The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken is a bizarre book. I'd describe it as a bit like Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather, with hints of classic books such as The Secret Garden. Published in 1962, it also has stylistic echoes of Philippa Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden, published just five years earlier. Aiken's book is set in a completely fictional era of British history, ruled over by Good King James III, in which the Channel Tunnel has already been built, allowing huge packs of wolves to come through the tunnel into Britain and cause havoc! You can see why I said it was bizarre now can't you!? The first half of the book is rife with wolf attacks, which reminded me of both Wuthering Heights and Dracula. I felt that this book was full of little nods to other texts, whether this was intentional or not I don't know, but it made it all the more enjoyable.
The story is a dark and mysterious tale, following the misfortunes of young cousins Bonnie and Sylvia. Bonnie is the richer of the two cousins, living in a grand house called Willoughby Chase with everything she could possibly want, and kind, loving parents. Sylvia lives in a small room in London with her elderly aunt, who is struggling to cope with looking after both of them on her meagre income. She sends Sylvia to live with her brother, Bonnie's father, and so the story begins.
Bonnie's parents leave for warmer climes, and her father leaves the two girls, and the estate, in the care of the new governess, and his distant cousin, Miss Slighcarp, who is bad news!! I won't give too much away, but she has her sights on the Willoughby Chase fortune! She instantly transforms life at Willoughby Chase, and telling Bonnie her parents have both drowned, she sends the girls to a school for orphans in a nearby industrial town. Here they are treated terribly, and it was this part of the story that reminded me of Jacqueline Wilson's book about the foundling Hetty Feather. Bonnie reminded me of Hetty in her bold and unbreakable attitude towards this cruel life, plotting escape, keeping herself well fed and looking after Sylvia too, who becomes very ill. Bonnie and Sylvia are helped to escape by Simon, a boy who breeds geese on the Willoughby Chase estate. The three of them travel up to London (with the geese) to find Bonnie's father's solicitor and put everything to rights.
The characters in this book are all really endearing, and we see them change over their adventure, particularly Sylvia who goes from being a very meek and fragile girl, to strong and confident character. Like a Dicken's novel, some of the characters names echo their personality traits, something that I think is useful in novels for children, signposting which characters to side with, and which to dislike! The governess is called Miss Slighcarp, as I've already mentioned, indicating her sneaky, and indeed sly, characteristics, and her accomplice is a Mr Grimshaw, who sounds instantly nasty! Mrs Brisket is the lady that runs the home for orphan girls, and is also in on the plot to steal the fortune. Her name suggests to me a strict and sharp lady, perfect for cruelly disciplining innocent children! In contrast to these characters, the friendly characters in the book seem to have names that echo nature, something that is portrayed as a positive force throughout the book (apart from when the wolves are around!). Bonnie's parents are Lord and Lady Green, an obvious link to nature and the earth, and on their journey the children meet Mr Wilderness the herbalist and blacksmith, and Dr Field, who are both very helpful. Lastly there is Mr Gripe the solicitor, whose name initially indicates that he might be a bad character, and we are not sure who's side he is on until the very end. However, it turns out that he had no idea about the antics of Miss Slighcarp, Mr Grimshaw and Mrs Brisket, and so the whole thing was a bit of headache for him, hence the name Gripe of course!
Despite being a rather bizarre concept, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was a really enjoyable adventure story, with hints of other much loved children's books and adult novels woven into the narrative, and recognisable in the characters too. I would recommend this book for adults and children alike. It's a bit scary to start with, with all the wolves and mysterious men, but it becomes much more child friendly as the story goes on, and you end up really routing for the characters.
Thanks for reading, L x
Next up, a classic picture book, Handa's Surprise.
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