Ally, Ally, Aster

by Ann Halam

It was bad enough when new neighbours intruded into Richard's life on the lovely, lonely Caldhouse Moor, but even worse when his mum suggested he befriend the strange new girl, Ally. This is a fantasy of myth and magic in the modern world.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 1981

About the author

Ann Halam is a pseudonym of Gwyneth Jones.

As well as being a children’s author, Ann Halam writes adult science fiction and fantasy books as the popular and prizewinning author Gwyneth Jones. Her most recent titles for Wendy Lamb Books are Dr. Franklin’s Island, Taylor Five, and Siberia. She lives in Brighton, England.

Reviews

[Capn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I am reviewing this several months after having read it, so this won't be quite as useful a review as I'd like, which is particularly disappointing seeing as it's the first one on GR. So my apologies. Please read this book and write a better one! Here's the backcover:

Ally, Ally, Aster,
Snow, Snow Faster...

Richard and Laura aren't very keen on making friends with the next-door neighbour's pale, cold daughter Ally when they move to the isolated cottages on Cauldhouse Moor. There's something strange, almost inhuman, about her. But it's only as the bitter winter winds and snow draw in around the bleak moors that Richard and Laura discover that Ally is more than a little icy ...

This is a chilling, supernatural fantasy.

Cover Illustration by Paul Finn

And here's the summary from the inside jacket (the different spellings of Cauld House Moor / Cauldhouse Moor are not my typo):

Richard Pledge did not want to know the girl next door. It was bad enough to suffer the intrusion of new neighbours on lovely, lonely Cauld House Moor, without having to take under his wing the wispy, pale, pathetic little Ally. Mum said she had a sad history, and should be befriended. Richard resisted - somehow he knew it would be better to leave well alone. That autumn Richard tried hard to stay out of trouble. He ignored the strange hints about Ally from his friend Dr Radleigh, he restrained his sister's fantasies about kidnapped heiresses and wicked guardians. But Laura's fantasies got wilder, and more sinister . . . Shadows of witchcraft and the far-off past gathered around Cauld House, as the winter began. What are the neighbours doing in the cellar? Why is it getting so cold, so very cold? Why are the villagers so unfriendly? What is happening to Ally Shore? She seems to be changing - was she ever really a little girl?

Ally, Ally Aster is an atmospheric story of magic forces in the modern world.

Ann Halam is the pen name of author Gwyneth Jones, who writes science fiction for adults. Ann Halam's other books in Puffin are King Death's Garden and The Daymaker. She is married and lives in Brighton.

Playing right into my wheelhouse, this is the sort of creepy juvenile fantasy I relish. I think it was set around Leeds, but that could just be my faulty memory at this point (it is either in Yorkshire or just neighbouring it, anyway). A family moves into an ancestral or inherited semi-detached home up on the windy, frosty moors and discovers a chilling presence next door. The new girl at school is just a little too cool, if you catch my drift.

Loved how this was playing on a local schoolyard rhyme: Snow, snow faster; ally, ally aster I did try to look into this more, but kept finding references back to this unreviewed book. "Rain, rain faster, ally, ally aster" was the more prevalent variant I found. The only interesting tidbit was that "ally, ally" was probably transmuted from allez, allez (that's French: go, go), and if this wasn't set in or near Leeds, the rhyme might have tended to geolocate to that general area.

The story also has some reference to Viking mythology as well. And, again, my memory is like a sieve these days - I think it is the case where one sibling sees the supernatural much more clearly than the other, and the interplay between Richard and Laura was somewhat novel as they worked together to weather the storm, as it were.

The book has a few weaknesses that I can recall - I especially disliked Dr Radleigh as a character, as she was a little too high-powered to make so peripheral a character, unless I completely missed the inferences there. I wanted to know a lot more about her than this book gave.

None of the books I've read by this author were ever sufficiently polished, I felt. I think that's why she's been overlooked for awards: the concepts and imagery and atmosphere is wonderfully described, but the plot structure always leaves a few too many lumpy bits. It's not bad, it's just rough around the edges. You'd have to like the story for the concept and contents, because deftness in the storytelling is just a little on the weak side. Still, I've got another book by Jones/Halam in the wings, and I'm really looking forward to it. She never disappoints me.