*Shortlisted

Review by Lola-Belle, Marriotts School Stevenage

I loved it.

The diary of Sarah Forbes Bonetta is an amazing book / diary all about finding yourself in a world where your race and gender are dismissed as ‘weak’ and ‘unworthy.’ In this book, it shows Sarah finding her voice. She starts to stand up to things she doesn’t like, things she thinks are wrong without ‘wrong’ just because she is of a higher social status and is expected to do more. She stands up to being taken advantage of throughout her life, whilst still being kind, and grateful to the people who have raised and look after her.

Overall, this book has made me realise that I have a voice, and that I should use it. It has made me feel a sense of empowerment of knowing my self worth and boundaries. It has changed me as a person; for the better.

Review by Lucianna, Thomas Telford School
The diary of Sarah Forbes Bonetta is a captivating memoir about Queen Victoria’s protégé offering a unique perspective on the life of a woman trying to survive in the Victorian era. Sarah Forbes Bonetta, an African princess formerly known as Aina, shares her experiences from after her seventeenth birthday and struggles in this thought-provoking account as she navigates her way through the prejudice of society.

In the novel, Sarah explores the complexities of identity and belonging as she discovers her life before coming to England as a young child after the tragic death of all of her family members. Sarah lives up to her given name Aina, meaning difficult life, as she finally discovers her heritage and her real status of daughter of the monarch (Omo’ba). Victorian society also expects her to be submissive and respectful and to be seen and not heard no matter how harsh the insults are. Furthermore, Sarah faces lots of prejudice and racism and countless other trials along the way as she tries to fit into society. Throughout the novel, you feel sorrow for Sarah because of her loneliness and distance from others because of the way they treat and forced marriage to someone she hardly knows. However, there are some happier moments in the novel such as when she meets the Queen’s daughter (Alice) who immediately bonds with her over the pressures of society on women especially. Sarah is a very interesting character as the way she portrays her emotions makes you feel as though you are there with her and sometimes even her experiences her emotions.

The storyline itself is particularly interesting due to it being based on a real event from the past and has inspired me to find out more about Sarah Forbes Bonetta and what happened to her after the events in the book.

Overall, it is a wonderfully written book depicting a poignant portrayal of race and equality and a must read for all. I would definitely recommend it to others.

Review by Riya, Ursuline Academy Ilford
This novel is about a strong, intelligent and determined young woman Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a protégé of Queen Victoria. At the age of five Sarah had to face a tragic incident and was enslaved by an African king. Later rescued by a British royal navy captain Fredrick Forbes. At the age of 17 she gets her Identity back. The story of Sarah’s life unfolds gradually.

I found this story really inspiring, this book gave me a new perspective to look at the problems. Sarah’s life was surprising, it was shocking yet Sarah never let her moral down. The way Sarah dealt with the situations, she was strong no matter what happened. Even if Sarah had no family of her own, she never complaint about it and faced everything by herself. One more thing I found fascinating about this book is the way the author presented it, it felt like Sarah was narrating her life’s story to me. Victoria Princewill gave me an opportunity to know such a great personality personally.

My least favourite character in the story was Annie Schoen the “daughter of the clergy man”. Even after knowing what Sarah was going through she never thought of not being rude to her. She always made Sarah realize that she had no family.

In today’s life we complain about every small thing that happens, I think that we should learn from Sarah and tackle our problems on our own instead of telling someone to do it for us.

I would recommend this book to the ones who like to read historical, interesting and non-fiction books. This book is filled with plot twists, surprises and teachings. I hope when a person reads this book he/she will enjoy and bring some changes to their life, after all past is for learning.