Palace of Spies

Kids will learn a lot about what life may have been like for a young woman in the early 1700s in England. They'll also learn a lot about the history of the English throne during the transition from the house of Stuart to the house of Hanover and about the Jacobite rebellion. Real historical figures are mentioned, and one, the wife of the future George II, plays a significant role. Apprenticeship is briefly explained.

Heroine Peggy, 16, is a good model of self-reliance, loyalty, and using one's best judgment to solve problems. Other teens her age and adults show a range of behaviors, but the person she's closest to emotionally (her cousin Olivia, who's about the same age) is absent for most of the story. Love interest Matthew is caring and brave and wants to improve himself through study and travel.

There are a few kisses, one of which is forced and unpleasant. Description of a sexual assault includes more unpleasant kissing and a hand digging hard between legs and pinching when a character "found what he was looking for." Peggy witnesses two people having sex, seeing a woman with her legs wrapped around a man's bare buttocks and both of them grunting a lot.