Historical Fiction: Matilda Bone

Matilda Bone
By Karen Cushman

Cushman, Karen. Matilda Bone. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2000. 9780395881569

Plot Summary

Matilda finds herself standing in the cold outside in Blood and Bone Alley, feeling frightened and very alone. Father Leufredus was heading for London, and left her to become a bonesetter's apprentice. Red Peg welcomes Matilda warmly but Matilda is weary, and far more concerned with the dear saints that she has studied since she was very young. She thoroughly believed she was "in the wrong place, with the wrong mistress." After all, she was taught to "to seek higher things, like God and Heaven, saintliness and obedience." Peg becomes fond of the girl, despite her distracted nature and sets about to show her the ways of bonesetting. She sends Matilda to the market to buy food for their dinner and is dismayed when Matilda returns with a rotten eel to eat. Old Mother Uffa brings Peg a customer, an old cat named Hag, who has a broken leg. Matilda is revolted by the thought of tending to a cat, because she believes them to be the Devil's creatures. Father Leufredus told her so. She begrudgingly assists Peg in preparing the comfrey and linen to wrap the leg after it has been properly set. She is constantly getting lost in the village as she daydreams of the saints she loves and of perhaps becoming a saint herself one day. Through her many wanderings through the town, she meets another Matilda, called Tildy for short, who is the kitchen maid for Master Theobald. Master Theobald is the town's physician and is called a wonderworker. Matilda also meets Peg's "Old Tom", her husband, and wonders why he is so highly regarded when he is not as well-learned as she had hoped. Matilda trips over Walter Mudd, the apprentice to the apothecary Nathaniel. Each person that she meets sees the world in a different way. Throughout her time at Blood and Bone Alley, Matilda begans to wonder if her own view of the world was too narrow before, and she begins to question what her role is. She only knows reading, writing, and the saints. Eventually, Matilda begins to care very deeply for the people around her. When Tildy has an accident and cannot wake up, she runs to Doctor Margery who she had not been very respectful towards so far. She learns that Master Theobald is not the man he claims to be and that people like Doctor Margery, who are good and kind and use their skills to help the people around them, are truly the people she wants to be like. Again she wonders, what is her place in this world. She decides that her place is right there, in Blood and Bone Alley, perhaps not being a bonesetter's apprentice forever, but using her skills to help those around her, as her friends had helped her.

Analysis

Matilda's worries and fears can be understood by any age of reader. She is thrust into a new place, a scary place, and she sorely misses the life she had before. Karen Cushman has done a very good job highlighting the apprehension that people feel when they are forced into an uncomfortable environment. Cushman includes an author's note at the end of this book, and it details some of the aspects from the book. Blood and Bone Alley most likely did not exist, but because there are places where shoemakers, potters, and weavers gathered together, she thought it was fitting to have the medical practitioners have a place to gather as well. She includes a biography, so that readers can consult with the same books that she consulted with. Matilda's language and the setting of the story feel authentic. Readers will be able to picture exactly what Matilda was experiencing. The front and back covers of this book are also illustrated with some of the characters, which is nice to flip back to to see what that character would have looked like to Matilda. The characters are lovable and believable. They have good times with Matilda but also bad times. This resembles real life, and it is easy to get attached to characters like Peg and Tildy.

The plot of the novel is simplistic enough for younger readers to enjoy, but detailed enough that an older reader would have fun dissecting the novel in greater detail. This novel is written around Matilda's stream of consciousness. The story ebbs and slows through her reaction to the things that happen to her and around her. The struggle to find herself and her purpose is something that a lot of readers can identify with, young or old. Everyone has felt lost and questioned themselves in some way before. 

Deborah Stevenson, who wrote for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books said, "It's a warm and energetic vision nonetheless, with humorous touches even in Matilda's dialogues with her trusty saints, . . . and a stageful of colorful characters. Readers who've appreciated Cushman's medieval visions will want to travel back with her again here."

Stevenson, Deborah. 2000. “Matilda Bone (Book Review) (Undetermined).” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 54 (4): 140–41. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=510147390&site=ehost-live.

Awards

American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"

New York Public Library, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year

Parents' Choice Silver Award

Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year

Arizona Young Readers’ Master List

Maine Student Book Award Master List

Connections

This novel would make an excellent reader's theater for children of all ages, but older children might enjoy researching the historical facts that Cushman sprinkles throughout her novel. The titles of the characters or the saints that Matilda mentions by name, would make fun topics.

Other historical fiction about the medieval era:

Nikola-Lisa, W.: Magic in the Margins: A Medieval Tale of Bookmaking. 9780618496426

De Angeli, Marguerite: The Door in the Wall. 9780440227793

Schlitz, Laura Amy. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. 9780763615789