By: Maria Waddelove
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Maria Waddelove spent most of her 11 years as a primary teacher in Manchester’s inner city schools before moving to rural Cheshire when she married. Her lifelong interests in archaeology and history were reflected in the Open University degree, which was completed when expecting the first baby. She began researching and writing Young Aelfred while home-schooling her five children to GCSE success on their way to graduation from leading universities.
An excellent piece of children's fiction, which is nevertheless serious and accurate enough to enthral a more mature reader. This book brings to life an all-too-widely forgotten hero, Aelfred the Great telling an exiting tale from the great king's childhood, which transports the reader back to the small and beautiful world of 9th century Britain, and gives us a picture of the boy who grew into the great king. Great care has been taken to provide an accurate rendering of the Britain of twelve centuries ago, while at the same time telling an exciting and engaging story. The prose is smooth-flowing and of a high quality, and makes for a very well assembled and fascinating novel, which I can heartily recommend.