I didn’t like the first few pages and nearly gave up as the language was strange and more than a little shocking. I soon became used to our young heroine’s narrative and her story, a mixture of vulnerability and resilience. I loved her journey through youth into adulthood, peppered with a colourful mix of weird and wonderful characters. Difference is celebrated by her, but not by all, and we see opinions can be swayed between good and evil in the people of Tudor times, where tricks will be believed by those who are easily swayed. Tibb attracts good and bad, and we follow the progress of her young life with trepidation and joy. It was lovely, and a terrific read.

Tibb was born into nothing. In Tudor England, that's a precarious way to be. She and her mother are nomadic, living off what her mother can con or beg, but when tragedy strikes, young Tibb must fend for herself. And her journey will take her from a desolate beach to an actors' troupe to becoming her own kind of miracle.

Tibb is one of the most unique narrators I've ever read. Her intonations and thoughts are so distinct, and feel completely authentic to her time period and level of education, while also proving her to be kind and quick-witted. She's such a gentle, earnest character that everyone she meets is charmed by her, and the story - which I'd worried would devolve into violence - is instead an exploration of how to create a home, and the people who belong in it. I absolutely loved this.

Thank you Netgalley for this review copy!

A raw tale of life in medieval England for the underbelly, those without a home or means of living. Tibb is a fierce character who has seen the cruel side of life but she makes friends along the way in this rollicking, joyful, tragic tale.

‘It is just a little trickerie, you know.’

Meet Tibb Ingleby. She thinks she’s about fourteen years old. Tibb is a vagabond in Henry VII’s England, and her mother’s ambition is to have a roof to call her own. Alas, Tibb’s mother’s latest attempt goes horribly wrong, and she dies, leaving Tibb orphaned. Tibb, a rough diamond, is street smart but vulnerable. On her travels she meets up with Ivo, and they become friends. After Ivo leaves, Tibb falls in with a group of travelling performers. And while with this group, Tibb experiences both the best and worst of human behaviour.

What can I tell you about Tibb without spoiling her story for a first-time reader? I could mention that some of the shows put on by the travelling performers rely on human gullibility. I could mention that Tibb does not feel bound by big-man-God rules, and that this leads to a most audacious plan to make money.

And, having mentioned this, I will simply add that I thoroughly enjoyed how Tibb (and others) cocked a snook at the establishment. But when a small-scale act of trickery became subject to widespread fame, how did they avoid becoming victims of their own success? Read on. Tibb is an engaging hero, and her companions (especially Ambrose, Ivo, Maria and Flavio) each have a special place in this story.

‘My friends,’ I say, ‘I think we have pulled off the greatest falsehood the country has ever seen.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Intriguing and joyously quirky central character, but with sensibilities which felt far too modern

Tibb, a young girl, orphaned too early, and the daughter of someone forced to live on her wits, has no other means to get by other than by practising more than ‘a little trickerie’ herself.

This novel is ostensibly set early in the reign of Henry VIIth, and there’s a kind of invented Tudorish speak to take us into period. Tibb is a lovely creation, a mix of extreme naivity, innocence and guile, a girl with a big heart and a lot of survivalist cunning. However….what prevented me from surrender to this book, despite my enjoyment of the author’s verve and energy, was something which can often get in the way for me, in historical novels. That is, the injection of too much twenty-first century enlightenment, particularly around gender and sexuality, in characters whom an author wants us to like. Of course, in every age, there are those who are ahead of their time, but I could not suspend my disbelief. There were also a few too many coincidences, people long sundered finding each other again, surprisingly, in completely different parts of the country.

You cannot help loving Tib, how she's able to survive in a harsh world, and the portrait of Tudor England.
A little-great story that tells of a trickery that becomes something big and how it impact the life of people.
Well researched, poignant and funny, good storytelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Life has dealt the orphaned Tibb more blows than the average person in Tudor England. A Little Trickerie follows her through her life, the relationships she builds and the trauma she works through ending in a fantastical little piece of trickerie. I absolutely fell in love with Tibb, her values and her strength. It turns out that women have had to be strong for a very long time.

NO SPOILERS:

Oh my goodness! What an incredible debut novel. From the first sentence A Little Trickerie is off and running and it never stops.

Rosanna Pike’s skilled writing puts the reader in the moment. I was standing beside Tibb, hearing her whisper to me, and shout at me! I know every word will have been carefully chosen, every sentence crafted to perfection yet it flows as if the words simply tumbled from Tibb’s mouth freely and without shame.

Told in the first person, the language and structure draws you in to Tibb’s world; it reveals so much without the need for explanation. All the back story and plot comes from Tibb’s narration, her inner dialogue with herself and her late mother, and her unspoken but loudly thought asides. And what a story…it just keeps coming, page after page and I was completely caught up in it.

Now, if it weren’t for the bigotry and intolerance of the time, we start in May 1500, there would be no story to tell and sadly, a great deal of it could easily be told in current times. So, if you are offended by this book, then perhaps it’s you, not the book. There is much humour in it but also much pathos, which to me seems the best way to write it.

It’s been a while since I gave a book full marks, but A Little Trickerie is that book.

A strange, very different tale set in fifteenth century England when prejudices were never acceptable and if your sexuality, religion and colour were not of the time then you were living on a knife edge! Fragile and tiny for her age but strong minded, little Tibb Ingleby loses her mother in childbirth and is left literally holding the baby - her newly born sister! She is lost and all alone but meets Ivo an older young man who comes to her rescue. Tibb tells us her story in the simple archaic form of the time and I wasn’t sure I could continue with it at first but was surprised how quickly I was lost in her story and it became part of the person that was Tibb! Later she meets a travelling show and becomes one of the performers along with Ambrose and Maria, both oddities like herself! When she literally becomes an Angel I felt the story lost it’s way a little and was too prolonged but the conclusion, when it arrived, was just as it should be! I enjoyed it!

I'm sorry to say that I struggled to connect with the voice on this. I got bored very quickly and struggled to get myself through it. The plot felt weak and I lost interest. I seem to be an odd one out though, so maybe its just me.

Well, this was different! A debut historical novel with a modern feel and a distinctive voice. Tibb Ingleby is the narrator, a girl who is a vagrant and who has many adventures, culminating in a plot to raise money for a new life overseas by pretending to be an angel. Acquiring a group of misfit friends, she is accepting of differences in the strict society of Tudor times. There is a fun, playful element to the book, despite some dark themes. Tibb's voice is very compelling, although she does use the same phrases often, such as 'to boot'. She often talks to her Ma in her head and to herself. I thought the revelation of Margaret Beaufort's secret was a bit far-fetched. An author's note would be useful because I hadn't heard of the Holy Maid of Leominster before (the historical figure upon which Tibb was based). This book would make a good TV drama, in my opinion. It was an unusual read which I'd recommend.

Absolutely loved this unusual and highly original debut novel from Rosanna Pike. I was a little unsure at first about the language used as it very different and no doubt how people spoke in the 16th century but the story was so engaging that before I knew it. I had completely forgotten how different it was. The storyline was exciting and the characters so endearing. .

Tibb Ingleby’s Ma dies in childbirth, the result of a desperate bid to ‘buy’ a roof over their heads as they’ve never had one. Vagabond Tibb tells us her story as she berates the big-man-God on more than one issue and does her best to survive and find shelter. As she crosses the lands of early Tudor England she meets Ivo, the pair wandering from place to place until Ivo moves on. What is in store for Tibb now? Quite a few adventures it turns out and a scrape or two to wriggle out of, using all the ingenuity she has learned from her Ma.

This is an unusual book and a good one too as it gives a different view of the early 1500’s through the eyes of the forgotten. Tudor laws are harsh not only for vagabonds but also for those perceived to have strayed from the ‘straight and narrow’. It’s a very different novel, it’s creative and original with Tibb as narrator it has a colourful vibrant tone which gives plenty of amusement. She goes on an emotional journey, at times it’s sad but others it’s joyous and funny, there’s hatred and the danger of the discovery of life threatening secrets that require more than a little clever ‘trickerie’ to overcome bigotry and prejudice. It’s a pacey read, told through little vignettes, constantly surprising and keeping me engaged. You get a good tour of England too with locations described well.

Tibb is a lively companion for this book journey with the author creating a memorable character. She’s a bold, imperfect diamond (maybe that should be a pearl) in the rough, she has baggage which is the traumatic kind but an excellent heart full of love. Al the characters she encounters even briefly are portrayed strongly and spring to life before your eyes.

Overall, I like this imaginative and at times ribald tale which is in keeping with both Tibb and those she encounters. This is an excellent debut and an interesting new voice in fiction. If you like HF it’s worth picking this one up.

Ps I do like the mystery historical ‘solution’ …. means and opportunity??

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I got this book from NetGalley and thought the blurb sounded really interesting. I've really struggled with it. It's very slow and seems to be going nowhere. The plot is supposed to involve the main character, Tib, discovering that some people will believe anything and so she comes up with some major hoax but there's been no indication of anything like that at all. It's set in the Tudor period, so somewhere around the 1500s, and the author has opted to try to replicate the way they spoke so the whole thing is written in a sort of mock Tudor style. Unfortunately, sentences like 'would you be looking at that?' come acros as Irish rather than English so I keep reading Tib as though she has an Irish accent. Overall, it’s been very disappointing and not at all what I expected. I tried to continue with it, in the hopes that the hoax plot might start to show but I just could not sustain any level of interest in it. Unfortunately, I gave up on it completely so it’s a DNF.

What a surprising delight. I'm not normally one for historical fiction, but this novel gripped me. Such an original voice and style, and Tibbs and Ivo were gut-wrenchingly good characters. I inhaled this in two sittings, and found my head full of it in the break in between. A must-read this summer.

Tibb, our protagonist who happens to be a vagabond, is an incredibly unique voice, and the concept set in medieval England with the vagabonds finding their way in society is engaging, entertaining and fresh.
It is equal parts tender, hilarious, imaginative, amusing and discreetly insightful.
This is one of my favourite reads of the year so far and I am looking forward to reading it again and again.

I always love an historical novel and this one ticks all the boxes. Tigg is a young girl of 14 when she finds herself wandering the towns of 16th century england as a vagabond. She soon find a friend who shows her how to survive but the deprivations of this life are hard. The tale turns into quite a thriller as she progresses and grows up.
It's also a love story which adds to this book.
Really loved reading this book. Well done to the author.

Absolutely fabulous and I definitely enjoyed the tale of Tibb, born a vagrant, her mother's death would have possibly broken another girl, but Tibb is a survivor and a great character. A great tale and a brilliant novel. I would give it ten stars if I could but I am limited to five. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of Tibb, a young woman living with her mother as a vagrant in Tudor England, at a time when vagrancy was illegal.

Circumstances leave Tibb, aged about 14, to manage alone, but with a host of skills learned from her mother. Distrustful of men she first gains a friend, then joins a group of travelling players, finally planning an audacious fraud with the group of misfits she has gathered around her.

The book is funny, moving and I loved Tibb's unique voice. This really is historical fiction at its best and excellent for a debut novel. You won't need to be a regular reader of historical fiction to enjoy this novel.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

An entertaining historical debut
Exploring Tudor England and the hardships of young life in poverty this story develops characters that feel so real