When Matilda's father retires due to ill health, the family's new life in Much Winterlow falls into reduced circumstances. To make ends meet, Matilda applies to be Dr. Henry Lovell's receptionist. She does her best to ignore the instant attraction she feels for him. It wouldn't do to dream of marrying the boss—especially when Henry is already engaged to the haughty Lucilla. But Matilda still thinks she'd suit Henry better…and it looks like he might agree!

Matilda Paige is a plain girl working a simple job, helping resident doctor Henry Lowell heal the people of Somerset County. She has to split her time between her quiet boss, her ailing dad and a mother who wants to return to her former glory. While the job isn’t particularly hard, Matilda just can’t figure out Henry. On top of everything his fianc?e, Lucia, is aloof and disparaging, hiding a mean soul under a beautiful face. Matilda may have a crush on her boss, but can she heal his heart and show him that a little warmth might be just what the doctor ordered?

The Golden Nugget “Matilda’s Night Out and the Fortune Teller” is a fun short fiction story meant to offer its readers a bit of adventure and enjoyment. The story is a contemporary urban fairy tale that is bestowed upon the story characters by requiring that they each use “magical realism,” which is needed in order to create positive change and which arrives by way of encouragement of a warm, very likeable well-traveled experienced fortune teller. Unlike Cinderella, the magic of the fairy tale continues on into the everyday world in which the characters live. An unexpected special occasion and night out results in all having a fun time and a welcome surprise. The story identifies the significance of past, ancient story tales of many world cultures, which still influence us today for positive good. Folklore and foxfire used in past tradition is known today as contemporary folk magic, which gives each of us a bit of stardust and offers each of us hope today in understanding why superstitions, personal beliefs, good versus evil, the powers of “magical realism,” positive thought and one’s belief in self-magic reveal how folktales intend to heal the human spirit and instill one’s belief in both natural and self-magic. The purpose of the book is to encourage each of us to appreciate the true meaning of the first gypsy legends, who were the first trendsetter pioneers and human legends, whom both established and carried on enjoyable American traditions. The book encourages each of us to “never stop believing in the magic.” If you know of at least three superstitions you personally believe in or know of just for fun and know of a few special fairy tales, you should enjoy this book.

The story of the twelfth-century rivalry for the throne between the daughter and the nephew of Henry I—a battle that tore England apart for over a decade. The Anarchy was the first civil war in post-Conquest England, enduring throughout the reign of King Stephen between 1135 and 1154. It ultimately brought about the end of the Norman dynasty and the birth of the mighty Plantagenet kings. When Henry I died having lost his only legitimate son in a shipwreck, his barons had sworn to recognize his daughter Matilda, widow of the Holy Roman Emperor, as his heir, and remarried her to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. But when she was slow to move to England upon her father’s death, Henry’s favorite nephew, Stephen of Blois, rushed to have himself crowned, much as Henry himself had done on the death of his brother William Rufus. Supported by his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen made a promising start, but Matilda would not give up her birthright and tried to hold the English barons to their oaths. The result was more than a decade of civil war that saw England split apart. Empress Matilda is often remembered as aloof and high-handed, Stephen as ineffective and indecisive. By following both sides of the dispute and seeking to understand their actions and motivations, Matthew Lewis aims to reach a more rounded understanding of this crucial period of English history—and ask to what extent there really was anarchy.

Excerpts from Roahl Dahl's book and the movie, Matilda, and a behind the scenes discovery of what it's like to be a kid in a movie.