What’s it all about?:
Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew’s fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure.
What did I think?:
Chrissi and I first came across Joan Aiken when we read the first book in this fantastic series, The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase last year as part of our Kid Lit challenge. We both loved it so much that we were determined to read the next in the series, Black Hearts In Battersea this year – and here it is! I have to be honest and say I didn’t enjoy Black Hearts In Battersea quite as much as the first book in the series but I was still utterly charmed and delighted by the characters, the setting and the general “feel” of the books which really comes across beautifully in the author’s evocative writing.
In this second instalment, we follow one of my favorite characters from The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase, Simon as he leaves home for a new, exciting adventure in London to pursue one of his dreams, painting. He is due to meet up with an old friend destined to become his mentor, Dr Field but when he arrives at his lodgings, the Twite family that reside there deny ever having heard of him. He manages to persuade them to give him a room (in the same room that his friend was supposed to be staying in….hmm!) and it is not long before his friendly, hard-working nature lands him with a job with the local smithy, Cobb and a chance to show off his artistic talent at a prestigious school for painters. He also manages to reconnect with another good friend, Sophie who is working as a maid in waiting for the Duchess of Battersea and he squeezes in a couple of rounds of chess with the rather eccentric Duke of Battersea when he too falls for Simon’s easy charm.
Along with all of this, Simon is working hard to try and piece together what has happened to Dr Field and look after the youngest girl in the Twite family, Dido who he feels is sorely neglected. It is not long before all the connections start to fall into place and Simon manages to uncover a horrific plan involving the Battersea family and some Hanoverian plotters who are determined to cause as much mayhem as possible to get what they believe is the true ruler of England on the throne. With the help of Dido, Sophie and the Duke of Battersea’s nephew, Simon embarks on a dangerous plot to protect his new friends and discovers a lot more about his own humble beginnings in the process.
One of my favorite things about The Wolves Chronicles is most definitely the characterisation. Simon, who was a relatively minor character in the first book, really comes into his own in Black Hearts In Battersea and I completely fell in love with his winning personality and protective nature, especially when it came to Dido Twite. Speaking of Dido, how wonderful is she? When she first appeared she was absolutely awful and I thought her mannerisms (and her mouth) were going to irritate me through the entire story. Then she turns it around and becomes someone you just want to look after and take far, far away from her hideous family. She has a little heroine moment near the end of the novel that I adored but really can’t say too much about for fear of spoilers, I just want everyone to read this and fall in love with Dido too. When I compare it with the first book I have to say I enjoyed the plot of Wolves more but I don’t think this should put you off reading this one in any way – it has its moments of quietness and contemplation where we’re simply enjoying getting to know the characters, but then there are these action sequences involving shipwrecks, hot air balloons and explosions that completely take your breath away.
For Chrissi’s fabulous review please check out her blog HERE.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
COMING UP IN NOVEMBER ON BETH AND CHRISSI DO KID-LIT: Witch Child by Celia Rees.
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