Midnight Is a Place

Some Joan Aiken books are perfect for when the days get colder and shorter, and this is one. Abandoned impoverished orphans thrown out into the the cold and the snow to survive while surrounded by villainy. In this case it's Lucas and Anna Maria, under the guardianship of the horrible Sir Randolph, who owns a particularly dark and satanic mill in the dark and satanic town of Blastburn. Lucas and Anna Maria seek employment, not too hard to come by since child labour is all the rage, the more disgusting and dangerous the better, and find themselves in deadly danger from a couple of different sources. Will they survive? Will they find a measure of comfort and security and love? Is Blastburn just too horrible to save, and most of the people show more in it likewise? A great read, full of the usual dark invention and strange horrors and homely delights. show less

Although this entertaining Victorian melodrama shares no characters with any of the books in Aiken's Wolves Chronicles, it is set in the same fictional Britain as the series. Opening in Blastburn, the dreary industrial city last seen in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, the novel follows the adventures of Lucas and Anna-Marie, two well-to-do children who find themselves unexpectedly orphaned and penniless.

As Lucas and Anna-Marie struggle to survive in a cold and hostile world, they also find themselves involved in many of the convoluted plot-lines for which Aiken is well-known. This well-constructed novel has always been one of the author's best-known works, but I have never found it as satisfying a read as some of her others. The show more characters simply don't interest me enough to arouse a strong emotional reaction. Fair or not, Anna-Marie is no Dido Twite. show less

Joan Aiken is a master at creating atmosphere, and _Midnight Is a Place_ is no exception. The book could well be called a Gothic novel for children, with its orphaned hero (and heroine), disagreeable guardian, mysterious events, and gloomy setting.

Lucas Bell, an orphan, lives with his guardian, Sir Randolph Grimsby, and his tutor, Julian Oakapple, in an old mansion called Midnight Court. Soon after the arrival of Anna Marie, another orphan and the grandchild of the previous owner of Midnight Court, Lucas and Anna Marie are forced to fend for themselves on the streets of the dismal city of Blastburn.

There is never a dull moment; the story speeds along, through the dangerous mill where the workers may be crushed by a press or drowned in show more glue, to the sewers where man-eating hogs run in packs. The force of Aiken's imagination is present on every page, in the suspenseful story, the memorable characters, and the ominous atmosphere. show less

I was interested to read this view of Blastburn, as compared to the Blastburn/Holdernesse/Playland in Is Underground. This is a far more realistic story than Is's - no magical thought messages or anything like that, just fraud, extortion, vicious pranks and plots, and a grim, dark setting. Plus, well, a couple kids - upper-class kids, at that - managing for themselves after every adult responsible for them is either dead, injured, or deliberately rejecting them - not very realistic, but still well-presented. For all that, there's hope - there's people who love one another, people striving to achieve their dreams and to help others to the same achievement, and a hopeful - not happy, but hopeful - ending. I can't quite see this show more Blastbourne turning into Is's - at least, not once Holdernesse turns out to be nice guy - but give it a generation or two and just about anything could happen. But then I'd have expected to find some Bells or Murgatroyds around the old town. Good story, and probably more worth rereading than most of the Wolves series proper. show less

Aiken does such a fabulous job of contrasting precocious children with adults who are either well-meaning but slightly incompetent at best or downright evil at worst. This story started out a little slow, but lived up to my Aiken expectations in the end.

The author, Joan Aiken, has a writing style that appealed to me as a child, but as an adult it still has me turning the pages of her books with alacrity, wondering how each situation will be resolved. There is only a little foreshadowing, too, though the younger reader might miss subtle references altogether. Good characters, twisty plots, and enough descriptions to illustrate the tale without bogging it down.

Not my favorite Joan Aiken - humor entirely absent, replaced with an extra dose of grimness and despair. I loved the character of Anna-Marie even if she was more mature and responsible at the age of eight than the average twenty-five-year-old.