The Diamond of Drury Lane

Last updated

The Diamond of Drury Lane
TheDiamondOfDruryLane-JuliaGolding.jpg
First edition cover
Author Julia Golding
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series Cat Royal
Genre Children's historical novel
Publisher Egmont
Publication date
2 January 2006
Pages256
ISBN 978-1-4052-2149-8
Followed by Cat among the Pigeons  

The Diamond of Drury Lane is a children's historical novel by Julia Golding which won the Nestle Children's Book Prize Gold Award and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize in 2006. [1] [2] The book is set on 1 January 1790.

Contents

Plot

An orphaned 13-year-old girl named Catherine ‘Cat’ Royal lives in the Theatre Royal, after the owner, Mr. Sheridan, who named her after the theatre, found her as a baby. She knows well the Theatre and its surroundings, later 18th century England. One night Cat overhears Mr.Sheridan and his colleague Marchmont, discussing a valuable diamond hidden in the theatre. Cat is intrigued, but she promised to protect it for Mr. Sheridan after he tells her that nobody can know about it as it is difficult to know whom to trust with this secret.

Cat befriends an African boy violinist, Pedro, who arrives to be the musician's apprentice. Cat also meets the aristocratic Avon family, the duke and duchess of Avon, and their children, Lord Francis and Lady Elizabeth, who are not as arrogant as other wealthy people, and actually want to be Cat's friends.

She also meets Johnny, the new prompt with a rather unmistakable talent for art, specifically controversial political cartoons, and a mysterious past of which he does not speak much of, other than the fact he ran away from home at a young age. She learns that Johnny is the "Captain Sparkler" accused of treason for the cartoons against the King of England. Cat soon also finds out that Johnny had had a romantic past with Lady Elizabeth, and would possibly be bidding for her in the marriage market if his situation was different.

Pedro is told of the diamond by Cat, which she later regrets when she finds him looking for it in Mr Sheridan's office hoping it will give him payment for a boat to his homeland in Africa, where he can escape the grasp of slave traders. This is before Cat learns that the diamond is not a real diamond, but is a metaphor used by Johnny's friends to refer to him as to avoid giving away valuable information to those who might hand him over to the court. He is of value, because of the reward for his capture.

However, a street gang led by Cat's enemy Billy "Boil" Shepherd ("Boil" being a reference to the boil on his nose), learns about the diamond, and assumes it is a real diamond. He breaks into the Theatre to steal it, bringing a few members of the gang with him. Cat and Pedro manage to evade him, but Cat is arrested for having money that was supposed to be for smuggling Johnny out of England where he will be safe. The money was really pawned jewels from Elizabeth, which she had given Cat permission to take to the pawn brokers, but the people who arrest her do not believe this. Billy is also arrested for stealing the money, although it was not actually him who stole it, but two members of his gang. Johnny's father Lord Fitzroy, however, knows the true reason to why Cat had the money in the first place, and arranges for her to be set free. Unfortunately, Billy is also set free later on, and the two gang members replace him in prison.

Johnny eventually gets out of England, with the help of Frank (Lord Francis), Lizzie (Lady Elizabeth) and Cat. Cat is reunited with her theatre and everyone in it. In the end, Mr. Sheridan tells her that there was no real diamond, which Cat is already aware of. Cat feels ashamed for not realizing it earlier, but Mr Sheridan reminds that in fact Johnny never was the so-called "diamond" and that Cat is the true diamond of the Theatre Royal, and the theatre would be nothing without its "Cat."

Sequels

There are five sequels:

Related Research Articles

<i>Five Find-Outers</i> Series of childrens books by Enid Blyton

The Five Find-Outers and Dog, also known as The Five Find-Outers, is a series of children's mystery books written by Enid Blyton. The first was published in 1943 and the last in 1961. Set in the fictitious village of Peterswood based on Bourne End, close to Marlow, Buckinghamshire, the children Fatty, who is the leader of the team, Larry, Pip, Daisy, Bets and Buster, Fatty's dog, encounter a mystery almost every school holiday, always solving the puzzle before Mr Goon, the unpleasant village policeman, much to his annoyance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Cowley (writer)</span> English playwright and poet, 1743–1809

Hannah Cowley was an English playwright and poet. Although Cowley's plays and poetry did not enjoy wide popularity after the 19th century, critic Melinda Finberg rates her as "one of the foremost playwrights of the late eighteenth century" whose "skill in writing fluid, sparkling dialogue and creating sprightly, memorable comic characters compares favourably with her better-known contemporaries, Goldsmith and Sheridan." Cowley's plays were produced frequently in her lifetime. The major themes of her plays – including her first, The Runaway (1776), and her major success, which is being revived, The Belle's Stratagem (1780) – revolve around marriage and how women strive to overcome the injustices imposed by family life and social custom.

<i>The Rover</i> (play) 1677 play by Aphra Behn

The Rover or The Banish'd Cavaliers is a play in two parts that is written by the English author Aphra Behn. It is a revision of Thomas Killigrew's play Thomaso, or The Wanderer (1664), and features multiple plot lines, dealing with the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen and women in Naples at Carnival time. According to Restoration poet John Dryden, it "lacks the manly vitality of Killigrew's play, but shows greater refinement of expression." The play stood for three centuries as "Behn's most popular and most respected play."

<i>The Man Who Came to Dinner</i> Comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert Morley and Coral Browne. In 1990, Browne stated in a televised biographical interview, broadcast on UK Channel 4, that she bought the rights to the play, borrowing money from her dentist to do so. When she died, her will revealed that she had received royalties for all future productions and adaptations.

<i>The Libertine</i> (2004 film) 2004 British-Australian drama film

The Libertine is a 2004 period drama film, the first film directed by Laurence Dunmore. It was adapted by Stephen Jeffreys from his play of the same name, and stars Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and Elizabeth Barry, with John Malkovich, Rosamund Pike, Rupert Friend and Kelly Reilly in supporting roles. Set in 1675 England, the film chronicles the life of the decadent but brilliant Earl of Rochester, who is asked by King Charles II to write a play celebrating his reign, while simultaneously training Elizabeth Barry to improve her acting.

<i>The Man Upstairs</i> (short story collection) 1914 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

The Man Upstairs is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 23 January 1914 by Methuen & Co., London. Most of the stories had previously appeared in magazines, generally Strand Magazine in the UK and Cosmopolitan or Collier's Weekly in the United States. Although the book was not published in the US, many of the stories were eventually made available to US readers in The Uncollected Wodehouse (1976) and The Swoop! and Other Stories (1979).

<i>A Man of Means</i> 1991 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse and C.H. Bovill

A Man of Means is a collection of six short stories written in collaboration by P. G. Wodehouse and C. H. Bovill. The stories first appeared in the United Kingdom in The Strand Magazine in 1914, and in the United States in Pictorial Review in 1916. They were later published in book form in the UK by Porpoise Books in 1991. The collection was released on Project Gutenberg in 2003.

Julia Golding, pen names Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards, is a British novelist best known for her Cat Royal series and The Companions Quartet.

<i>Spring and Port Wine</i> 1970 British film

Spring and Port Wine is a stage play by Bill Naughton and a 1970 British kitchen sink drama film based on it. The drama is set in Bolton and concerns the Crompton family, especially Rafe, the father, and his attempts to assert his authority in the household as his children grow up.

<i>Cat Among the Pigeons</i> (Golding novel)

Cat among the Pigeons is a young adult novel by Julia Golding, published in 2006. It is a story about Pedro the slave's fight for freedom. The main character is Cat, a girl of around 12 who is Pedro's best friend.

<i>Ottoline and the Yellow Cat</i>

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat is a children's book by Chris Riddell, published in 2007. It won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award and the Red House Children's Book Award for Younger Readers. It was also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

Cat Royal is a series of 6 historical fiction adventure books by Julia Golding, a British novelist.

<i>After the Ball</i> (musical)

After the Ball is a musical by Noël Coward based on the 1892 play by Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan.

<i>Mr. Muggs Steps Out</i> 1943 film by William Beaudine

Mr. Muggs Steps Out is a 1943 American film directed by William Beaudine and starring The East Side Kids.

<i>It All Came True</i> 1940 film by Lewis Seiler

It All Came True is a 1940 American musical comedy crime film starring Ann Sheridan as a fledgling singer and Humphrey Bogart, who was third-billed on movie posters, as a gangster who hides from the police in a boarding house. It is based on the Louis Bromfield novel Better Than Life. Sheridan introduced the hit song "Angel in Disguise". The picture was produced by Mark Hellinger and directed by Lewis Seiler. The cast also featured Jeffrey Lynn as the leading man, Zasu Pitts, and Una O'Connor.

<i>Den of Thieves</i> (novel)

Den of Thieves is the third book in the Cat Royal series by Julia Golding. In this story the protagonist, Cat, becomes homeless, travels to Paris, dances with an old French man and becomes a spy.

<i>Cat ONine Tails</i> (novel)

Cat O'Nine Tails is the fourth book in the "Cat Royal" series written by Julia Golding. In this story the protagonist, Cat, dances at a ball, dresses as a boy, and meets an Indian tribe.

<i>Black Heart of Jamaica</i>

Black Heart of Jamaica is the fifth book in the Cat Royal series by British author Julia Golding. In this story the protagonist, Cat, becomes a pirate and gets involved with Pedro in a slave revolt.

<i>There Was a Young Lady</i> 1953 film by Lawrence Huntington

There Was a Young Lady is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray and Sydney Tafler. It was made at Walton Studios and on location in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Frederick Pusey. Huntington had been a prominent director in the 1940s but after this film he dropped into making second features. The film marked the screen debut of Geraldine McEwan as dim-witted secretary Irene.

References

  1. Nestlé Children's Book Prize Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Julia Golding books and biography". Waterstones. Retrieved 17 September 2016.