The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Joan Aiken

Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+

Published by Vintage, 2012

Adventure
Classics
Fantasy
Historical

About this book

There are wolves outside the walls of Willoughby Chase, but for cousins Bonnie and Sylvia, the real danger lies inside. Their wicked governess Miss Slighcarp is working with a network of criminals, forgers and snitches to carry out a terrible plan. Bonnie and Sylvia must use all their wits if they are to escape their cruel governess - and the wolves.

Set in an alternative 1832, in which Good King James III is on the throne, and Britain is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a brilliantly inventive and imaginative offering from classic children's author Joan Aiken. Young readers who enjoy this story will relish the other wonderfully idiosyncratic stories in this series, which continues with Black Hearts in Battersea.

About the author

Joan Aiken wrote over a hundred books for young readers and adults and is recognized as one of the classic authors of the twentieth century. Amanda Craig, writing in The Times, said, 'She was a consummate story-teller, one that each generation discovers anew.' Her best-known books are those in the James III saga, of which The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first title, published in l962 and awarded the Lewis Carroll prize. Both that and Black Hearts in Battersea have been filmed. Her books are internationally acclaimed and she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the United States as well as the Guardian Award for Fiction in this country for The Whispering Mountain.

Joan Aiken was decorated with an MBE for her services to children's books. She died in 2004.