Publisher's write-up :
“Jim Taylor has just been engaged as bodyguard to a princess.
But Princess Adelaide is hardly typical of her title – she is a
London slum-child who cannot read or write. And Jim already knows
her. Adelaide disappeared ten years ago, and he's been searching for
her ever since. She's turned up as Crown Princess of Razkavia, a tiny
Central European country in political turmoil. The Crown Prince is
deeply in love with her, and it's easy to see why – Adelaide's
courage and determination inspire love. But when they arrive in
Razkavia, Jim will find plenty who hate Adelaide, and what she stands
for...”
The Tin Princess is the fourth and last book of the Sally Lockhart
quartet, written by Philip Pullman. The story takes place during the
Victorian Era, in 1882, one year after the events that took place in
The Tiger in the Well. Adelaide, who appears in the first
book, The Ruby in the Smoke, makes a comeback in this novel as
one of the main characters.
Razkavia is a small kingdom in central Europe, around as big as
Berkshire. It has been in existence since the thirteenth century and
is presumably sandwiched between Germany and Austria. Prince Wilhelm
and his wife Anna have been murdered and his younger brother, Prince
Rudolf becomes the heir to the throne of Razkavia. Prince Rudolf is
in England has just been married to Adelaide. Unfortunately, during
Rudolf's coronation, he was killed and now, Adelaide is the queen of
Razkavia – a queen who doesn't know the local language and also
illiterate. She has a translator named Rebecca Winter and James
Taylor (who appears in the first three books) is appointed as her
bodyguard.
The book is supposed to be a “Sally Lockhart mystery” but,
Sally's role in this book is insignificant and Jim is the main
character of this book but that is not a problem as it could be
understood that Sally is now married and settled. The book was
reasonable but I feel some of it didn't have much logic. Adelaide was
a Cockney Queen the previous day and in the very next day, Adelaide
becomes a top diplomat solving problems that had been going on for
centuries. The author does try to inform the reader that Adelaide,
although illiterate is intelligent – like she is very good at
playing chess and Rebecca could never beat her but diplomacy is not
something obtained through IQ. The end was also extremely abrupt,
almost like the author was under pressure to complete the book within
a given target. Considering that this is the last book of the series,
the author could have written a far more precise epilogue.
If I've to describe the novel in one line : The worst book in the
Sally Lockhart quartet.
Rating – 4 / 10
Have a nice day,
Andy
Have a nice day
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