The Boggart

A Scottish boggart finds himself in Canada in this charming middle-grade fantasy from Susan Cooper, author of the classic The Dark Is Rising Sequence, as well as many other wonderful books for children. Having lived with the MacDevon clan for centuries in their island stronghold, Castle Keep, the Boggart was an ancient being, capable of feeling but not even remotely human—a creature of the Wild Magic. Prone to mischief, he liked to play pranks on his family, but never intended real harm. When the last of the MacDevons died, and Castle Keep was inherited by a distant Canadian relative, the Boggart found himself accidentally transported to Toronto. Slowly settling in with the Volnik family, he found much to enjoy, from peanut butter to show more the wonder of electric gadgets, but in the end he didn't really understand this new world, and didn't belong there. Would the Boggart get home, with the help of the Volnik children, Emily and Jessup...?

I originally read The Boggart when it was first published, in 1993, and picked it up with eager anticipation, as I had read and reread Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence many times as a younger girl, and was hoping for more in the same vein. Other than the reference to the Wild Magic however, which can also be found in that epic pentalogy, this was a more domestic form of fantasy than those earlier works, and while I recall enjoying it, I also recall finding it a bit of a let-down, given my expectations. I wasn't sure how I would react on this recent reread, but I was pleased to find that I enjoyed it far more than I did when younger. It is well-written, with an engrossing story and engaging characters. I found Emily and Jessup sympathetic, but it was the Boggart who truly won me over. I thought Cooper did an excellent job of capturing the fundamental alienness of this creature, while also depicting moments of emotional resonance and connection that made me root for him to get home. The cover art for the edition I read (and once owned, before a flood destroyed my copy) was done by the marvelous Trina Schart Hyman, which is always an added bonus. All in all, I found this a most entertaining and engaging read, and am glad I picked it up again. I would recommend it to middle grade fantasy fiction fans, as well as to fellow Susan Cooper devotees.

Note: One detail which stood out to me on this reread, which I didn't catch when younger, was the scene in which Welshman Dai and Scotsman Willie discuss the Boggart, claiming that such a creature is called a pwca in Wales and a boggart in Scotland. Dai, a former Welsh Nationalist the narrative tells us, claims that he doesn't know what word the English use, speculating that they might have dogs instead of boggarts. I wasn't aware of this upon my first reading, but apparently the word boggart is English and comes from Lancashire, with the creatures more often called boggles or bogles in Scotland. I find it hard to believe Cooper wasn't aware of this, given her knowledge of folklore, so I found myself wondering whether the scene was some sort of inside joke?

Additional Note: I've been on a Susan Cooper kick recently, reading or rereading her work from my local public library. Until very recently, they owned a complete set of this series. But a few weeks before I was ready to take them out, they were weeded. What a terrible loss! I feel very badly that the children hereabouts won't have the opportunity to discover this gem on the library shelves, which seem more and more dominated by the most recent titles, few of which (I suspect) will have the staying power of Susan Cooper. show less

When the old MacDevon dies, Castle Keep on a Scottish island is inherited by the Volnick family. They visit their legacy before putting it on the market, and inadvertently ship the castle's mischievous boggart back to Toronto. What will a creature of Old Magic make of modern technology?

As you might expect, the computer parts of the story are solidly 1993, and some of the specs mentioned will give savvy modern readers a good laugh. Moving beyond that, it's obvious that Cooper is a master of her craft: the descriptions, the relationships between characters, and the emotion of the piece is spot on. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

Though set in Canada and Scotland, rather than the England, Cornwall, and Wales of Cooper’s more famous The Dark is Rising Sequence, and though more modern in tone, with computers and other technology readily available (in Canada if not always in the parts of Scotland the Volnik family visits) and Arthurian legends nowhere in evidence, The Boggart retains the magic of Cooper’s earlier works. And, like The Dark is Rising Sequence, though The Boggart is technically a children’s novel, it also holds something for those of us who, while chronologically out of that age range, are still children at heart.

Perhaps it is because many of us, like Emily and Jessup Volnik (age twelve and ten, respectively), have had past, or present, show more experience with parents, and other adults, who do not understand that some things, as with the “virtual unicorns” in Madeleine L’Engle’s Many Waters, have to be believed to be seen. Like L’Engle’s unicorns, the boggart of Cooper’s novel is not readily visible to human eyes (unless he chooses to be so), yet he, and his actions, have very definite—and, in Toronto, rather innocently malicious turned inadvertently dangerous—effects on his surroundings and the people living there. Effects that the Volnik sibling’s parents, and others in the city, attribute to Emily, despite both her and Jessup’s frantic assertions to the contrary.

This experience, of being disbelieved despite telling the truth, is one that many people have in common, and in combination with the boggart’s mischievousness and nearly palpable homesickness, and the believably sympathetic (or not so sympathetic, in the case of the psychologist interested in Emily) characters, makes The Boggart a book that is well-worth the read. show less

Utterly endearing. Susan Cooper's long been one of my favourite authors and she's lost none of her charm: this book is eminently readable even for an adult. The depiction of the Boggart is effective - it's no sweet Tinkerbell, but a thing of ancient magic and no morality - and the family the Boggart encounters is equally well-drawn. The computer technology is...well, a bit dodgy, but I can forgive that for the rest of the book.

The Boggart by Susan Cooper is about a mischievous magical creature who suddenly finds itself in Canada. After the death of the old Laird and his dog, the Volnik family — distant relatives — inherit the old Castle Keep.

The Boggart's main problem is ending up with a family who doesn't believe in magic. As the castle didn't come with instructions re magical beings, his pranks both at the castle and later in in the Volnik's home go unnoticed at first. Rather than stop (as that's not in its nature) he resorts to bigger and bigger pranks until they become dangerous!

Although the book is dated (especially in terms of the computer hardware that's central to the plot) it's still an enjoyable read. I listened to it on audio and found myself show more sucked right in. show less

Boggart - an ancient, mischievous spirit, solitary and sly.

The Vonik family, Emily, her 10 year-old-computer-nerd brother Jessup, parents Maggie and Robert live in Toronto, Canada. When a cable arrives from Scotland informing them of Robert's inheritance of Castle Keep from a distant uncle, the Voniks take a trip to find out exactly what this inheritance is.

The family arrives to find Castle Keep is a small, deteriorating structure on its own small island in the Western Highlands of Scotland. They fall in love with the area and the life, but do have to return to Toronto. Rober is the artistic director of the Chervil Playhouse and Maggie owns Old Stuff, an antiques shop.

The family brings back some furniture item for themselves and some to show more sell in Maggie's shop. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Boggart has also come to Toronto. Seems he fell asleep in a desk that is to go in Emily's room.

When the Boggart awakes, he finds that Toronto is nothing like the world he has lived in for the many centuries of his life. This new world is scary and yet there are many delightful things. He sets about pulling his old tricks to amuse the Voniks, but finds that the world he is now in has no clue to what and who he is.

Will the Boggart stay forever in Toronto, or will he be able to return to Scotland and Castle Keep?

This was a fast read for me, but I took my time just to enjoy it. I found I cringed at some of the pranks the Boggart played, knowing they wouldn't go over well, and yet I wished I could have seen them. show less

Emily and Jessup always figured themselves to be a pair of normal teens living a normal life until their mother inherits a castle from a distant relative in Scotland. After they visit and come back home, however, the kids find out that they inherited a bit more than the building and furnishings. A boggart, a mischievous creature straight out of the myths, is trapped and shipped with Emily's rolltop desk. Having been living in a castle with no modernity, the boggart immediately begins acclimating himself to the new toys of technology and wreaking absolute havoc on the family. And now the kids have to get the boggart home before things get too crazy.

Susan Cooper is not an uncommon name in the library circuit, best-known, perhaps, for her show more Dark is Rising series, this book was not only my introduction to her, but a staple through elementary school and something I revisited off and on thereafter. Until only a month ago, however, I did not own it. Thank God for little second-hand bookstores filled with unexpected treasures, right? Right.

While all of the humanoid characters are pleasant and relatable, one of the most enchanting aspects of this novel is the depiction of the boggart itself, within its home castle. A nameless, genderless spirit thousands of years old, witness to history itself, not only of the castle but the land surrounding. It is, in a sense, emotionless. Yet, at the same time, when it finds an emotion, it is overcome--to the point of hiding and sleeping for days or weeks [it has the ability to sleep for decades, if the fancy strikes]. Without being human in feeling, the creature manages to be easy to connect with. Especially after the charm of the new world wears down to the nub.

The story is deliberately paced, walking the reader through introductions and establishing the settings while steadily moving through the the plot. As with other texts that were favorites from childhood, this did not hold up quite as well as I might have hoped. Aside from being heavily dated technology-wise [the desk-top was a black and white screen, and I have a splendid recollection of DOS programs that supply amusing filler for how it must have been intended to appear], the text is almost too simple and too easy to read to be enjoyable at advanced leisure reading. Not being a particularly difficult novel, it is not something that a reader will have to dig through, but rather glide along. Though I mentioned I enjoyed it years afterward, I would say it was as a refuge from the reading or scholastics at the time. For purely 'heck, I'll read that one again' material...it's lacking.

But if you haven't experienced it, Cooper is fun. Someday I'll read that Dark is Rising series and really get what she's about as a published writer. Or something like that. If you're in fourth or fifth grade, it might just be something you'd enjoy. show less