There is also an element of fantasy as the whole series occurs in an alternate reality where the king is different. The writing remains consistently, light and fun with most adults being caricatured or at least very odd, there are a few elements of magical realism - in the wolves in England for example.

Simon is a secondary character in the first book The Wolves of Willoughby Chase but becomes the primary character in Black Hearts in Battersea while in 'Black Hearts' Dido Twite is a secondary character but becomes the primary in Night Birds on Nantucket. I always feel a bit odd about reviewing collections and in this case I am going to say that I love the artwork on this omnibus, I think the three stories work together very well in a single volume, (though I needed some time between the first and the second) as they have some charcaters in common.

This is an omnibus comprising three books, all of Aiken's 'Wolves' chronicles. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.Īiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.Īnother series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series.

Her most popular series, the 'Wolves Chronicles' which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972). She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories. Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature.

Black hearts in battersea by joan aiken