Is / Cold Shoulder Road

The Wolves Chronicles #8-9

by Joan Aiken

Is (short for Isabett) Twite is the younger sister of Dido, every bit as spunky and compelling as her older sibling and with the same habit of attracting bizarre adventures. The two unputdownable novels in which she is the heroine, Is and Cold Shoulder Road, are published here in a wonderfully satisfying double volume.





Is, travelling north to find a lost cousin, discovers an underground kingdom where children work as slaves in horrifying conditions, under the rule of the sinister Gold Kingy.





A year or two on, with Simon Battersea now on the throne, her aunt Ruth Twite disappears from Cold Shoulder Road. Is needs all her courage and resourcefulness as she encounters the vicious gang of Merrie Gentry and other alarming forces that are at work across the country.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Alternate History

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Sarah Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

[Mikaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely prefered Cold Shoulder Road to Is, but maybe that is because I was more invested in the characters by then. There were a few stand-out characters as well here (like Pye), whereas Is felt a little bit more scattered plot-wise, especially with quick scene changes and wrap-ups at the end. As a child's book it had fantastic imagination but was combined with intelligent writing, which is something not seen in many contemporary child's books. I enjoyed reading it and if I come across any more from the series will pick them up.

[alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is was a wonderful read, though I wished that Is' character and personality were a bit more striking. She is less memorable than Dido. Cold Shoulder Road is my least favourite of the series so far, though it is still a good story that captures my imagination. Something about the pacing of the story left me with an anti-climactic feeling towards the end.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting some favourite authors from my childhood. I am so relieved that these books did not disappoint. And oh to be able to thought-speak...

[Brenda]

Could Shoulder Road tells how Is, Penny, Arun and Ruth Twite find Pye and make a family where all of them find joy after so much hardship, toil and cruelty.