The Secret of the Rose

The Secret of the Rose by Sarah L. Thomson, 2006 Greenwillow

     In the summer of 1592 Rosalind Archer and her young brother, Robert called Robin, leave their country home for London and the safety of their father's friends. Their father has been arrested as a Papist and imprisoned under the Protestant government. The children are stunned to find their father's friends too have been arrested for their Catholic faith.
     Searching for security and hoping to see their father in Newgate prison, Rosalind and Robin meed Christopher Marlowe who finds them honest work and a safe place to stay--the only problem is he doesn't know Rosalind is a girl. Hiding as a boy is the only way Rosalind can be safe in London, but if she is discovered she faces rejection from society and worse. Marlowe has secrets of his own--secrets that can put both Rosalind and Marlowe himself in death's grasp.
     Keeping herself and her brother safe and alive are all Rosalind hopes for, but when Marlowe's secrets threaten to expose her own, Rosalind must make a daring choice.
     Thomson creates a bright and vivid image of late Elizabethan England, complete with the dangers a young woman faced without her family's protection and supported by facts of the day. Rosalind's story is directed toward younger readers (ages 10+) and can be enjoyed by any historical reader.