Buy A Castle In The Window from Amazon UK
Junior
Corgi
Paperback £4.99
ISBN: 0-552-54719-0
Reviewed by Linda Kempton
[Armadillo 5.4 Winter 2003]
This is a wonderful novel for thoughtful eight to twelves. Emęs well-meaning but insensitive parents turn her into a nervous wreck through an unrelenting programme of classes, appointments with psychologists, and a rigid regimen designed to beat her dyslexia. In their zeal they fail to see the fragile child or her prodigious gift for music. Itęs only when sheęs left for the summer with Uncle Druce and elderly Aunt Joan, a once pioneering teacher who sees Erin for what she is, that her healing begins. Her healing is tied up too, with the magical castle she sees through the attic window, and Con, the brilliant pianist, who also belongs to this world. Music binds the story together, as does the fantasy castle which allows Erin to escape from reality and share someone elseęs dreams. This is a book full of hope and delicious magic. The ending is so moving that you want to go right back to the beginning and start all over again.