A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper

Sophie FitzOsborne lives in the crumbling ruins of her family’s castle on the tiny island Kingdom of Montmaray, which lies between England and Spain. She lives there with her younger sister Henry, her cousin Veronica, the housekeeper, Rebecca, and her completely mad uncle, King John. The year is 1936, and Sophie just received a journal for her sixteenth birthday. She begins by recording the events of her daily life; her desire to move to London to have her official debut, and her longing for a certain young man’s attention. Veronica, only a year older, but much more worldly wise, takes an interest in the politics of Europe and the brewing tension there. Sophie could care less, until the day that German soldiers land on Montmaray. Sophie’s journal takes a more serious turn, and so does she. She struggles to follow Veronica’s example and become Sensible, even in the face of the most bizarre disaster that Montmaray and Sophie has ever seen.

The writing was well done and told through a diary format. Sophie was a realistic character, but in comparison with her intelligent and quick-witted cousin Veronica, she seemed naïve and younger than 16. Veronica, on the other hand, was behaving and speaking in ways that made her seem older than 17. Also, Sophie was a rather flat character, while Veronica was not. In some ways the book was more about her than the narrator. The concept for the book is genius—an island kingdom that has two teen orphan girls as the main royalty figures? Honestly, the author could have taken this idea in so many thrilling directions. I almost want to steal the idea and rewrite the entire book. Have you ever felt that way about a book? If so, what book? What would you have changed?

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