It’s autumn. Time for another Joan Aiken Wolf-fest. As I said, wolves appear to be the in thing right now. Jonathan Cape brought out a lovely Wolves of Willoughby Chase last year, and now it’s back in time for the 50th anniversary of the first Wolves. Same edition, but wearing new clothes. This dust jacket is, if possible, even more appealing than the last one.
And to be quite frank, I can find room for lots of Aiken wolves on my shelves. But I won’t review it again, this excellent start to a most wonderful series of books. What I want is for the remaining ten books to magically pop up in this new edition as well. I went back to my emails from last year, and realised I just might have read them wrong. Maybe, just maybe, they said other classics were coming; and not that more Willoughby Chase stories will be re-issued.
In that case – please, please, pretty please, change your minds!
Wolves is good, but as I mentioned last year, it is not the best of them. Black Hearts in Battersea is the next one, and is one of the very best, if not the best. And coming second, it wouldn’t be too hard to go there next, would it?
I’m not saying this because I need them. I have every single one, but there will be people who don’t. They need them, whether they know it or not.
There was a vivid discussion in the comments section here several years ago, when I blogged about Dido Twite, one of literature’s feistiest heroines. Even Lizza Aiken joined in, and I learned that The Whispering Mountain is actually a prequel. Which I didn’t know. I am pretty certain it is lurking somewhere, and I must unearth it, even if it involves cleaning and tidying.
Great tidings from the publisher about reissuing the Felix trilogy next year. Lovely. But it doesn’t mean we don’t need Battersea and Simon and Dido. And I don’t know why I found out about the event in Cheltenham one week after it happened. Howl!
Thank you, BW, for a reminder of this wonderful writer. Yes, yes – Dido is such a strong and sparky heroine, she and Lyra would be an awesome couple?? Can’t believe Wolves is fifty. How can that be…?
They are wonderful books. Love her short stories too, and Midnight is a Place is a family favourite (so much so in this house that when the children were little we used to cook the food in it). I was very pleased when all the Armitage Family stories were collected and published together a year or so ago.
I was lucky enough to meet her a couple of times- she was just like a character from one of her own stories.
Dido and Lyra. Yes!
Time moves differently for us and books, and, well…
Very envious, Hilary.
Come to NYC this Friday for a celebration of this at Bank Street College, 7PM! Lizza will be there repeating what she did at Cheltenham and there will be others too. Should be fun and is free to boot.
Certainly! No problem with popping across the Atlantic… I’ll leave it to you to report what happens, Monica.