The White Isle is the island of Britain. And Lavinia’s family is traveling there because her father, Favonius, has fallen out of favor with the Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian sends Favonius and his family to far off Britain where Favonius is to become legatus iuridicus, a judicial legate or trained lawyer for the Roman government there. But thirteen year old Lavinia is to be married to the son of a family friend and stay in Rome to try to recover the family’s fortunes there.

What happens next is unexpected, both for Lavinia and for the reader, and the novel has even more surprises in store. The book paints a fascinating picture of second century Roman life and customs, and the story is compelling and lovely. I don’t want to spoil anything by telling what happens, but I agree with the blurb on the back of the book:

“The White Isle was one of the first books to bring young people a spirited picture of Roman Life in Gaul and Britain and is one of Caroline Dale Snedeker’s finest books.”

I would recommend this book for middle school and high school readers–and adults. There is romance and danger, but it’s quite chaste, in accordance with Roman standards of the time. The book acknowledges slavery as a common part of life in the Roman Empire and in patrician households, but it shows how that slavery was not only taken for granted and accepted but also degrading and brutal for both slave and master.

The story also shows how a young girl, Lavinia, who is “plain-featured” and something of an adventurous tomboy, pushes against the strictures of her society and its expectations but also learns to find her place as a young woman in that society. The Roman culture in this book is a true patriarchy, unlike the fake patriarchy that some people think they are living in today, but Lavinia is able to be true to herself and also live up to her family’s expectations, maybe partly because they are in wild Britain where the rules are not quite so strict.

Finally, there is a Christian conversion story. I won’t tell you whose conversion it is, but I am always a sucker for a good conversion story. The White Isle is just a great novel for teens age 13 and up.