Book Review: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

[osprey_archer]

When littlerhymes and I were slogging through A Place of Greater Safety, I complainted that I wanted to read something lighter and more fun. “What about The Wolves of Willoughby Chase?” suggested littlerhymes.

I have long meant to read Joan Aiken, so I replied, “Sure!”

Reader, this was an excellent choice. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase IS light and fun! It takes place in an alternate universe England where King James II was never driven from the throne, so in 1832 England is still ruled by the Stuarts, who have built a tunnel under the English channel through which many wild and savage wolves have emigrated to England. (littlerhymes’ copy had a note explaining this backstory. Mine did not.)

Does this exactly make sense? No. Does Joan Aiken care if this exactly makes sense? Also no. Joan Aiken wants wolves and Joan Aiken is going to have wolves and Joan Aiken’s wolves fling themselves at train windows to try to attack the passengers inside and that’s all there is to it.

Our heroines are Bonnie Green, sole daughter of Sir Willoughby the lord of Willoughby Chase, and her cousin Sylvia Green, who is coming to visit for the first time as Sir Willoughby and his wife travel to warmer climes in the hope that Mrs. Green will regain her health. Bonnie and Sylvia are instant best friends, which is fortunate, as they have been left in the charge of their distant cousin the wicked Miss Slighcarp, who soon announces that Bonnie’s parents have perished at sea and sends the girls away to an evil orphanage!

“YES I LOVE AN EVIL ORPHANAGE!” I yelled, and this orphanage is indeed MOST satisfactorily evil. The children are starved! forced to work! shiver all night under inadequate blankets! and the headmistress Mrs. Brisket (love these names) bribes them to inform on each other with slivers of cheese from a basket.

Fortunately Bonnie and Sylvia soon escape with the help of Bonnie’s friend the goose boy Simon. They spend two months driving the geese to London to be sold! (Fortunately all the wolves have migrated north at this point with the coming of spring. Well, fortunately for the children, littlerhymes and I agreed we would have enjoyed more wolf action.)

Eventually good is rewarded and evil punished. A most satisfactory children’s book of the old-fashioned sort.

littlerhymes and I have decided to read at least the first five, plus Midnight is a Place (which I am perhaps less reliably informed also features an Evil Orphanage?), and perhaps more if the spirit moves us. I am reliably informed that this book is the most normal of the entire Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, so I am looking forward to reporting back as things get weirder.

Comments

[asakiyume]

I loved this book. It contributed heavily to one of my kids being named Sylvia (why not Bonnie, you ask? IDK: I liked the name Sylvia!) It was thanks to this book that I always yearned to ice skate on a river (and instead would ice skate on the tiny creeks in the neighborhood), that I had a deep appreciation of wonderful woolen clothes (at least in fiction! In real life---?) and the power of CHEESE. Also, I thought Blackburn was really called Blastburn for a while.

[philomytha]

I remember reading lots of Joan Aiken at school, but other than vague memories of wolves, snow, trains and cold, I can't recall anything of the plot - I enjoyed them but they didn't make my reread-obsessively list - so I look forward to hearing more!

[ethelmay]

I think in addition to being the most normal it might also be the least violent. Aiken can get pretty grim.

[teenybuffalo]

Heeheehee hoohoohoo I am EXCITE for your future thoughts on these books. I read them when I was too young to realize they were alternate history, giving me a strange perspective on England's past. This book is by far the most normal, and it's a good standalone experience (but this world and these kids Go Places, and you haven't even met my favorite character yet!)

Midnight Is A Place is good too. It may have an orphanage, but I remember what it does have is an EVIL FACTORY. I'm talking dark Satanic mills.

[sovay]

plus Midnight is a Place (which I am perhaps less reliably informed also features an Evil Orphanage?)

Mostly it has a Gothic mansion and a dark satanic mill. It's my favorite of her children's novels.

[luzula]

I also greatly enjoyed this book! You can look forward to, among other things, evil Hanoverian plots to shoot Good King James from across the Atlantic with a cannon. Also there is Bonnie Prince George, which I find hilarious.

[genarti]

I cannot WAIT for you to encounter more Aiken. :D She is reliably incredibly gonzo, and I deeply respect it.

[rachelmanija]

I am reliably informed that this book is the most normal of the entire Wolves of Willoughby Chase series

LOLOLOL oh boy both you and your readers are in for a treat.

(I think the next one isn't that weird? I don't remember it well.)

[black_bentley]

My favourite Joan Aiken was always Black Hearts in Battersea - I think it's technically a sequel to Wolves of Willoughby Chase (which I've never actually read). There's a shipwreck, and also a hot air balloon :D

[kore]

I loved that book so much as a kid! Had no idea then that there were sequels. I've read some of them since, but a reread could be fun.

[littlerhymes]

*modestly* You're so right, it was a brilliant suggestion by Me.

I'm reading through the comments here and SATANIC MILL? Can't wait.

[nnozomi]

Oh wow, you're making me want to read Joan Aiken again for the first time in many years. Some of them were honestly too grim for me (I have vivid memories of the atmosphere of Midnight Is A Place and some of its more horrifying moments, after decades, even though it's a very good book), but they're fascinating. I think my favorites were The Stolen Lake and Dido and Pa? Looking forward to further reviews.

[skygiants]

If you read all the way up through Is Underground you get to a cruel and evil MINE full of TELEPATHIC orphans!!