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Lindsey Barraclough
Candlewick
July 10, 2012 /ASIN: B00887OVKC (Kindle)
Tweener / Horror / Ages 12 & up / Grade 7 & up / (1958 English
countryside)
Amazon
Reviewed
by Beth E. McKenzie
"Fairy
tales don't teach children that monsters exist. Children already
know that monsters exist. Fairy tales teach children that monsters
can be killed" - G K. Chesterton
There is a problem at Guerdon Hall. For generations the little ones
have disappeared as have the adults who get in the way. Now, after
living through two World Wars, Ida Eastfield hides behind locked
doors with nailed windows, plugged chimneys and the memories of
her losses: a brother, a son, her fiancé, her husband, a
niece, the children of neighbors. And now that new little girls
are in The Hall, the beast is on the prowl again.
The niece, Anne, and her older sister, Susan, were sent to the countryside
from London to avoid the dangers of the German bombing raids during
WWII. Anne disappeared while the older children at the hall were
hiding from her and Susan has never recovered from the guilt. Now
the mother to Cora and Elizabeth (Mimi), Susan is in an asylum and
girls have been shipped off to their great-Aunt Ida for care. There
is no way for their father to know that they would be safer running
wild on the streets of their Limehouse neighborhood than in the
seemingly bucolic Bryers Guerdon.
There are two lessons in this book. The first is for adults. Children
can't help protect themselves if they don't know the dangers, communicate
with them, "because I said so" may be expedient, but it
isn't good enough in the long haul. The second is for children.
Even seemingly senseless rules are probably for your own good, obey
them, but keep asking why it is important.
As an adult, I found this book very scary until it was evident Long
Lankin was a supernatural beast as opposed to a human stalker of
children. In the early parts of the book you know and the story's
adults know the children are being hunted, but the kids don't. They
go along and do normal kiddie things like ride their bikes, eat
sweets, get dirty and go where they were told not to go, exploring
their world. It could be that I was less frightened because as they
become aware of the danger they are more cautious and less innocent;
less vulnerable. It could also be that my "modern" mind
is less likely to believe in the bogey man when we have so much
evidence of human monsters. I think this well-told story will scare
the recommended age group, and if they are lucky, their parents
as well.
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