This is one of my all-time favorite books. I have vivid memories of reading it as a little girl & loving it. I remember reading it several times & I remember that I could never remember the author, but I could remember where the book was in the library. I can see it in my mind's eye today - just enter through the children's entrance of the old Main Public Library building in Memphis & make a left turn; walk along the stacks & you'll find it in the second or third stack over. Memphis got a new public library building back in 2001 & I don't know what happened to the building at McLean & Peabody, but it was the first library that I really knew. My mother was Coordinator of Children's Services there when I was a kid & the Children's Room was like a second home for me. I read lots of great books out of that library - fairy tales & Judy Blume & Roald Dahl & so many others. Still, this book has stuck with me & I was glad to read it again.

This book has everything you could want in a gothic children's tale: an evil governess, evil servants, a shipwreck, two daring (& competent - love that word) girl cousins, a trek across England to Smithfield Market with a adventuresome goose boy, an exploitative orphanage with a wicked headmistress & her equally wicked daughter, & wolves - lots of hungry wolves! A lot happens in the 181 pages of this book with cover illustration by Edward Gorey.

This is a wonderful, rich story filled with secret passages & evil doings & drastic happenings. Bonnie & her cousin, Sylvia, must rescue themselves from the orphanage & school where they are banished by the evil Miss Slighcarp, a governess who steals Willoughby Chase & all the estate's money after Bonnie's parents are shipwrecked. The tale of their adventures is inspiring & fun & downright perfect. Recommended for ages 12 & up, although I was much younger the first time I read it. Find a kid & read it with them today! ( )

The classic children's novel seems to be forgotten by many, but having reread it as an adult, i found it just as engrossing as I did when 10. ( )

This was read to us at school and then I bought my own copy and read it again. Fantastic story! ( )

Sylvia goes to live with her cousin, Bonnie, at Willoughby Chase just when Bonnie’s parents are leaving and the estate is falling into the hands of Miss Slighcarp. Miss Slighcarp abuses her power and sends the cousins off to a bad school for orphans and catapults them on an adventure to claim what is rightfully theirs.

“The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” is a dark and fun adventure story. The wolves as images are masterfully done and any reader may come to hate the villain Miss Slighcarp. The point of view does shift throughout the novel and readers are never fully allowed to enter the head of one character. If Aiken had entered the mind of her characters more fully, the adventure might have been even more enjoyable. Aiken’s reliance on adverbs was also taxing at times.

Quite a good adventure for kids. Scary, yes, but not overly so. Anglophile, yes. Full of big words they won't know, but they'll figure 'em out - your kids are smart. And the cover art is by Edward Gorey, what more could you want? ( )