Stories of girls who pass as boys have been a perennial favourite in children’s historical fiction. In Esther, Sharon McKay (Charlie Wilcox’s Great War) explores this theme with a novel based on the true tale of the young man who was the first Jew in New France in the 18th century. He was later revealed to be a young woman named Esther Brandeau who, as McKay explains in the afterword, had lived for several years in France as a boy.

The novel is at heart an escape story: first Esther escapes an arranged marriage when she’s shipwrecked, and later she escapes the life of a courtesan that she’s being groomed for. The book ends with Esther apparently escaping a final time, disappearing from a ship to seek her love, Philippe, in Louisiana, and avoid returning to France and prison. Throughout, she escapes the strictures society forces upon her due to her gender and religion; by impersonating a boy and a Catholic, she tastes adventure and freedom.

From a few pages of archival material McKay has created a page-turning yarn, complete with perils at sea, nasty villains, and even a few fairy-godmother types. The yarn gets tangled, though, by McKay’s efforts to enlighten as well as entertain, and her characters in particular suffer as a result. Esther especially remains remote, and her experiences and thoughts often come across as contemporary commentary on issues of gender and prejudice rather than believable events and responses. But the book will appeal to girls (Penguin suggests ages eight to 12, but the vocabulary and subject matter are better suited to readers aged 10 to 14) who enjoy their historical fiction with a 21st-century sensibility