Bookwitch

What an interesting name! And it makes for a good book title, too.

Linda Newbery emailed me months ago to say she had read this new book by Jan Page, and she thought I would like it. She pointed out it wasn’t so horribly mermaid-ish as the blurb might suggest, and Linda’s right. It’s about a young girl in Cornwall during the war, who thought she was a mermaid.

The story is told from several points of view, and in the present as well as in the past. Twins Jack and Ellen are evacuated from London to Cornwall, and their lives are changed forever.

It’s an interesting story, but I’m puzzled as to why anyone feels this is a children’s book. It’s not scary or complicated, but I would not expect most children or teenagers to have the patience required to read it. Personally I feel it’s an adult book, which just happens to deal with young people in the past. Think Rosamund Pilcher, or similar. Much of the tale is seen from the point of view of a woman of 77, looking back, and also about her problems with young people today. Adult, I think.