The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is a series of children's books written for the ages of 8-12 but honestly I enjoyed the first edition, The Mysterious Howling. Because it is a children's book you do have to lower your expectation about depth and tone but if you read it for what it is the novel is a wee gem. The story follows Miss Penelope Lumley a recent graduate from a school for 'poor bright females' as she works as a governess at Ashton Place. She is in charge of three children who were found in the surrounding woods and appear to have been raised by wolves. I don't think it is explicitly stated anywhere what year the story takes place in but I think its safe to assume that it is during the Victorian period, probably the mid 19th Century.
The tone of the book is light and for an adult reader it contains quite a bit of humour. The twist at the end, however, was not really as surprising to me as it might be for a reader within the target age-range. One of the only draw-backs is that it is by no means a stand-alone book. So far there are four books out in the series which I do intend to read at some point. Although I understand that this is just one part of a larger story it would have been nice to have more of a complete and rounded-off narrative in this book.
All-in-all I really did enjoy this book. It is really gorgeous to behold. From the cover to the naked hardback and even the end-pages and illustrations are just the cutest and would make any child (and child in adult's clothing) happy. The characters are engaging and the story simple and straightfoward.
Have you read any of the Incorrigible Children series? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Lots of Love
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*This post was not sponsored, all opinions are my own. Above image is not, sourced from here.
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