(This week I'm doing my first series, and it's books that I found delightful. I mean this in the best possible way: books that filled me with delight. This came about organically; I realized I was using 'delightful' to describe a lot of the books I was using, and rather than reaching for a thesaurus I'm going to embrace it.)Penelope Lumley, a fifteen-year-old recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, has just received her first job as a governess. She is dispatched to Ashton Place to be the governess for the three Incorrigible Children: Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia. It's not long before she realizes that there is something unusual about the Incorrigible Children - they were raised by wolves in the wilderness and Lord and Lady Ashton would like Miss Lumley to civilize them. Or do they? Lady Ashton would be quite happy to be rid of them altogether, and it seems like Lord Ashton is hiding some mysterious secrets of his own...
I was thoroughly charmed by this book from the first time that I saw the cover art, and actually reading it only confirmed my instinct. Miss Lumley's determination, idealism, and confusion make her the ideal protagonist for this kind of mystery. I think this is a perfect book for young people who don't yet know that they will love Jane Eyre or Northanger Abbey, as well as those who already do. Everything about this book, from the ending to the big "Book 1" note on the spine, point that this will be the first book in the series, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
Find it at IndieBound.
Read it with:
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
When I Met the Wolf Girls by Deborah Noyes
ooh, I like the idea of "delightful" reviews. This book sounds really interesting, glad you enjoyed it!
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