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The Ghost of Diana Wynne Jones
Apr 2014
Morris and Benny's Uncanny Adventures - Alice James - 2014
[Disclosure: This is a review of a book written by a friend, and is based on a draft copy.]
Since the sad loss of one of Britain's National Treasures and the retirement of Harry Potter, the modern-day family-based fantasy has been in eclipse, supplanted by dystopian novels aimed specifically at teenagers and their feelings of estrangement. This is a pity. Books which are aimed at a specific market, or which exclude potential readers by failing to represent them, are in my opinion poor books, no matter how well written. It's about time that there was a revival in the Diana Wynne Jones-style family fantasy that anyone can read, and Ms James has provided it.
She has done so by the time-honoured tradition of taking a familiar trope and upending it, in this case the Mary Poppins-style perfect nanny. Juno is messy, disorganised and forgetful, but much liked by her two charges Morris and Benny for her willingness to order fast food at odd hours and to write sick notes when the cricket is on. She is certainly more dependable than their argumentative and self-obsessed playwright father Michael, his uptight agent Howard, or their cloying Granny Lizzy. With Juno in charge a move to the wilds of Wales was never going to be simple, but when powerful people whom she doesn't remember start trying to kill her and her charges, defensive measures are called for.
There are several things that I really like about this book. The first is its setting, a fabulous and atmospheric decaying edifice overlooking the sea called the Schoolmaster's Tower that reminds me of Dunshay Manor, where we used to go on holiday when I was a kid. It is a pity that the history of the tower is not better integrated into the story, but you can't have everything.
Then there is the multiculturalism. Morris and Benny are the results of a mixed marriage and there are Jewish and Polish secondary characters as well as Welsh natives. Cultural and ethnic differences are sufficiently apparent to be commented on, but there is a feeling of mutual respect. This, I think, is an improvement over the stories of this type that have gone before. Dearly as I love them, Susan Cooper's and Alan Garner's books are so steeped in English and Welsh culture that it is very hard to imagine the characters as non-white. While Diana Wynne Jones' stories are sufficiently mythopoeic that you can generally read the characters' ethnicities in any way you want, there is very little sense of multiple cultures living side by side. J.K. Rowling gets the diversity right but largely air-brushes over it.
There are some problems of agency - it is important for a book where the protagonist is a child that the safety net of protective adults is removed, and that doesn't quite happen - and, as always, another round of editing wouldn't have gone amiss. But this is made up for by the witty dialogue and strong characterisation. I can sense the ghost of Diana Wynne Jones, and I think she approves.
Morris and Benny's Uncanny Adventures - Alice James - 2014
[Disclosure: This is a review of a book written by a friend, and is based on a draft copy.]
Since the sad loss of one of Britain's National Treasures and the retirement of Harry Potter, the modern-day family-based fantasy has been in eclipse, supplanted by dystopian novels aimed specifically at teenagers and their feelings of estrangement. This is a pity. Books which are aimed at a specific market, or which exclude potential readers by failing to represent them, are in my opinion poor books, no matter how well written. It's about time that there was a revival in the Diana Wynne Jones-style family fantasy that anyone can read, and Ms James has provided it.
She has done so by the time-honoured tradition of taking a familiar trope and upending it, in this case the Mary Poppins-style perfect nanny. Juno is messy, disorganised and forgetful, but much liked by her two charges Morris and Benny for her willingness to order fast food at odd hours and to write sick notes when the cricket is on. She is certainly more dependable than their argumentative and self-obsessed playwright father Michael, his uptight agent Howard, or their cloying Granny Lizzy. With Juno in charge a move to the wilds of Wales was never going to be simple, but when powerful people whom she doesn't remember start trying to kill her and her charges, defensive measures are called for.
There are several things that I really like about this book. The first is its setting, a fabulous and atmospheric decaying edifice overlooking the sea called the Schoolmaster's Tower that reminds me of Dunshay Manor, where we used to go on holiday when I was a kid. It is a pity that the history of the tower is not better integrated into the story, but you can't have everything.
Then there is the multiculturalism. Morris and Benny are the results of a mixed marriage and there are Jewish and Polish secondary characters as well as Welsh natives. Cultural and ethnic differences are sufficiently apparent to be commented on, but there is a feeling of mutual respect. This, I think, is an improvement over the stories of this type that have gone before. Dearly as I love them, Susan Cooper's and Alan Garner's books are so steeped in English and Welsh culture that it is very hard to imagine the characters as non-white. While Diana Wynne Jones' stories are sufficiently mythopoeic that you can generally read the characters' ethnicities in any way you want, there is very little sense of multiple cultures living side by side. J.K. Rowling gets the diversity right but largely air-brushes over it.
There are some problems of agency - it is important for a book where the protagonist is a child that the safety net of protective adults is removed, and that doesn't quite happen - and, as always, another round of editing wouldn't have gone amiss. But this is made up for by the witty dialogue and strong characterisation. I can sense the ghost of Diana Wynne Jones, and I think she approves.
no subject
For me, one of the strongest aspects of the book was imagery. The pictures drawn in my mind were amazing.