Creative premise, and interesting resolution, though somehow, not as compelling as some of his other work. ( )

The novel is definitely aimed at young readers. The main character is Mark, an eleven year old who is bored and restless. His parents have divorced and his mother has remarried. They recently moved to Brighton, a beach resort town. It is the off season and there aren’t many things for him to do. The weather is bad and his mother and stepfather never leave the house because his mother is very ill. Mark constantly argues with David, his stepfather. The house they live in has a basement apartment where a little old lady lives. Mark gets to know the lady and she explains to him that the basement of the house is where the servants lived and worked. He takes the key to the door that leads to the servant’s area and discovers that they are all still working there.

The servants working below stairs are an allegory of what happens when people struggle against one another instead of working together. The below stairs becomes a disorganized mess and Mark explains to the servants what their rolls are so that they can function smoothly again. He learns to stop constantly pushing to live the way he did when his parents were together. He starts to flow with the changes instead of struggling against them. This symbolism even stretches to his skateboarding where he learns to relax instead of trying to hard.

The story is written well and it was a very fast read. I bought it because it was nominated for the 2008 World Fantasy Award. The problem is there isn’t much fantasy here. It’s more about a young person learning to deal with life’s ups and downs. The story isn’t frightening and the servants aren’t ghosts. They are just there to illustrate a point. ( )

I think I would have liked The Servants better if I had been able to read it in one sitting. In putting down and picking it back up, I felt like I lost the thread of the narrative and certainly any ambiance and suspense that was building. Overall, the writing was good and there were moments that drew me any - Mark venturing into the servants quarters on his own for the first time - but I never could get over my dislike for the protagonist. This made it hard to sympathize and care what happened. The character never felt fully developed.

I will say that after reading the synopsis, I think that I was unfairly comparing this book to The Book of Lost Things and expecting something very similar. In the end there was no comparison for me. ( )

My expectations are too high for me to actually enjoy this.It was alright, not a proper return to MMS's form but more interesting than the Micheal Marshall books he's been writing lately. ( )

To start this review I think I need to say that this story is not frightening in the way I expected it to be. Anyone expecting vengeful ghosts in the attic will be disappointed. But hopefully they will then realise, like I did, that they are reading an absolute gem of a book and decide they don't care that it is so different.

Eleven year old Mark lives with his mother and step-father in a mostly converted house in Brighton, a place he has previously taken holidays with his mum and real dad. Mark's mum is sick and David, his step-father, doesn't seem to care about Mark unless it is a way to impress Mark's mum. Mark is left to wander the streets and meets the nameless old lady who lives in a self contained flat in the basement of their house. She reveals a secret to Mark that soon becomes a spooky obsession.

I found the book to be charming, spooky in places and scary in a more human way than any amount of ghosts and phantoms could have made it. It was well written and the characters were believable and I think it showed perfectly how helpless and angry a child experiencing divorce, remarriage, illness and isolation can feel. It was a great read for me and perhaps even one that my eleven year old nephew could also enjoy. ( )