They even include – spoiler warning – a pregnancy as a result of a forced marriage. The books are deeply creepy and utterly compelling, but they also deal fearlessly with some genuinely challenging subject matter, including bereavement, isolation and the painful straining of a relationship between two siblings who’ve come to depend on one another. The tale of two orphaned children sent to live with an eccentric elderly lady on Yorkshire’s North Sea coast, it draws deeply on local history, myth and legend. James and I tore through them all, but it was the Whitby Witches trilogy that captivated us most powerfully. His Deptford Mice series is packed with complex, fleshed-out characters to equal just about anything in grown-up literature, and his Wyrd Museum trilogy is a terrifying clash between good and evil with a body count to rival George RR Martin. As a child I read every Robin Jarvis I could get my hands on – I loved his dark, supernatural fantasy stories. Even my beloved Roald Dahl books didn’t seem so funny anymore.īut the books I’d loved most in my younger days retained their magic. James liked the Hardy Boys, but I couldn’t work out what had attracted me to one detective story after another when they were so lightweight and formulaic. As a boy I’d loved Tom’s Midnight Garden, but we baled out after four chapters.
What if rereading these stories with adult eyes revealed their flaws, tarnishing the memories I’d carried for decades? I’d first read them as I was starting to discover who I really was, and while part of me was thrilled at the idea of revisiting them, I was also a little worried.
I’ve been reading stories with James ever since he was a toddler, but these books were special.
0 kommentar(er)
