''The Tin Princess'' (

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

) is a young adult novel by the English author

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. He is best known for the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. The first volume, ''Northern Lights'' (1995), won the Carnegie Medal

, part of the

Sally Lockhart Veronica Beatrice "Sally" Lockhart (later Goldberg) is a fictional character in a series of books by Philip Pullman. Sally Lockhart is a dazzling 16-year-old, middle-class orphan in Victorian England whose father taught her a variety of useful th ...

series.

Plot introduction

Sixteen-year-old Becky is about to have her life changed. A dramatic explosion is only the start of her incredible adventure. As tutor to the cockney Princess (

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

of ''

The Ruby in the Smoke ''The Ruby in the Smoke'' is a mystery novel for young adults by the English author Philip Pullman published in 1985. The story is set in the Victorian era, where 16-years-old Sally Lockhart discovers the reason of her father's mysterious death ...

'', whose fortunes have greatly changed) of Razkavia, a tiny kingdom in Europe, she is plunged into a turmoil of murder and intrigue.

Characters

Rebecca 'Becky' Winter is the first character introduced in the book. She is hired as a language tutor for Adelaide Bevan, but quickly becomes her close friend and interpreter when she accompanies Adelaide to Razkavia. She is born in Razkavia, but has lived in England since she was three with her mother and grandmother, after her father was arrested and later died in prison in Razkavia. Despite having lived in England most of her life, she considers herself a Razkavian citizen. Adelaide Bevan (later Princess Adelaide of Razkavia and Queen Adelaide of Razkavia) is at the center of the story. She got secretly married to Prince Rudolf of Razkavia. After the death of the old king and then her husband, she becomes the reigning queen of Razkavia. Prince Rudolf of Razkavia (briefly King Rudolf of Razkavia) is married to Adelaide Bevan. After the death of his older brother William, he becomes crown prince of Razkavia and returns there with Adelaide, Becky and Jim Taylor. After his father's death, Rudolf gets killed during his own coronation. Jim Taylor is a young man who offers Prince Rudolf his services as a private detective to protect him from assassination attempts. Later, he follows Rudolf to Razkavia and becomes his and Adelaide's close advisor, trying to uncover a conspiracy which threatens to dethrone the queen.

TV adaptation

This book was expected to be made into a

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

to be aired in December 2009 on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

. However, as of April 5, 2009, production on ''The Tiger in the Well'' (the previous book in the series) had not begun, and so the future of the two remaining adaptations remains unknown.

References

1994 British novels 1994 children's books Alfred A. Knopf books British young adult novels Novels by Philip Pullman Young adult mystery fiction {{1990s-ya-novel-stub