The clock turns back two hundred years and Chris steps through the window of Mr. Wicker's antique shop into Revolutionary days...
....The Mirabelle was a three-masted schooner of more than usually trim lines. Even at the dockside, the curve of her bow gave an instant vision of how the waves would curl back as she drove forward over the sea. At the waterline, a clear light green contrasted well with the white of her sides. Above decks, the size of the masts and neatly furled sails showed at a glance that the Mirabelle was hardy enough to weather many a storm, and also that her crew were able and well trained.
I "discovered" reading books in about the 5th grade. Though only 5 years old, our grade school was bursting at the seams and the beautiful new library was reconverted into classrooms. All the library books were distributed to each classroom where they sat on windowsills for our perusal. That's where I discovered Mr. Wicker's Window and it introduced me to the joy and adventure of reading and I guess I have to say it changed my life. I've never forgotten the title of this book and my memories of the experience of reading it have always rekindled a thrill. Recently, on a whim, I googled the title and much to my amazement found that it was available on Kindle, so I decided to visit an old friend. It is a charming story of magic and adventure. Mr. Wicker was my Dumbledore and Christopher Mason, my Harry Potter. Perhaps a bit tame by today's standards, but still a wonderful story. In searching for this book, I've learned the author wrote two sequels, which are currently out of print, but now I have something else to look for!
Wonderful magical adventure happens to the boy who answers the notice in Mr Wicker’s window...but a boy with enough imagination to see beyond the obvious when looking out the window from inside. Chris finds himself about 200 years in the past. He needs to adjust to that time period, learn much from Mr. Wicker and discover the potential he has within, because there is a crucial job for him to do. A task that takes him very far with faithful friends, but also involving terrible enemies.
Before there was Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the rest of today's heroes, there was Chris Mason and Mr. Wicker, whose adventures were chronicled in a trilogy that this book begins. The other two are Dragon Run and The Sign of the Seven Seas, and then for some reason Dawson stopped. I devoured these books when I was young, and spent a significant amount of time hunting them down as an adult (I still can't afford Dragon Run, and the publisher resisted my campaign for a reissue). Anyway . . . Chris answers an ad for a shop assistant at Mr. Wicker's antique store in Georgetown. The incredibly old owner asks him to turn and look out the front window, and when he does, he sees the George Town of 1790 through the glass. And it turns out that like Mr. Wicker, he possesses the ability to move at will through the centuries. Moreover, he can learn magic at the hands of the suddenly spruce Mr. W., who turns out to be a master mage.
I could go on about the sheer wonderfulness of the world that Dawson created, but the best thing would be to stop reading this review right now and start hunting down a copy of this book.
Years later I discovered that Carley Dawson had connections to Brian Howard, a school friend of Evelyn Waugh and Harold Acton. Howard served as part of the model for Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited (Waugh used Acton to make up the difference). Somehow that made me like the Wicker books even more!
This was my favorite book from elementary school days, read aloud to us by a teacher who chose wonderful books that I have cherished all my life.
This was my introduction to time travel, and to the Revolutionary War days, both of which I am still keen on! I just received this new edition with the original cover and artwork as a gift, and am rereading it with great pleasure.
I will soon try it on the grandchildren and see if it can compete with the books they are busy reading; I am not sure it will as it has no internet, cellphones, social media, vampires or zombies in it. My hope, though, is that it will enchant them as it did me at their age.
A Fantastic book written in 1950's, but such a great adventure! Sort of Harry Potter meets Treasure Island and Aladdin (yes there is wizard magic!). This is first installment of a 3 book series and each is just as exciting as the last! Very hard to find in real books, but worth the read no matter how! Should be made into a movie!!!!!
Great Adventure book! Has magic, history, transfiguration, pirates, treasure, everything! One of 3 in series. On to second called The Sign of the Seven Seas for more pirates and magic! Third is Dragon Run with zombies on an island!