The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Joan Aiken (author)

Random House, UK: 1962; 259pp

ISBN: 9780099456636

Genres: adventure, gothic

Issues: abuse, friendship

Extension vocabulary

A wonderful and exciting adventure of two young girls, set in the time of the fictional James III of England. Quiet and dutiful Sylvia travels to Willoughby Chase to live with her quick-tempered and warm-hearted cousin, Bonnie.

At the time of her arrival her aunt and uncle are about to leave on a cruise to build up her aunt's frail health. The sinister Miss Slighcarp is left in charge and it soon becomes apparent to the girls that all is not as it seems.

Who is the strange Josiah Grimshaw who claims to be a stranger, yet seems on such good terms with Miss Slighcarp? Why have all the servants been dismissed? And how are Bonnie and Sylvia to escape the dreadful boarding school to which they have been sent?

For those who've read other Joan Aiken stories, this introduces Simon, who appears in the other James III novels. Very strong characterisations, excellent female role models.

Warning: some descriptions are a little dark/gothic in nature; very high level vocabulary uses – dialect, older terms and more formal phrasing in sentences. I loved these and still do, others may find them too challenging.

Same series: Black Hearts in Battersea; Night Birds on Nantucket; The Stolen Lake; The Cuckoo Tree; Dido and Pa; Is

Same author: Midnight is a Place; The Whispering Mountain