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Book Review: The Boggart Fights Back
Nov. 23rd, 2019 12:12 pmI approached Susan Cooper’s The Boggart Fights Back with trepidation, because it’s been it’s been almost thirty years since the first Boggart book was published, and I wasn’t too fond of the first sequel, The Boggart and the Monster...
But in the end I couldn’t resist, and it was delightful. (In fact, it was so delightful I might need to reread The Boggart and the Monster: perhaps I was unfair to it.) Twins Jay and Allie Cameron have come to spend two weeks in Scotland with their grandfather, only to discover that Castle Keep is in danger of being turned into a resort by a loudmouth American developer, Trout, who talks like this: “It’s going to be environmentally perfect. I’ve built resorts all over the world, and I’ve had many, many environmental awards.”
“He’s Trump,” I bleated, as I read his superlative-laden dialogue. “Oh my God, it’s Trump.”
You will be unsurprised to learn that Trout’s resorts have earned no environmental awards. Instead, they destroy local ecosystems. Moreover, despite his nattering about creating jobs, he actually brings in his own people to his resorts and leaves the locals out in the cold.
Fortunately, Castle Keep is the ancestral home of the boggart, who cannot but rise to his home’s defense. Trout/Trump is thoroughly routed by the boggart and the boggart’s cousin Nessie (a boggart who was the Loch Ness Monster for a few centuries), with a little assistance from the Cameron twins (and cameos from many beloved characters from the original Boggart books). They eventually recruit a Nuckelavee, and let me tell you, it’s VERY satisfying to see Trout nearly drowned by a horse demon.
Even aside from this real-world resonance, there are some beautiful scenes in this book. I particularly loved the part where Jay begins to sing a Scottish ballad about routing an English general, and as the song goes on and the other characters add their voices and eventually the boggarts join in with the sound of bagpipes, and the song is more than just a song, it’s knitting everyone together in preparation for the battle that lies ahead.
But in the end I couldn’t resist, and it was delightful. (In fact, it was so delightful I might need to reread The Boggart and the Monster: perhaps I was unfair to it.) Twins Jay and Allie Cameron have come to spend two weeks in Scotland with their grandfather, only to discover that Castle Keep is in danger of being turned into a resort by a loudmouth American developer, Trout, who talks like this: “It’s going to be environmentally perfect. I’ve built resorts all over the world, and I’ve had many, many environmental awards.”
“He’s Trump,” I bleated, as I read his superlative-laden dialogue. “Oh my God, it’s Trump.”
You will be unsurprised to learn that Trout’s resorts have earned no environmental awards. Instead, they destroy local ecosystems. Moreover, despite his nattering about creating jobs, he actually brings in his own people to his resorts and leaves the locals out in the cold.
Fortunately, Castle Keep is the ancestral home of the boggart, who cannot but rise to his home’s defense. Trout/Trump is thoroughly routed by the boggart and the boggart’s cousin Nessie (a boggart who was the Loch Ness Monster for a few centuries), with a little assistance from the Cameron twins (and cameos from many beloved characters from the original Boggart books). They eventually recruit a Nuckelavee, and let me tell you, it’s VERY satisfying to see Trout nearly drowned by a horse demon.
Even aside from this real-world resonance, there are some beautiful scenes in this book. I particularly loved the part where Jay begins to sing a Scottish ballad about routing an English general, and as the song goes on and the other characters add their voices and eventually the boggarts join in with the sound of bagpipes, and the song is more than just a song, it’s knitting everyone together in preparation for the battle that lies ahead.
