Rating: 
Summary: Still enchanting after all these years.
Review: Joan Aiken, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Delacorte, 1963)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was one of my whole class' favorite books in fourth and fifth grade. While looking for a copy of it on ebay once, I stumbled upon a film of the same name, based on the book, never released in America. I figured it was time to re-read the book before tracking down the movie.
It holds up exceptionally well. Bonnie and Sylvia's adventures are just as fun forty years later as they were back when the book came out. A few of the more esoteric references may confuse younger readers (but this is a great opportunity for parents to get into "when I was your age..." stories, so we won't hold that against it). In case you've been living in a cave since 1963, the story follows Bonnie and Sylvia, a plucky pair of youngsters. Bonnie has been spoiled rotten by her loving parents, while Sylvia grew up hard on the streets of London, looked after only by a doting aunt. The two of them come together at Willoughby Hall only days before Bonnie's parents leave on a long sea voyage. To keep the girls out of trouble and oversee the house while they're gone, the parents hire Miss Slighcarp, a distant cousin none of them has ever met. Miss Slighcarp, of course, turns out to be nothing like Bonnie's parents, and complications ensue.
Oddly, the book works partly because it shouldn't. Spoiled brats should never be as sympathetic as Bonnie is (though her transformation into a resourceful and productive member of society is a time-honored subplot done very well here), but Bonnie's engaging manner helps the reader get through the setup; it tends to jar at times, for example when she's cheerfully oblivious to her own thoughtlessness while showing Sylvia around the toyroom. All, though, goes to advance the plot nicely.
The book's largest failing has nothing to do with the book itself, but with the dust jacket synopsis, which gives away most of the book before the cover is even cracked. Do copywriters of this sort get fired from publishing houses? I certainly hope so.
A lovely piece of work, worth getting reacquainted with. If you've never read it, do so now; it doesn't matter if you've already reached adulthood. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is enchanting for all ages. *** ½
Rating: 
Summary: This book rocks!!!!
Review: Have a child that loves Lemony Snicket? Read them this book. Have a child interested in dark gothic tales involving secret passages and cruel hungry wolves? Read them this book. Have a child? Read them this book.An admission: When I was a child I avoided this book like the plague. Why? Because I grew up in a time when books about girls and lovable wolves/dolphins/ponies (etc.) were what all the young ladies were reading. In a kind of rebellion against my sex I steadfastly decided not to read anything girly. Looking at "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" I simply saw the word "wolves" and moved on. I probably thought it was something akin to the pandering "Julie of the Wolves". Had I been a little more vigilant in my cover perusal, I might have notices that the aforementioned wolves are pictured slathering and drooling in anticipation of eating two young girls dressed all in furs. This is not one of those I-Love-Wolves books you hear so much about. It is rather, an old fashioned anti-wolf tale that delves into the seamy underbelly of class and corruption. And it is remarkably good. Young Sylvia is being sent to live with her cousin Bonnie. Sylvia is an orphan, raised only by her elderly Aunt Jane and she is a frail lonely child. Bonnie, by contrast, is a rich boisterous young girl with a house full of pretty things and kind servants. When Bonnie's parents leave for several months, the girls are placed in the care of the vile Miss Slighcarp and her partner in crime, Mr. Grimshaw. Soon enough the children are packed off to a horrendous boarding school and must find a way back to their house and home using their wits and a couple faithful friends. The tale is rife with all the aspects of a Dickensian style novel made palatable to younger children. There are caricatured men and women with over-stylized names. There are moments of dire peril (without ever becoming too too dire) and lovely descriptions of pretty clothes and delicious food. The book does rely on a couple old-fashioned stereotypes, but this is not particularly surprising. Like many a Victorian novel, the true villains of this piece are members of the lower classes that wish to use any means to be above their stations. Hence, a governess that goes about wearing the clothes of her employer is considered the height of evil itself. But if the book is a flashback to the past, it's a flashback we've all needed for some time. Pat Marriott's original illustrations in pen and ink deftly create the atmosphere so needed for this kind of a story. Elements of this tale will remind children of other famous books they may have read in the past. The thin Miss Slighcarp and her overweight boarding school friend Mrs. Brisket (could it BE any more Oliver Twist?) are not too dissimilar to the evil aunts in "James and the Giant Peach". And the plucky young lad Simon who lives alone and on his own is not much different from Dickens in "The Secret Garden". But just because these elements seem similar, this is not to say that the book feels repetitive or overdone. Instead, it's an interesting story that contains just enough danger to make the plot interesting without scaring younger kid readers too much. A success as a book and a wonderful tale.
Rating:
Summary: Can't say enough
Review: This book is a masterpiece, truly.
When I was ten, I wrote Ms. Aiken. And she wrote me back! I told her I wanted to write too and she wished me luck. Now I have several short stories published and I'm nearly completed with my first novel.
Thank you, Joan Aiken.
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