The Diamond of Drury Lane

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The Diamond of Drury Lane
First edition cover
Author	Julia Golding
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Cat Royal
Genre(s)	Children's
Publisher	Egmont
Publication date	2 January 2006
Pages	256
ISBN	ISBN 978-1405221498
Followed by	Cat Among the Pigeons

The Diamond of Drury Lane is a novel by Julia Golding which won the Nestle Children's Book Prize (gold) in 2006. The book is set on 1st January 1790 (approximately)

[edit] Characters

Catherine (Cat) Royal: The antagonist of the series and orphan. She was named Royal after the theatre. This book is based on her and is supposed to have started because of Pedro.

Lord Jonathan (Johnny) Fitzroy /Captain Sparkler /The diamond: When Cat found out he was Captain Sparkler as she quoted in the book 'And I suppose if you want your wit to sparkle brightly captain you have to take cover under the skirts of Drury Lane to escape the pack baying your blood?' he was angry with her. Later in the book when Billy Boil catches her he comes to her rescue though he was suspicious she was running to the magistrate. In the end he leaves for America for self-exile.

The Avon family: The Avon family so far consists of Lord Francis, Lady Elizabeth and the Duke of Avon. Because of the Duke of Avon Cat was put into a gaol whereas the children tried to help Cat.

Pedro: Pedro is a black slave boy. He has a talent for the violin and that talent has led to many fans and friends

[edit] Plot

An orphaned 12-year-old girl named Catherine 'Cat' Royal lives in the Theatre Royal. She was found by the owner of the theatre (Mr Sheridan) who took her in and named her Cat Royal (the royal coming from the name of the theatre) and since lived there. She is supposed to be a sort of maid to the theatre whose main job includes tidying etc. She overhears Mr Sheridan and a man named Marchmont talking about hiding a diamond in the theatre, this thus starts the problem which spans over the entire novel 'Where (or who) is the diamond?'. Problems which this questions leads to is even more trouble with a boy named Billy 'Boil' Shepherd and her arrest.