Hazel
27th March 2009, 11:45 AM
Mark and his mother move from London to Brighton to be with his new stepfather. Mark does not like Brighton, nor his new stepfather. In between trying to learn skateboarding and fighting with the stepfather, Mark discovers a few things. He discovers the truth about his mother and father's split. He discovers the sad truth causing his mother's mood swings, tiredness and reliance on the new father. And intriguingly, he discovers another world in another time.
Alienated from everyone, Mark find a friendship with the old lady that luives in the basement rooms of his stepfather's Georgian building. When he bought it, she came with it and a codicil that there she must remain until she dies. In the shadowy confines of her home, Mark finds a secret door and passageway that leads him directly into the basement rat-runs of a Georgian home, in Georgian times, where the servants of the house are busy at work. At first they assume that Mark is a friend of the family upstairs and so he is largely ignored or tolerated.
Slowly, Mark visits this odd place more and more, and it helps him discover and come to terms with what is happening 'upstairs' in his real life too.
I was completely seduced by the cover of this book: dusty. worn, antiquated with a mysterious key stealing the foreground. But unfortunately, the contents didn't quite live up to the promise of the cover. There's really not mystery or connection between what is happening in the historical servants quarters and what is happening to Mark now. The link isn't really tenuous enough to keep you interested. Also, and maybe this is down to my experienced reader/adult perspective the mystery surrounding Mark's mother and the 'mean' stepfather isn't a mystery at all and actually a rather simple, well-trodden path.
I really can't say if there is enough to keep your average teen captivated by this novel. It's written well, nothing sparkling, but the story is a bit of a let down.
Alienated from everyone, Mark find a friendship with the old lady that luives in the basement rooms of his stepfather's Georgian building. When he bought it, she came with it and a codicil that there she must remain until she dies. In the shadowy confines of her home, Mark finds a secret door and passageway that leads him directly into the basement rat-runs of a Georgian home, in Georgian times, where the servants of the house are busy at work. At first they assume that Mark is a friend of the family upstairs and so he is largely ignored or tolerated.
Slowly, Mark visits this odd place more and more, and it helps him discover and come to terms with what is happening 'upstairs' in his real life too.
I was completely seduced by the cover of this book: dusty. worn, antiquated with a mysterious key stealing the foreground. But unfortunately, the contents didn't quite live up to the promise of the cover. There's really not mystery or connection between what is happening in the historical servants quarters and what is happening to Mark now. The link isn't really tenuous enough to keep you interested. Also, and maybe this is down to my experienced reader/adult perspective the mystery surrounding Mark's mother and the 'mean' stepfather isn't a mystery at all and actually a rather simple, well-trodden path.
I really can't say if there is enough to keep your average teen captivated by this novel. It's written well, nothing sparkling, but the story is a bit of a let down.