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I recently ran across a hardbound edition of this book, and as it was inexpensive and a childhood favorite, I decided to pick it up. (Most of my favorite books I do not own, as I have always made excellent use of the public library. Unfortunately, this also means that many of my favorite books are now out of print and unavailable.)
Reading this book was a fascinating experience as there was my adult self reading it and rediscovering my little girl self in among the pages. The book from my adult viewpoint is good, but not as incredible as my little girl self thought it to be. The story of the cousins that are thrust into the unkind 19C world by an evil governance and by their struggles to reclaim their rightful place in the world, though highly contrived to the adult reader, were solace for the soul of the little girl reader. I think that little girl reader was always looking for her chance to claim her rightful place in the world. She had faith that she wouldn't always be in a struggling family wearing Salvation Army clothes. Somewhere there was a place where little girls and the things they love, beautiful dresses, toys, paint brushes were cherished.
I think the big-girl reader still wants that cozy place, but identifies more with Dido Twit, the resourceful street brat of the subsequent books in the series, than Sophie and Bonnie, the heroines of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I'm interested in rereading the rest of the series (which Joan Aiken adds to every few years. Her latest in the adventures of Dido Twit Dangerous Games came out a few years ago. In subsequent years, Ms. Twit still hasn't found her way home, though she has improved the living conditions of children all over the world, freeing them from coal mines, factories, pirates, utopian societies, and perhaps the most frightening of all, Queen Guinevere who had moved Camelot, the Lake, and Excalibur to South America, where she still lived, keeping her youth through the dark arts and the ritual sacrifice of children.
I didn't care for Dido's adventures as a child. I found her rough and didn't identify with her very much; perhaps that is changed now. I will have to find out.
Overall Rating: B - Better than average. I still love this book out of nostalgia and a genuine respect for its author. But she has many more exciting things to author. Don't let this be the only thing you ever read by Joan Aiken.
Recommendations: If you like this book, please consider Peppermints in the Parlor by Barbara Brooks Wallace.
Reading this book was a fascinating experience as there was my adult self reading it and rediscovering my little girl self in among the pages. The book from my adult viewpoint is good, but not as incredible as my little girl self thought it to be. The story of the cousins that are thrust into the unkind 19C world by an evil governance and by their struggles to reclaim their rightful place in the world, though highly contrived to the adult reader, were solace for the soul of the little girl reader. I think that little girl reader was always looking for her chance to claim her rightful place in the world. She had faith that she wouldn't always be in a struggling family wearing Salvation Army clothes. Somewhere there was a place where little girls and the things they love, beautiful dresses, toys, paint brushes were cherished.
I think the big-girl reader still wants that cozy place, but identifies more with Dido Twit, the resourceful street brat of the subsequent books in the series, than Sophie and Bonnie, the heroines of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I'm interested in rereading the rest of the series (which Joan Aiken adds to every few years. Her latest in the adventures of Dido Twit Dangerous Games came out a few years ago. In subsequent years, Ms. Twit still hasn't found her way home, though she has improved the living conditions of children all over the world, freeing them from coal mines, factories, pirates, utopian societies, and perhaps the most frightening of all, Queen Guinevere who had moved Camelot, the Lake, and Excalibur to South America, where she still lived, keeping her youth through the dark arts and the ritual sacrifice of children.
I didn't care for Dido's adventures as a child. I found her rough and didn't identify with her very much; perhaps that is changed now. I will have to find out.
Overall Rating: B - Better than average. I still love this book out of nostalgia and a genuine respect for its author. But she has many more exciting things to author. Don't let this be the only thing you ever read by Joan Aiken.
Recommendations: If you like this book, please consider Peppermints in the Parlor by Barbara Brooks Wallace.
