A Traveller in Time (Puffin Books)

You'll probably notice the different spelling. I'm going with the British spelling as A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley is a British novel. As the title implies, the novel is a time travel story but the time travel is a method for uniting the present (1934) with a wonderfully told historical fiction set around the Babington Plot. Penelope Thacker is a bit fey as apparently all the Penelopes in the Thacker family and she begins to experience things from the past but try as she might, she cannot change them. As Penelope begins to live half her life in the past she learns how to live in the 1580s. Alison Uttley fills the world of the Thacker Manor with the mundane details of running a home and farm along with the big events surrounding the imprisoning of Mary Stuart. Uttley's novel has enough historical information to teach the basics of the Babington Plot without hitting one over the head with facts, dates and figures. Readers knowledgeable of the events will enjoy filling in the missing details. Readers not as familiar with the history can still follow along and enjoy the time travel aspects of the novel.

Reading this book, it is hard to believe that the author has not actually visited the 16th century in person. The heroine, Penelope, staying with her great-aunt Tissie and great-uncle Barnabas at Thackers Farm in Derbyshire, finds herself unexpectedly able to pass back and forth from the present (late 19th century) to the reign of Elizabeth I. Here she meets the Babington family, who plot to save mary Queen of Scots from captivity in nearby Wingfield Manor. Her distant ancestor, Cicely Taverner, is cook to the Babbington family, and the descriptions of the servants lives and conversations are utterly convincing, more so than the rather romanticised upper-class Babbingtons. The Thackers Farm of the past comes to be more real to penelope than the present-day place. The escape of the Queen of SCots is doomed to fail, and Penelope knows it, but can do nothing to change history. I understand Alison Uttley had plans to write a sequel to this lovely book, it is fascinating but frustrating to imagine what it would have been like.

I first saw A Traveller in Time on TV in Ireland in the 80s, and had to buy the book. What a delight for all ages.The book tells the story of Penelope who on a visit to her Aunt and Uncle's farm in Derbyshire, travels back to the 16th century. Penelope meets the Babington family who tried unsuccessfully to free the captive Mary Queeen of Scots from nearby Wingfield Manor.Alison Uttley's characters are so convincing, and her descriptions of 16th century life so vivid. All the places in book also exist and can be seen today.

I loved this book when I was young, and it inspired me to read everything I could about Mary Queen of Scots. The author pulls you into the story, and doesn't let you go until it's over. The imagery and descriptions are unforgettable. A wonderful story.

This novel, one of my all-time favourites, is the story of Penelope, who at the age of nine visits her great-aunt in the British countryside for a summer. While at the centuries-old farm, she discovers that her second-sight enables her to travel back in time to the 16th century, when Mary, Queen of Scots was first in hiding nearby, then imprisoned, by Elizabeth I of England. She interacts with the nobility of the farm, some of whom are in league with the exiled Queen, and are plotting to rescue her. Although she knows the plot is doomed to failure, and that Queen Mary will be executed, Penelope sympathizes with the "Captive Queen", and tries to aid the rescue attempt. She makes several trips to the past, and grows to love the people she meets there. This novel is full of beautiful language, evocative descriptions, and haunting images. It is an unforgettable story: one so moving and detailed that you can almost taste and smell the past from its pages. A! warning: this book is very sad. However, it is also incredibly interesting, especially if you have studied Elizabethan England, or the history of the Scottish Queen."Traveller" is not only a children's book - it is written to older-fashioned guidelines for children's literature: very appropriate for adults as well.