When a mysterious alchemist visits her boarding-house, Lettie finds herself pulled from a rather dispiriting existence into adventure and danger in the search for some answers about her mysterious life. A fun little fantastical tale, with some lovely imaginative touches of whimsy. Children's books seem more willing to let wonder into their worlds without concerning themselves about systematic worldbuilding or explaining things. I enjoyed reading it, and finding out what was going on and how they'd get themselves out of the next mess. Nothing too dark or grim, but plenty of ups and downs.

I did feel that it slightly petered out towards the end, with things sort of settling down rather than completely resolving themselves, so it wasn't quite as satisfying as I'd have liked. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable read. ( )