MUTINY’S DAUGHTER

Mary is the daughter of a Tahitian woman and the famous Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny against Captain Bligh on the Bounty in 1789. Now back in England, she is a traitor to some, a hero to others. To avoid disgrace to the family name, her Uncle Charles becomes her surrogate father, and Mary is known as the niece of the legendary mutineer at the fancy girls’ school she attends. Rinaldi’s story is a quiet, reflective study of character and class in early-19th-century London. The parallel between the mutiny and the social unrest of the times is subtly drawn, with Mary’s life of privilege at Misses Hartsdale’s School for Young Ladies in contrast with the world of rat boys, chimney sweeps, homeless children, and violence on the streets of London. Young readers might prefer a novel of the mutiny itself, but will appreciate Mary’s plight as an outsider trying to find her place in the world. (Fiction. 10-14)