The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff

The Executioner's Daughter (2014) (Egmont)
Jane Hardstaff
Grade: C
Genre: children's
Source: own

The Executioner's Daughter: (1) The Executioner's Daughter 

The people of London love a good beheading. The streets are always bustling on beheading day as spectators jostle to get the best view and satisfy their bloodthirsty curiosity. Moss can imagine nothing worse, but unfortunately, she’s present at every single one. As the daughter of the executioner, it’s her job to catch the poor soul’s head in her basket. Living with her father, Moss has never seen outside the Tower’s walls and longs to follow the river and be free of their current life. Then Moss meets Salter, a boy living independently off his wits on the river. But London – and especially the Thames – is no place for children this harsh winter. Word has it that something lurks in the water and it’s targeting children …

My twelve-year-old sister loved this book. Me, not so much. I can understand its appeal amongst that age range and it’s certainly well written with great scene-setting. This has been recognised in The Executioner’s Daughter’s long-listing for the Branford Boase Award 2015, which seeks to celebrate new writers and their editors, as well as excellence in writing and publishing. The short list is announced in early May, so exciting times. The Tudor setting is an unusual one for this age range but I wasn’t so keen on our heroine, Moss, for some reason. Not a book I’d read again, but at some point, I’m willing to try a hand at its sequel, River Daughter.

Image courtesy of Fantastic Fiction.