Joan Aiken
Hardcover | Pages: 230 pages Rating: 4.14 | 4001 Users | 188 Reviews
Describe Books As Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2)
| Original Title: | Black Hearts in Battersea |
| Series: | The Wolves Chronicles #2 |
| Characters: | Dido Twite |
Explanation During Books Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2)
Simon, a minor character in Black Hearts in Battersea (but one who clearly took over Aiken's heart), leaves Yorkshire for London where he can study painting. However, after arriving in London at the home of the Twite family, he is mystified by the disappearance of his mentor, Dr. Field. No one admits to having seen Dr. Field but there are hints he has been at the Twites, in addition to the letter he sent Simon urging him to come stay with him there. Simon enrolls at the art academy as planned and obtains a job nearby, and is happy to be reunited with Sophie, an orphan he knew years before, who is now employed by the eccentric but warm-hearted Duke and Duchess of Battersea. How Simon seeks his fortune in London while navigating the danger posed by Hanoverian plotters is very satisfying historical fiction.Mention About Books Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2)
| Title | : | Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2) |
| Author | : | Joan Aiken |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First American Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 230 pages |
| Published | : | 1964 by Doubleday & Company |
| Categories | : | Childrens. Fantasy. Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Adventure. Young Adult |
Rating About Books Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2)
Ratings: 4.14 From 4001 Users | 188 ReviewsWrite-Up About Books Black Hearts in Battersea (The Wolves Chronicles #2)
This second volume in the Wolves Chronicles follows the adventures of Simon the goose-boy, who journeys to London from the Willoughby estate, intent on studying art and becoming a great painter. Nothing is quite as he expected however, and as he makes friends in places high and low, Simon soon finds himself at the center of a dastardly Hanoverian plot...A humorously convoluted Victorian melodrama, complete with plots, assassination attempts, kidnappings, shipwrecks, hidden identities, secret4 and 1/2 stars. Young Simon from "Wolves" goes off to London to learn to paint. He plans to live with his friend Dr. Field, but when the boy arrives in the city, the doctor has vanished without a trace. Breathless non-stop adventure from the first page, "Black Hearts" is the sequel to "Wolves of Willoughby Chase." A delightful mixture of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
(view spoiler)[ Bettie's Books (hide spoiler)]
I love these books. It's hard to explain, because they are so very weird: the language is old-fashioned, plausibility is left at the door, coincidence abounds. I mean, it even has the old "orphan kid is really a great person, even though very disadvantaged in upbringing, but oh wow it turns out he's really a duke" trope - twice! I usually hate that, but I don't get an overwhelmig feeling of classism from Aiken. I mean, her very best character - Dido! - is a poor child, and though many of the
Simon, a minor character in Black Hearts in Battersea (but one who clearly took over Aiken's heart), leaves Yorkshire for London where he can study painting. However, after arriving in London at the home of the Twite family, he is mystified by the disappearance of his mentor, Dr. Field. No one admits to having seen Dr. Field but there are hints he has been at the Twites, in addition to the letter he sent Simon urging him to come stay with him there. Simon enrolls at the art academy as planned
DIDO!!!!!!!also schemes and kings and Sophie and all sorts of goodness.
From BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Drama:A dramatisation of Joan Aiken's classic children's adventure. Young Simon comes to 18th century London to study painting - and finds himself caught up in wicked Hanoverian plots to overthrow the king.
0 Comments