The Dungeon

by Lynne Reid Banks

Bruce McLennan stared down into the newly excavated depths. At the moment there was just a hole in the ground. But he could already see - a dungeon...

The ghosts of his past haunt the tyrannical laird, Bruce McLennan. Driven away by his memories, he sets off on a wild journey across the world. After many adventures, and bringing with him his Chinese slave-girl, Peony, McLennan is drawn back to Scotland and the dark and terrifying dungeon he has ordered to be built beneath his castle.

As Peony begins to find friendship with Fin, a young stable lad, her master becomes more and more obsessed with revenge and, after a bloody battle, McLennan's thirt for vengeance twists in a new direction. Who will he throw into his hellish dungeon? The one he hates, or the one who, unknowingly, he has come to love?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical

222 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

Lynne Reid Banks is a British author of books for children and adults. She has written forty books, including the best-selling children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 10 million copies and been made into a film.
Banks was born in London, the only child of James and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II but returned after the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School in Surrey. Prior to becoming a writer Banks was an actress, and also worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the first women to do so. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, was published in 1960.
In 1962 Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for eight years on an Israeli kibbutz Yasur. In 1965 she married Chaim Stephenson, with whom she had three sons. Although the family returned to England in 1971 and Banks now lives in Dorset, the influence of her time in Israel can be seen in some of her books which are set partially or mainly on kibbutzim.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Whatever she had been before, now she was Bruce McLennan's tea-slave.”

McLennan wants revenge - and for that purpose, he lets build a castle with a dungeon. The constructions will take a long time so he travels to far off countries reaching as far as China where he buys the young Peony to be his slave. Although unwilling to admit it, he begins to care for the girl and takes her back to his home in Scotland where, after years of travel, his dungeon is ready to fulfil its purpose.

What a horrible book! I didn't expect this book to be overwhelmingly great, but I've enjoyed other works by this author and the combination of Scotland and China was truly intriguing. But it was wrong on so many levels! Even before I got around to reading the book, my husband - who is fluent in Chinese - kept complaining about the weirdness of the Chinese writing on the cover. I was still wanting to give the book a chance, but even I could tell that several of the Chinese elements in this novel were just out of place.

I also couldn't shake the feeling that there was subtle racism. Although I don't believe the author meant any racism, due to ignorance or other reasons, I could see traces of it nonetheless. The shape and smallness of Peony's eyes were mentioned so often, as well as her 'alien-like' appearance - the whole way in which Chinese people were described in this book made me feel rather uncomfortable. And while there were also positive comments such as the beauty of silk and other goods, the author often pointed at negative things and called them barbaric or perverse.

That aside, it could still have been an interesting story. But Bruce McLennan was such a horrible character. Because his family was slaughtered, we are supposed to sympathize with him. But regardless of what happened to him, he is a cruel and harsh character who bullies Peony and everyone around him. I couldn't see a single redeeming quality in him. And unlike Peony, I don't consider him giving her a blanket while in a drunken state proof of some goodness in him.

There are a few aspects that I liked - Peony's imaginary garden, her friendship with Fin and Fin's family altogether - they reminded me of the Weasleys! But they weren't enough to save this one for me - the ending was too jarring and disturbing. Some stories are just too depressing that you feel cheated by the author. What was the point of it all if it was just to end in misery for every character?

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this one because the author was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid. However, this book proved to be a disappointment and I would not recommend it to children. It gets at least 2 stars though for being well written and thought out story. But the content was not really child-friendly. It is a story of a man in search of revenge after his children and wife are murdered. It is implied that the wife is used badly before she dies. He buys a slave girl who he is abusive towards and then eventually locks her in a dungeon and forgets about her while he completes his quest for revenge. She kills herself and the boy who loves her takes revenge on the master. In the end, they are all dead and unhappy. yikes. Not a bedtime story for the kids.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a common YA story. There are several deep thoughts, like how vengence and revenge can distort a mind to the point of losing sight of the good that comes to a person. That a person can endure but even the strongest will fall when overwhelmed. That love may not be enough to save the day. Pretty strong stuff for a YA novel.

[B.M.A. Rook · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been years since I read this book but there is one sentence that still haunts me and makes me think about it, over and over again:

“I am with you ‘til you die.”

That alone should make it worth reading.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/200...

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book traumatized me as a child.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made me cry when I was a kid. It probably wasn't even that great. Five stars.

[G Bevy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's silly and it's Scottish. Ft. harebrained ideas from the protag and Child Abuse

Hey kid go run up a mountain and wail like a banshee even if I have no proof you can do it, this'll totally work it'll be fine.

Some revenged obsessed guy buys a child as a slave/mistreated pet he occasionally cares about. No happy ending sorry.


(relatively short, Don't remember if I finished it as a kid, but I reread it again if I did)

[Alandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book starting out, but the ending totally ruined it.
You will enjoy this book only if you're okay with self-harm/suicide, murder by neglect, and abusive relationships. So much for a happy ending. :(

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so bad but very different from her other books that I've read

[overcapitalized · Rating 4 out of 5]

read it too young and it was almost definitely traumatic. do not recommend.

[Marc R · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dungeon is about a man that was rich and was needed to build a Dungeon for the king.The king was mad to find that it was taking the man so long to build the Dungeon.After the man got chewed out by the king he went out to see if he could find more men.When he came back all the men got to work and they all got killed after they finished but one man lived the king for about 3 years.


My connetion with this book is text to text because I read a book after that called The Slave Dancers that had simalarites.In the book Slave Dancers there was almost every one died.I do bealeve that these to books are very close in ways.Also these books are my faviorite.


I would recommend The Dungeon to Mrs.Leeper because this book talks about history.I know that she will like it because I think she will like the history part.When she reads this she will fall in love.This book is really good even with out the history.

[Nick Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick fairly easy read despite some violent scenes (including domestic violence and self-harm). A bitter and sometimes grim medieval story of a Scottish laird, Bruce McClennan, obsessed by the wrong that was done to his family, and the lengths he will go to, in pursuit of revenge. The narrative is lightened by the optimism of Peony, a chinese slave McClennan takes on as a servant.
Some dialogue and vocabulary is in Scots dialect, e.g. "Have ye no clothes but these?", the meaning is obvious from context mostly.

[joyce lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok, a good book, but ... a rather strange one. i can see why my daughter liked it, but i found it a bit odd, or at least, the ending. NOT that the main character didn't have it coming to him, still ...

[Sarah Tilatitsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book=GOOD. That's what I have to say. READ IT, please, and you will love it. It talks about this Chinese girl that became a slave for a Scottish man. A lot of things happen, blah blah blah, and the end is a bitter-sweet sort-of conclusion.

[N. LaMar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story got pretty intense at times. I really liked the Chinese slave girl in the story and tried really hard to like the protagonist, but alas, that ended near the end of the book. Not a good man at all. Overall rating: it was okay...

[Beth]

This book was sad and rather dark at times.

[Kelsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually one of my favorite books. The ending will leave you stunned.

[Katarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dungeon was excellently conceived and beautifully written. I loved the story, but what I honestly remember best is crying my eyes out with bitter disappointment at the tragic ending.

[Aleesha Ouderkirk]

I read this when I was little and I do believe I liked it a lot because to this day I remember the name of the book, I need to pick it up and read it again however in order to give it a fair review

[Balint Hegyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sad story, perhaps one of the saddest I have ever read. A dungeon can bring such pain and sorrow.....

[flajol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad story and not at all what I expected.

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

warped and you sympathize with the crazy guy up until the end. evil man.