horrible rich people, our main character being an outsider and an event that necessitates action by our heroine.

It's a good tale, but a bit thin in places compared to the older books in the series. This diary ends at a good point for the story they're telling, but it's not the end of the story. Whereas the older books tend to tie everything off a bit more neatly. There's also not as much detail about her thoughts and feelings when it comes to making the decisions she does, which kind of defeats the point of it being written as a diary. Considering her position, I'd have expected far more inner turmoil to be noted!

Enjoyable for 5 minutes of escapism though!

[Judy Wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this historical novel. The rich details of life in the 1670s build a strong understanding of the times and common issues and limited choices that people faced.
Suzanna and her brother Dominic are orphaned and left destitute after the death of their mother. Dominic sailed to America to try and make his fortune, but Suzanna goers to live with distant relatives. She is mortified to be living on charity, and they make her very uncomfortable.
A letter arrives telling how Dominic had a fall on the ship and may never work again. Suzanna is desperate to go to America to nurse and help her brother, but she has no way of earning a living legitimately. She eventually turns to being a highway robber, but this is very dangerous and carries the death penalty. It does not go as planned.
Recommended for readers 10 years and older.

[Miss Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It certainly becomes more interesting the closer you get to the end. It deals with family relationships, the divide between rich and poor, ideals of the American Dream, the relationships between servants and masters, as well as dilemmas of marriage and morals. In the end, it would seem that actions do dictate what kind of person you are. "Today I do not feel good about the man I robbed. But I suppose that's the price I must pay for getting what I need." (128) "Keep it. Feed your children. Go." (140) As intended by the author, I liked Bridget (Bid) but hated both Juliana and Sir Staveney!

[Joey Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t hate it nor did I love it. It was an okay book but didn’t overly hold my interest and I somehow thought it would be more thrilling than it was. For the most part I found this book dragged on and I was unfortunately not entertained. Though some parts were good and interesting, but unfortunately not enough of it was.

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't too bad of a book. I liked how small it was. Worth reading if you are into historical fiction

[Alice Hannah Bates]

Took a long while to get into but quite good. It didn't feel like a my story book tho with Bids chatter

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Susannah was hypocritical and showed little empathy. The ending was very convenient and did not offer much in the way of character development.

[Cat Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought me back a lot of memories of 13 year old me. It was a good read

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Susannah Makepeace's mother dies, she and her older brother, Dominic, are left orphaned and homeless in late 17th century England. Dominic decides to travel to the New World of America in hopes of making his fortune, and so Susannah must go to live with her wealthy, distant cousins, the de Gracys, who have a large estate, Gracy Park. Susannah hates having to live off of the charity of relatives she has never before met, and knows it may be a long time before she is reunited with Dominic.

The de Gracys provide Susannah with a comfortable cottage to live in, but she misses her brother and feels terribly lonely. Her cousin Juliana, who is close in age to Susannah, is haughty and unkind, and Susannah's only friends are Bid, the maid provided for her by the de Gracys, and Ned, a young man who was a friend of her brother and who used to work for the Makepeace family. When Susannah learns that her brother has arrived in America but is very ill, she decides she must somehow obtain enough money to travel there and help him, even if the only way is becoming a highwayman and stealing the money.

Highway Girl is written as Susannah's diary, making it a quick and easy read. Overall it was an enjoyable book, though it does have a few flaws. Despite the title, Susannah becoming a highwayman doesn't occur until late in the book, and so it doesn't play a significant role in the plot of the book, which is mostly about her everyday life in Gracy Park. It was also a little unbelievable how quickly Susannah turned to robbery to help her brother, since it seemed a bit out of character for her, and the ending was a bit abrupt and too perfect. However the book was overall a pleasant read. Although this book is not one of my top favorites from the My Story series, fans of the series should enjoy it.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highway Girl, by Valerie Wilding, is about a girl, Susannah in England in 1670 who loses her mum and dad. She only has her brother, but he goes to America (the new world) and she to live with her mean stuck up cousin's family. They treat her really bad ans she has no friends but their servant and they force her to stay in the keeper's cottage. Everyone believes the Keeper's Cottage is haunted except Susannah. Her family force her to get married to this really person so they can get more money. She gets a message saying that her is terribly sick and she has to get money to go to America so she can take care of her brother.

I didn't make any connection to the character because I have never had to move in to cousin's house and both of my parents are still alive. Well once I went to my cousin's house Switzerland and did like my stay cause I was not with my parents and they did not treat that good. There was not a lot of figurative language. The point of view was 1st person. Honestly I didn't get the message of the story.


It is a fairly good book. I didn't really like the book so I wouldn't really recommend because it is one of those books that take forever to get in to. By the end it gets a bit interesting. I think that people that like to read somewhat sad stories this is a good book for them.

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apart from a fleeting mention of the Civil War on the first page, this didn't feel entrenched in any historical period. There wasn't much period detail to set it in any particular era? Susannah's voice didn't feel ~historical~ or even very diary-ish -- this was more like a novel written in the first person. And despite the title, it took ages for Susannah to actually get her gear on and start robbing folk. But Bid was cute! I liked when Susannah asked her if one could walk to the Stag's Head, and Bid looks at her like she's not quite sane, and says, "Mistress, you can walk anywhere. Just some places take longer than others, see?"

However, I think Dominic would have died long before Susannah even received the letter informing her of his illness. There's no way he would have survived very long with an infection, not in those days. So although the book ends with Susannah happily sailing off to America, I amused myself by imagining a more realistic ending to her journey.

[Habiba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore these books the way there set out as diaries from someone's point of view. The Highway Girl was great susannah was orphaned and with only her brother who then left her to go to america she always missed him and waited desperately and when she finally gets there he's all ill and weak what she gonna feel and think. So for her to then dress up and hide in bushes and jump out with a gun taking the risk of getting caught and being thrown in jail with her always there she's actually quite empowering and badass.

[Molly]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

[Jen]

another very interesting read
Im enjoying the "My story" series of books