Nightbirds on Nantucket

Dido Twite returns for her first full-length adventure in this third installment of Aiken's Wolves Chronicles. Rescued from the North Sea by the whaler Sarah Casket, Dido eventually finds herself on Nantucket, where she must cope with her whiny young companion, Dutiful Penitence, and a harsh task master named Aunt Tribulation. Uncowed and unimpressed, Dido is more than a match for her adversary. But as yet another nefarious plot to assassinate Good King Jamie begins to unfold around her, it will take all of her considerable resources to foil this latest Hanoverian outrage.

The fun continues as one of the most level-headed and common-sensical heroines in children's literature confronts some of the zaniest and most hilariously convoluted show more plot twists known to melodrama. With her penchant for whimsically appropriate names, the surprise appearance of a character from the beloved The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, a suitably improbable plot, and a humorous send-up of Melville's Moby-Dick in the form of Captain Casket's obsessive quest to find the "great pink whale," Nightbirds on Nantucket is sure to please.

Like the earlier Black Hearts in Battersea, this title was originally illustrated by Robin Jacques, and it is a shame that his drawings were not retained in later editions. show less

Writing a successful novel is sometimes a little like inventing a recipe for a special dish. Take a dash of Jules Verne, add essence of Charles Dickens, several pinches of Herman Melville and season with adventure. Would that it was as simple as that. What you need is the main ingredient, the protein in the dish, and in Night Birds in Nantucket that is provided by the indomitable figure of Dido Twite.

When we last saw Dido she'd been lost at sea somewhere off the northeast coast of England, presumed dead. That was December, 1833. It is now ten months later, and the poor lass has lain in a coma after having been picked up by the whaler Sarah Casket. Like an amalgamation of Snow White and Moby Dick's Ishmael she is found in a wooden show more straw-filled coffin-like box on the other side of the world, north of East Cape on the Russian side of the Bering Straits (the East Cape -- Cape Dezhnev since 1898 -- was then popular with whalers). She has been looked after by young Nate Pardon all the while, and when she finally awakens it is to find it could be months before she is in a position to head back to England. And while she waits she finds that those on board the Sarah Casket are a very strange bunch indeed.

First there is Jabez Casket, the Quaker captain from Nantucket, who addresses everyone as "thee" and has a singular mission on his mind. Then there is his daughter, Dutiful Penance, who has chosen to remain below unseen from grief at the loss of her mother. What about the rascally Ebenezer Slighcarp, the first mate -- what's his game? And who is the mysterious woman Dido finds below decks who threatens Dido if her presence is revealed? As the whaler makes its way back to the North Atlantic Dido discovers the Captain's obsession is with a pink whale, but it is not until they reach Nantucket seven months later (in April or May 1835) that Dido goes ashore to find that the story is not over yet.

It's hard to review the third of the Wolves Chronicles without revealing too much of the story, but by referring to the previously mentioned three authors I hope to indicate how intricately Joan Aiken plots what many might regard as 'only' a children's book. Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (1865), set at the end of the American Civil War, features a manned projectile being sent to the earth's satellite. One of the proposals involves building a giant cannon to the plans of J T Marston, and the contemporary book illustration I'm sure furnished the inspiration for one of the main narrative devices. Meanwhile, Dickens (or indeed any of his contemporaries) wrote several plots about orphans and suchlike being badly bullied and manipulated by adults who should have known better; this is certainly the case with Dutiful Penance and Dido, both of whom who have lost at least one parent.

Lastly, Melville's most famous novel Moby Dick is clearly a part model for Night Birds in Nantucket: a pink whale called Rosie Lee and the madly driven Captain Casket parallel the white whale Moby Dick and Captain Ahab, and a ship is indeed sunk by the action of the whale -- though not in the way one would guess, let alone expect.

Amazingly there is even an assassination attempt on the British monarch in this novel, much like the young Queen Victoria who nearly lost her life by a bullet at the end of May 1842. The more one reads, the more one's impressed by Aiken's rich and inventive imagination. But without the central figure of the resourceful, irreverent, brave and intensely likeable Dido, who affects virtually everyone she comes in contact with, it would matter not a jot how cleverly the story is plotted. By the end of Night Birds the reader will be agog to know what happens to the young heroine next. show less

This is the third in the author's Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, set in an alternate early 19th century where the Stuarts remained on the throne and King James III rules Britain. Dido Twite is again our heroine and, once again, we are dealing with a Hanoverian plot by the Slighcarps to overthrow the Stuart King. In this case, the plot is pure Jules Verne, involving firing a massive gun from Nantucket to destroy the King in his palace in London. The plot is foiled with the help of a pink whale. Sounds ridiculous but it's quite good light-hearted fun, which I needed, given health-related stuff going on in mine and my family's lives at the moment. One stand out quote was when a character describes a smell as being enough "to make a bad show more egg burst out crying and go home to mother." show less

Having had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable. When mysterious men lurk about in the evening fog, the resourceful Dido rallies against their shenanigans with help from Dutiful, a cabinboy named Nate, and a pink whale.

Fun, and I do like Dido - but the coincidences in this one and between this one and Black Hearts in Battersea always makes it just a trifle less fun than the others. And Pen is such a wet - scared of everything. With good reason - her parents are/were no prize - but still. It's nice when she flowers at the end, though. The pink whale is just plain silly. But I admit that after reading it, I find myself exclaiming "Croopus!" every once in a while...

Another treat. I'm a huge fan of the tone and texture of her works. I'm quite sure they won't be for everybody, but for me, they strike a sweet spot. They're fun, without being relentlessly action-packed. The characters are interesting and distinctive. Even when stuck in the direst of circumstances the protagonists are cheerful and optimistic. And it's all just weird and quirky enough to elevate it beyond exceedingly pleasant, to exceedingly interesting.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

Very slight spoilers for Black Hearts in Battersea

Following directly on from the events that took place at the end of Black Hearts in Battersea we finally get to find out what happened to the wonderful Dido Twite.

Dido wakes up to find herself on a whaling ship having slept for ten months (fed on whale oil and molasses) after having been rescued from a shipwreck. Dido is desperate to get back home to England but before she can do so she has to help Captain Casket's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, who has become scared of absolutely everything following the death at sea of her mother and has locked herself in a cupboard in one of the cabins where she has spent most of the voyage. Dido's journey eventually leads her to the isle of Nantucket show more where she becomes embroiled in more adventure as she meets one or two of the characters from the earlier books in the Wolves series and has to stop a dastardly Hanoverian plot to assassinate King James III, assisted by a great pink whale.

With several nods to Moby Dick, this instalment of the Wolves Chronicles easily lives up to the previous two and my only regret is that I didn't order the next book in the series along with this one. show less