Good Book: The Yellow Coach, by Elisabeth Kyle

Here's a good book that I just put out for sale on the Internet. The Yellow Coach, by Elisabeth Kyle, 1976. 46 pages. Illustrated: "Four full-colour pictures and sixteen line drawings". Juvenile historical fiction, set in France during Revolution. A servant girl at a remote country inn and her friend Jacques try to help King Louis, Marie Antoinette, and their two children sneak out of France. Somewhat poignant book - the servant is the same age as the royal daughter, and is afraid the girl so like herself will be guillotined if caught. It's part of a series called "Long Ago Children Books", put out by William Heinemann, Ltd., of London. I'm not familiar with the series, but if this book is representative, it's worth checking out others in the series, too.

I did some checking, and the book seems to be based on a real event. It seems to be a matter of legend, if not fact, that King Louis and Marie Antoinette and their children were captured in large part because Marie Antoinette refused to split the family and travel in smaller, faster coaches. Instead they stayed together in one large, slow coach. Whether it sealed their doom, as some writers say, is something we'll never know. It certainly couldn't have helped.