The Green Bronze Mirror - Lynne Ellison

Karen is playing on the beach when she finds an ancient mirror buried in the sand. She looks into it, and is transported back in time to the Roman empire. Finding herself a slave, she faces many hair-raising adventures in her struggle to return to her own time.

The Green Bronze Mirror is the story of Karen, a fifteen year old girl who finds herself transported to Roman Britain during Nero's reign. Found by a group of Roman legionaries, Karen becomes a slave and is consequently sold several times till she ends up in Rome, in the House of Caechina, taking care of children. She doesn't give up on her dream to go back to her time though...

I found the story interesting and engaging, very much like the books I read while a teenager, and that first made me realise how much I loved history. Because, while telling the story of Karen, we are treated to the way of life during the Roman Empire in a simple and interesting way, there's even a bit about early christianity and the religious persecution. This a book that Lynne Ellison wrote when she was still a teenager and I think it shows in the simple writing and in the fact that Karen never really is in any danger, she always finds friends who protect her. But that doesn't make the story less worthy, it makes for a perfect children's read and I don't hesitate to recommend it as such.

This particular edition does suffer from some proofing problems that hopefully will be solved in future editions.

Grade: 4.5/5

Thank you to Christopher Posner from the publisher Cnposner for sending me a copy of this book.