HISTORICAL FICTION: MATILDA BONE
HISTORICAL FICTION: MATILDA BONE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen. 2000. MATILDA BONE. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780395881569
PLOT SUMMARY
After being abruptly sent away from the only home she knew, a manor where she had a privileged life of access to education and worship under the guardianship of a priest, where she spent her time learning and praying, pious Matilda suddenly found herself in a life very different from the one she knew before. Fourteen-year- old orphan Matilda finds herself at Blood and Bone Alley as an apprentice to a female bonesetter, a medical practitioner in 14th century medieval England. Struggling with viewing her circumstances as beneath her, self-righteous and self-absorbed Matilda gradually develops relationships and friendships with others in her new community, and evolves into a compassionate and knowledgeable medical assistant to the Bonesetter and the community they care for.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
While the story takes place in a medieval historical setting, with a storyline many fiction books do not follow, Middle-Grade readers can easily identify with the character of Matilda, in this coming-of-age story where she struggles with growing up, learning to work with others, and coming to terms with her identity. While much of the dialogue gives the reader just a basic introduction to how one would have spoken in the 14th century, Matilda’s experiences are believable, and many of her own self-doubts and self-criticism mirror how many young readers today see themselves, either in a negative or positive light. And while the clothing, language, and religious beliefs that Matilda and the rest of the characters display are a very different life than that of those who live in the 21st Century, all of the details and descriptions described by Cushman help create an accurate portrayal of the Middle Ages. While fictional, Blood and Bone Alley and its inhabitants help readers to understand that the people of this tale are placed within a real historical time period. Characters such as Matilda, Margery, and Red Peg the Bonesetter are characters based off of real lives people led during that time period, and are brought to life through careful research by Cushman.
Cushman conducted thorough research to portray an accurate and believable plot to the intended audience of MATILDA BONE. One way Cushman stays true to the Middle Ages time period, and yet makes it understandable and entertaining for readers, is her choice of words. Cushman does not use the Middle English- style of language for her characters. Instead, she uses commonly known language for the average 21st-century young audience, but with a tone that sounds like what people would use in 14th-century England. While Cushman does not use modern 21st-century terms the language she uses is known to the readers, and mirrors a simplified way of speaking used in this time period.
Even while it is obvious that the story and its details are well-researched, the plot itself is not overwhelmed by details and over-explaining. Cushman presents accurate information about the time period, daily life, medical practices, etc, but not in a way that is overwhelming or belittling to the reader. Even Matilda’s internal self-righteous dialogue and prayers to various Catholic Saints is simply explained by Cushman in how they could help her, and how they were martyred.
Cushman uses vivid imagery and descriptive language to bring to life the medieval for readers, regardless of their prior knowledge about the Middle Ages. With her vivid descriptions, Cushman invites readers of all ages to immerse themselves and feel as if they are time traveling to 14th Century England, and feel as if they too are experiencing this time period through the same tastes, sights, feelings, and sounds Matilda is experiencing for the first time in the city. While the time and place is not specifically mentioned, Cushman’s descriptions and thorough research is evident in that while Bone and Blood Alley is a fictional place, it is based on possible sites and medical businesses that were around during the time period.
When Matilda first arrives in Bone and Blood Alley, she takes a closer look at her surroundings:
“It was a mere stub of a street off Frog Road, pocked with potholes and spattered with garbage, lined with narrow houses and shops of two stories in need of pain and repair. Many of the shops were stalls with shutters that opened upward to make an awning and down with a counter, as was common, but some-like this one- had real, solid wooden doors, as if what went on inside was too secret and mysterious to take place in the open. There was no deliverance here.”
Here, proud Matilda makes immediate assumptions about how far the shop was beneath her abilities, and how it couldn’t be a place of good nature. Through Matilda’s detailed description, readers are able to get a mental image of what a medicinal alley looked like back in the 14th century.
Cushman introduces multiple universal themes to her audience through Matilda’s evolution of character as she grows in her understanding of herself and others. With humor, frankness, and wit, the theme of Matilda’s coming-of-age journey is one that can be appreciated and experienced by readers, and, as a result, makes Matilda more relatable and lifelike.
Another universal theme within the story is the theme of loneliness. Many times Matilda mentions directly that she is lonely, and that she has trouble connecting with and understanding others. For many, Middle-Grade is a hard time of life. Questioning of self-worth, development of personal values and character, physical changes, and learning how to connect with others can all be experienced by this age group. Matilda experiences all of this, even as a 14- year old in 14th century England.
As Matilda moves forward in the story, learning how to interact with others, and learning about how to love others, she finally notices all that Peg does for her patients, and she becomes softened towards her, as well as not focusing on her own “sufferings” and unpleasantries:
“..she watched Peg, feeling something like awe. Peg worked hard, earned little, ate poorly, was cold in the winter and would be hot in the summer. She saw her friends suffer, patients die, and the unworthy prosper. Nevertheless she had more laugh lines than frown lines marking the freckled surface of her face as she sat down happily to her bread-and-porridge supper, while Matilda sat tormented over having worked on Sunday, fearful that Peg was wrong and Matilda had sinned, or Peg was right and Father Leudfredus was wrong, and then where was Matilda?”
Cushman is a well-known historical fiction writer, weaving fiction and historical settings with spunky and witty heroines who are on a journey of self discovery. In MATILDA BONE, Cushman captures the flavor of 14th Century England through descriptions of their beliefs, daily life, and medicinal knowledge at the time through careful research. Cushman provides a list of books on medieval medicine she consulted to help her create a knowledgeable and realistic basis for the medical practices and beliefs before modern science came to be. Through her careful research, she introduces the medicinal practices to the reader through Matilda’s fresh gaze, and helps the reader to better understand how injured and ill people were taken care of by the medical practitioners of the day, and how those practices compare to modern medicine today.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus:
“In a carefully researched novel set in the medieval period, the author of The Midwife's Apprentice (1996 Newbery winner) depicts another vivid heroine, left alone to make her place in the world. Having been raised motherless in a fine manor under the tutelage of Father Leufredus, Matilda has learned to read and write Greek and Latin and to pray seven times a day. When the priest leaves her with Red Peg, the bonesetter in Blood and Bone Alley, Matilda disapproves of her new home, her new "mentor" and the requirements of her new job . . . which include tending the fire, cooking, restraining patients, and helping set bones rather than reading, writing, and praying… It is laced with humor, in part due to the structural connective tissue formed by the saint's scornful answers to Matilda's unceasing prayerful pleas. But in the end, Matilda herself comes off, as the saints themselves conclude, as a rather tiresome prig whose journey towards self-discovery, while rich in incident, may not hold quite enough overall plot tension to compel every reader.”
School Library Journal
“...The theology espoused by Matilda is consistent with the time period and Father Leufredus has taught her well. She has no thoughts of her own-only the musing and learning of Father Leufredus. She stiffly withholds herself from all attempts at friendship and kindness, and she feels more and more alone. However, when she meets a kitchen maid who joyfully introduces her to the market square, her eyes slowly open to the world around her. Readers witness her spiritual and emotional growth as she blossoms from a self-centered "nincompoop" to a compassionate, competent assistant. Cushman's character descriptions are spare, with each word carefully chosen to paint wonderful pictures. This humorous, frank look at life in the medical quarters in medieval times shows readers that love and compassion, laughter and companionship, are indeed the best medicine.”
CONNECTIONS
Awards and Recognitions
School Library Journal Best Books: 2000
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Young Adult :
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Middle Grade Activities:
Public Library Tweens Book Club- Reading through History
Discuss with readers about what they think about history, and their first thoughts about the book prior to starting it
discuss what roles/ jobs women were viewed as acceptable in medieval England
Discuss the differences between the modern medicine of today and of medieval England
Have a display of Fiction and Nonfiction book pairings that are similar to MATILDA BONE
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