The Striped Ships

The Striped Ships

The Striped Ships by Eloise McGraw is a historical fiction children's book. It follows Juliana, a thane's daughter who witnesses the arrival of William the Conqueror's fleet in England, and becomes involved in the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Characters

Juliana: the eleven-year old daughter of a Saxon thane.

Wulfric: Juliana's younger brother, who is intent on becoming a scribe

Sweyn: Juliana's older half-brother, who resists the Norman invasion of England

Plot

The story begins on the morning of Michaelmas Eve, 1066. Juliana has escaped her embroidery session to run on the beach, when she sees a fleet of striped ships approaching. She realises at once that she is witnessing an invasion from Normandy. The Normans have already made it to her village when she returns, and she witnesses bloodshed and violence. Separated from her family, she survives several weeks in the marshes before being captured, and becoming a slave in the Norman castle at Hastings.

After some months younger brother Wulfric appears, and the two escape the Normans. Wulfric persuades Juliana to help him get to Canterbury so he can become a scribe as he has always planned. The pair travel north together. On their journey, they get lost in a forest and meet a friendly hermit who is unaware of the Norman invasion. They find burned villages, but then are robbed by a band of Saxons that turns out to include their older brother Sweyn.

Sweyn helps them find their way to Canterbury. In Canterbury, Wulfric is able to enter the priory school while Juliana endures menial tasks and is on the verge of starving or freezing. Eventually she is able to gain employment as a thread-winder for the embroiderers and spinsters working on the Bayeux Tapestry. Over the course of several months her mother in Winchester becomes aware that Juliana and Wulfric are in Canterbury, and appears with her new Norman husband to persuade Juliana to return to Winchester with them. Sweyn is injured in battle with the Normans, and Juliana nurses him back to health, but has to lie to her mother about his whereabouts. Juliana persuades her mother that she is safe in Canterbury, and the book ends with her being promoted to embroiderer, and continuing her work on the tapestry.

References

• The Striped Ships. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 1991. ISBN 0-689-50532-9. Search this book on

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