The Witch of Clatteringshaws
by Joan Aiken
Wolves Chronicles (Publication Order) (11), Wolves Chronicles (Chronological Order) (11)
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Dido travels to Scotland and, aided by Woodlouse and by Father Sam's cousin Malise, the Witch of Clatteringshaws, seeks another heir to the throne who can relieve her friend Simon of the burden of being king of England.Tags
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The Witch of Clatteringshaws lives in Scotland in a disused Ladies Convenience - not at all convenient, the plumbing having long been smashed. In London, Simon Battersea, unhappily settled on the throne of England, is forced to live in St James's Palace with his good friend, Dido Twite. Never has Joan Aiken's wild imagination been more in evidence as Dido, travelling north to investigate a false claimant to the throne, is confronted by abandoned children, monsters and murderers, while Simon has to defend his country against invading Wends.
Their instinct to go north is a good one for it is the witch, Malise, who provides the key to everyone's troubles in a wonderfully swift and extravagant climax. A tremendous read and a truly satisfying show more ending to the Dido and Simon saga. show less
Their instinct to go north is a good one for it is the witch, Malise, who provides the key to everyone's troubles in a wonderfully swift and extravagant climax. A tremendous read and a truly satisfying show more ending to the Dido and Simon saga. show less
Alas and alack, if Midwinter Nightingale felt underdeveloped, this is sadly undercooked, almost a short story. Nonetheless, Aiken's wit and invention are present on almost every page, just not the energy and not the proper momentum that a book featuring plots about Dido's search for a new heir to the throne and Simon marching to war should have. The conclusion is rushed, but nothing is really left hanging and there are some fine jokes, and the letters from the witch are worth reading all on their own. Maybe only completists will make it this far, and maybe they'll be sad, but hopefully they'll be satisfied, too.
Not the best in the series, but better than Midwinter Nightengale, and that made me happy that the series would end with a strong book. Lots of fun and kind of new ideas, and Dido back again. What more could you ask?
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4,052 works; 110 members
Author Information
215+ Works 19,801 Members
Joan Delano Aiken was born in Rye, Sussex, England, on September 4, 1924, the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize winner, writer Conrad Aiken. She was raised in a rural area and home schooled by her mother until the age 12. She then attended Wychwood School, a boarding school in Oxford. Her work first appeared in 1941 when the British Broadcasting show more Corporation, where she worked as a librarian, broadcast some of her short stories on their Children's Hour program. Aiken also worked at St. Thomas's Hospital, and in 1943 she moved to the reference department of the London office of the United Nations, where she collected information about resistance movements. She worked for the UN until 1949, all the while continuing to write stories. In 1953 a collection of short fiction called All You've Ever Wanted and Other Stories was published. While writing The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, begun in 1952, her husband became ill and died of lung cancer in 1955. After working for five years as a copy editor at Argosy Magazine, and at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Firm, she returned and finished the book in 1963. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and was made into a successful film in 1988. In 1969 The Whispering Mountain won the Guardian Children's Book Award, and in 1972, Night Fall won America's Edgar Allen Poe Award for juvenile mystery. Aiken is best known for her adult "fantasy" stories. She has received awards for children's fiction and for mystery fiction, and has also written ''sequels'' to Jane Austen books. She collaborated with her daughter to write many episodes of her Arabel and Mortimer the raven series for the BBC. In all, Aiken wrote 92 novels - including 27 for adults - as well as plays, poems and short stories, although she was best known as a writer of children's stories. Joan Aiken died in January of 2004 at the age of 79. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Witch of Clatteringshaws
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Dido Twite; Simon Bayswater; Malise (The Witch of Clatteringshaws)
- First words
- "These nags ain't fit to go no furder," grumbled the driver of a heavy coach that had just reached the top of a long hill.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Kids, Tween, Children's Books, Fantasy
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .A2695 .W — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 225
- Popularity
- 144,293
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.82)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 2
