Mary Norton: Soldier Girl

Beaten up by her abusive father, beautiful and feisty Mary Norton flees her home in Bristol to join the Royalist army of King Charles I, during the Civil War. This thrilling, highly atmospheric and meticulously researched novel tells the fascinating story of how Mary becomes a soldier and ends up fighting both for the king and his sworn enemy, Oliver Cromwell. Mary starts life with almost no education and becomes an expert musketeer in the Royalist army. But after being raped, she changes sides and, among her other adventures, becomes a spy for Cromwell's Roundheads. Later, she is imprisoned but escapes to witness the execution of King Charles I. Then, seeing she has no future back home in Bristol, she goes to London where, unexpectedly, she finds love and happiness.