chains by laurie halse anderson characters

It's beautifully researched too - with the streets of eighteenth century New York as vivid and alive on the pages as if they still existed today. She's enslaved in every possible way, but never stops being her own impulsive and sometimes hot-tempered self, and somehow, despite her ,she manages acts of kindness and generosity that are utterly heroic. Isabel is a captivating central character, treated abominably and reaching depths of sadness today's children are unlikely to ever experience, but she never loses her spirit. This is a lovely novel - about big issues and big stories, but never losing its focus on individual people. The little cruelties become bigger and bigger until eventually she commits one act of true barbarism that Isabel will never forgive. Mrs Lockton takes against the girls and treats them badly. and there's little chance of that from the Locktons. She simply wants the freedom she was promised. The Locktons are loyalists, but the patriots are in control of the city.īut Isabel isn't interested in politics. The Revolutionary War is underway and New York is a dangerous place. So Isabel and Ruth are sold to the Locktons and taken to New York. But Miss Mary Finch is dead and her greedy nephew and heir denies all knowledge of the will. But they should be free - Miss Mary Finch left a will that said so. Historically and politically accurate and with a light but realistic touch, it perfectly frames its characters and times.

Summary: Accessible and absorbing story about Isabel, a slave in New York during the American War of Independence.

Chains by laurie halse anderson characters