The Lottie Project

The Lottie Project follows Charlie Enright, an eleven-year-old girl who lives with her single mother Jo in a flat. When her class gets a strict new teacher who assigns a Victorian history project, Charlie creates a fictional diary from the perspective of a young servant girl named Lottie. Charlie's real life and her Victorian writing project begin to parallel each other as her mother loses her management position and takes cleaning jobs to make ends meet. The story moves between Charlie's present-day experiences and the historical narrative she crafts about Lottie's life in service. This dual narrative structure lets Wilson examine class differences, family relationships, and social change across two time periods. The novel explores how children cope with life changes and develop empathy through understanding the past.

Readers consistently note the engaging parallel storylines between modern-day Charlie and Victorian-era Lottie. Many reviewers connect with Charlie's struggles as a relatable preteen dealing with family changes and school challenges. Readers appreciated: - The educational value of learning about Victorian life through an accessible story - The authentic voice and attitude of the main character - How it handles serious themes while remaining age-appropriate Common criticisms: - Some found Charlie too bratty or disrespectful - The Victorian sections felt slow for some younger readers - Several mentioned the ending felt rushed Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (2,500+ ratings) Amazon UK: 4.5/5 (120+ ratings) Amazon US: 4.3/5 (30+ ratings) One frequent comment from teachers and parents is that the book helps children understand historical research and primary sources. Multiple reviewers noted it worked well as both a classroom read and independent book for ages 9-12.

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🔹 The Victorian era setting in the book reflects a time when child labor was common - children as young as four worked as servants in wealthy households, much like Lottie's character 🔹 Jacqueline Wilson has written over 100 children's books and served as the Children's Laureate in the UK from 2005-2007 🔹 Victorian schoolrooms, as depicted in the book, often used the "monitorial system" where older students helped teach younger ones - a stark contrast to Charlie's modern classroom experience 🔹 The book's format of using dual narratives (modern and historical) was groundbreaking in children's literature when published in 1997, inspiring many similar works 🔹 Many details in Lottie's story are based on real Victorian servant records and photographs from London's historical archives