On Saturday we went to a used book sale held at a library and brought home a few books to add to our collection. We found an old children's book called "Pictorial Pilgrim's Progress" which we had to get since "Little Women" references it so often. Since only Hannah really knows the story, I thought it might be interesting for the rest of us to understand it, too.
Another book I picked out because it looked to interesting is called "At Her Majesty's Request- An African Princess in Victorian England" by Walter Dean Myers. The back cover states, " Sarah Forbes Bonetta was an African princess whose parents were murdered by enemy warriors. A British naval officer rescued her and brought her to England, where she became the protegee of Queen Victoria herself." It was a quick read at only 140 pages, but it offered a fascinating glimpse into a very unique life. Young Sarah is spared from death twice before she turns six, brought across the ocean to a different culture, becomes a ward of the Queen who takes a special interest in her, then is sent back to Africa as it is believed that her health is being harmed by England's damp weather. Her life is one of travel, privilege and loss. I wish more was known of this woman, her thoughts and observations, but her few surviving letters do not give much information. What a great find in the middle of stacks of books at a book sale!
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