book data
85 ratings, 3.86 average rating, 12 reviews
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published
October 28th 2002
(first published 1974)
by Houghton Mifflin
binding
Paperback, 292 pages
isbn
0618196250
(isbn13: 9780618196258)
description
Now, back in print, the engaging and suspenseful British fantasy by one of England's most imaginative storytellers. Lucas Bell is lonely and miserable...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 107)
I am on a major Joan Aiken kick.
I am amazed by much of what she does: strong-willed & smart young protagonists, dizzying plots, a delight in language including excellent cockney slang, a fine historical sense for detail, and the occasional odd metaphysical touch such as telepathy or Arthurian legends come to life. What a genius! I have enjoyed everything I've read by her, and am pleased she was so prolific because there's so much left to explore.
This book finds her in a more restrai...more
I am amazed by much of what she does: strong-willed & smart young protagonists, dizzying plots, a delight in language including excellent cockney slang, a fine historical sense for detail, and the occasional odd metaphysical touch such as telepathy or Arthurian legends come to life. What a genius! I have enjoyed everything I've read by her, and am pleased she was so prolific because there's so much left to explore.
This book finds her in a more restrai...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
no one
Two orphans who don't even like each other at first are thrown together after their house burns down, their guardian dies, and their tutor is injured in the fire. (What a start!) Lucas and Anna Marie have to find a place to live, a place to work, and avoid the local gang. This is set in a very dark version of Victorian England, and both children wind up going through some really terrible things.
I have read books by this author before, and she often deals with dark themes. What bothered me ab...more
I have read books by this author before, and she often deals with dark themes. What bothered me ab...more
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Really I can't say it is a 5 star until I am done reading it. I really like it so far though. It is not a joke book. Joan Aiken is a very dark writer. It is very cute though, the relationships between the two main characters.
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Read in November, 2007
The plot and attitude of this book have a definite Lemony Snicket feel. I researched a bit to see if Aiken was one of Daniel Handler's influences and couldn't find any proof of it, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if she were.
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The only thing I remember from this book is the fact that the little French girl said that someone "smelled like sneeze." I think that is so apt!
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recommended to Thorn by:
found it by accident. (was already a crazy fan of the 'wolves' b
recommends it for: joan aiken fans, people who feel like dickens, but without the commitment.
recommends it for: joan aiken fans, people who feel like dickens, but without the commitment.
this book is incredibly suspenseful, and fascinating food for the imagination. i highly recommend it.
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Read in August, 2007
A riveting young adult novel, although the plot doesn't really gel at times.
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Read in November, 2003
recommends it for:
Fans of Victorian Melodrama, Joan Aiken fans, Lemony Snicket Readers...
Although this entertaining Victorian melodrama shares no characters with any of the books in Aiken's Wolves Choronicles, it is set in the same fictional Britain as the series. Opening in Blastburn, the dreary industrial city last seen in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, the novel follows the adventures of Lucas and Anna-Marie, two well-to-do children who find themselves unexpectedly orphaned and penniless.
As Lucas and Anna-Marie struggle to survive in a cold and hostile world, t...more
As Lucas and Anna-Marie struggle to survive in a cold and hostile world, t...more
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Read in October, 2008
Aiken is very good at dark children's fiction set in bleak Victorian England, and this is no exception. A little preachy and not as good as I remember Wolves of Willoughby Chase being, but certainly not bad.
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Older kids and Adults
Outstanding, scary, heartwarming, epic. A must read.
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