Kingdom

by Rachel E. Wollaston

Imaginations are just that: imaginations. Or are they? Pepper Fairfield is a high-spirited young woman with an incredible imagination. When she accepts a job as a nanny at Calthorpe Manor, she finds that she has let herself in for a lot more than she expected. With mysterious disappearing doors, magical colour-changing bunnies and a couple of sassy sylphs, this house is nothing like what she'd anticipated. Is it haunted? Or is it something even more? In a whirlwind of events, Pepper finds herself fighting against impossible odds, not only for her life, but for the safety of humankind. What this land needs is a hero, but how do you convince a hero who's sure he's anything but? If one thing is for certain, it's that, in an existent world of non-existence, anything can happen . . .

Genres: Fantasy

508 pages, Paperback

Published July 13, 2016

About the author

I remember the first story I ever wrote. I was five years old, and it was in the back of a school exercise book. For the greater good of humanity, all evidence of that story has been destroyed. But despite my failed early attempts, my desire to write stories never faded.
Over the years, my stories got bigger and better. They went from the back of school books, to a stack of post-it notes, and now, finally, to a fully published, fully printed novel.
Creative by nature, I take great joy in crafting unique stories from new angles. It is a great feeling to know that my readers go away with much more than just a smile on their face.

Anyone can write a book, but a great story is truly a work of art.

Reviews

[Raymond Elmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a character named Pepper Fairfield, we know our heroine will be plucky, personable and perky. If she is a governess, the kids are gonna love her. They’ll be moppets, of course. If it’s a mansion there will be The Room, the Mysterious Stranger, and the Dark Past. These are givens.
Which is no complaint but anticipation on the level of drooling at the smell of pancakes and bacon in the morning. We love perky, love manses, love moppets. And no book ever lost anyone with The Room that Must Not Be Entered.
“Kingdom” is a story made of stories. That is, the kingdom in the novel “Kingdom” is made of stories and imagined people. I don’t mean that the fantasy novel is imagined, although obviously Wollaston imagined it. I mean that the story called ‘Kingdom’ as imagined by said Ms. Wollaston is about a kingdom in a story in a mirror in a mansion, wherein the characters have come from stories. It’s a bit meta; but magic mirrors bring out the meta in us all.
Seriously: Ms. Wollaston’s novel is made of story-parts. Bit and pieces of standard YA and fairytale and classic comedy-of-manors and manners. A passable story-seamstress can stitch a fine quilt from these parts. And Ms. Wollaston is no mediocre seamstress. She knows exactly what tale she wishes to sew. A fantasy, a coming-of-age, a romance, a bit of metaphysical puzzle, much adventure, some comedy, some sorrow, some mystery.
Pepper is a story-teller. Bit of a blank resume at the start. As young heroine she is making herself up as she goes. Same as we all did. She is finding what she can do. Magic, as it happens. But what are the rules? How are they tied to imagination, to reality, to love and belief?
"Kingdom" is not the first fantasy to argue the value of fantasy character lives, even as they stand in a fantasy castle. I’ve only read once before where the fantasy characters themselves, in full knowledge of their reality as an imagined character, brood on the meaning and value of their lives. “The Neverending Story”, by Michael Ende. A serious work of the imagination, because it is entirely a living world of imagination, sewn from parts of endless fantasy strings. Not so different as “Kingdom”.
Wollaston is not aiming for universal truths, as did Ende. She wants to give us a romantic adventure fantasy; what truths and sly metaphysics slip by are just the inevitable byproduct of excellent world-building. Which brings us back to Pepper’s Power: imagination. And Ms. Wollaston’s. Really, they are the same.
“Kingdom” is a novel composed of popular story parts about a magical kingdom made of popular story parts. The heroine is a story-teller attempting to bring the Kingdom to order by realizing her potential as a world-builder. Meanwhile Ms. Wollaston is creating a story that rises to a kingdom of fantasy and aaaaghhh! Too meta! We risk exploding the reader’s kindle. Or else imploding the hard-back, plunging the lucky reader into Tantari. Or perhaps the dream of it. Read; decide. Did you dream?
A fate to be wished, what dream comes. Excellent beginning to a fascinating series.

[David Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A richly coloured teen/middle grades fantasy with an engaging heroine and fascinating and complex story. Rachel Wollaston's talent as a story-teller is evident, but the book is badly flawed by the large number of editing failures throughout - wrong word use and typographical errors being the worst of it, with occasional lapses in grammar. Do not get the impression that the author can't write English - she can. I think that she has simply tried too hard, so that she is writing beyond her present vocabulary. There is nothing here that a good edit and proof-read will not fix. In terms of the fantasy I'm inclined to liken this to Alice in Wonderland. Rachel Wollaston has taken a wide variety of 'known' fantasy creatures and put her individual spin on all of them. As a result Tantary is a diverse and constantly entertaining place to be.
Characterization is very good, amazingly so for such a young author. The plot weaves the stories of a number of characters together, resulting in a gripping story. Some of the threads seem to get lost, however, while others re-appear unexpectedly to surprise the reader. Pace is very good throughout, although the basis for some actions and consequences seem a little arbitrary.
Bottom line - the book is flawed, but the story-telling is very good, and I was able to enjoy the tale.

[Rachel Sargeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, The Neverending Story and Marianne Dreams will love this imaginative fantasy written for modern readers.
Budding writer Pepper takes a job as a children’s nanny at Calthorpe Manor for a year before university. She thinks the gothic house will provide inspiration for her stories, but she gets sucked through a portal into a fantasy world, partly of her own creation.
As Pepper says: “I slept right through the afternoon and the following night. Apparently, crossing worlds really took it out of you.” She’s in for quite a gap year as she battles to save both worlds, not knowing who she can trust.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a hero like Therron in their life.
A great debut for this young author.

[Ryne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this book every time I opened it. The characters were so well detailed, and the world was filled with beautiful imagery. Pepper literally falls into Imaginationland (though the likelihood of South Park fans crossing over into this one is low), immediately I was reminded of Narnia and the author doesn't shy from that influence but this is a very different adventure than the one through the wardrobe. I was never the target demographic for this book, but I enjoyed it a lot. Everything felt earned. The romance (which throws a red herring at you, something I enjoyed), the motivations of the characters, the rules of the world, they all work together to make for an enjoyable read. There are a few typographical errors in the later chapters, but none that brought the story to a halt leaving me guessing what she was trying to say. The romantic aspects did get a little melodramatic towards the end, yet as mentioned earlier, it felt earned. There were consequences in this word of sunshine and rainbows. I think Tantary is ripe for more exploration, whether with Pepper or, if she takes the Narnia approach, Peter and Lilly. There is one loose end that never got wrapped up that would have made it a more complete book, but if Wollaston decides to return to Tantary we might get to explore that angle.

[K.V. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting mix of fantasy and humour. Pepper is a kindhearted spunky character with a big imagination that often gets her into trouble. She has her hands full caring for two energetic children, but that turns out to be the least of her worries. The storyline is very exciting and the characters are well-developed and endearing. I had trouble putting the book down. It's one of the best fantasy books I've read.
(Review originally posted on Amazon Aug 16, 2016.)

[Danika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just an AMAZING book! There are no words to explain : )

[Farzanna Pasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a debut for a young author and she really did a good job with it.

I have to honestly say, if this book came across my eyes about 3-4 years ago I would have rated it 5 stars since at that age this was my ideal fantasy book to read. But from then to now however, I've read so many well written fantasy books that when compare to this book I'll have to rate Kingdom 4 stars.

Hats off to the author for such a creative imagination at such a young age. These are traits I scarcely find nowadays.

So the book involves a 19 year old heroine who decided to take a year off before heading to university and got a job as a live in nanny at a gothic mansion. The heroine loves children and at one point in her life she wanted to be in the service of childcare but her passion for writing kept her going. I can't say much more about this book for the fear of releasing spoilers.

I can say that the storyline takes you on an adventure of a life time. An adventure that I wish could happen in real life. It's a story within story that keeps you at the edge of your seat, always wondering what is going to happen next. Magic, fairies no sorry I meant sylph, bunnies, ogres, mermaids, powers and many more are some things to look forward for.

The main hero is a sweetheart and I wish he was more than a character( when you read this book you'll know the double meaning behind this) I love that eventhough he felt he wasn't brave enough he tried his best for the heroine.

Let me not forget to ask the author "What was that ending?"

I don't know how I feel about it. Too many questions to ask about that ending.

Like did you write it like that beacuse there is a book 2? Does the heroine ends up with Max? Does she mets the hero after the ending? Does she goes to University after the year is up?

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend anyone to read it.

[Amy Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great fantasy story for a debut author! Kingdom is full of everything a good fairy tale fantasy needs.

[Ann Parker Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting story that will pull you in with its characters and worlds. Finished in less than 2 days. Couldn't put it down.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of heart. Ms.Wollaston evokes the best whimsies.

--**Thank you for my free Goodreds copy **

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