There are some excellent novels for older readers. The Red Necklace, A Story of the French Revolution (Orion £9.99) sounds like something by Henty. It is in fact Sally Gardner’s latest foray into historical fiction. When I reviewed her earlier book, I, Coriander, I found it difficult to put my finger on the particular quality which sets her apart. Since then, I have learned that she is severely dyslexic, and that explains a great deal which is individual about her writing. Hers is a truly original voice. Like many dyslexic people, her ideas and vision come out of her own head rather than someone else’s. The Red Necklace is a thrilling read, following the hero, Yann Margoza, through the last doomed days of the ancien régime, where the vacuous frivolity of the less estimable members of the aristocracy is particularly well evoked, into the Revolution and the start of the Terror. Unusually for a children’s novelist, the author sees the Revolution as a noble idea which became corrupted. As in I, Coriander, there is a strong thread of magic running alongside the factual history. Yann has supernatural gifts, which stand him in good stead when he and his friends are trying to escape the guillotine and from the clutches of that most sinister of villains, Count Kalliovski. Also published by Orion at £9.99 is Dolphin Song by Lauren St John, the sequel to her acclaimed first novel The White Giraffe. Martine leaves her home on the African game reserve and her beloved giraffe Jemmy, to take part in an ill-fated school trip culminating in storm and shipwreck. Martine and her companions are rescued by dolphins and taken to a deserted island where they struggle to survive, not helped by hostility within the group. The Lord of the Flies meets Coral Island, with a dash of magic thrown in, for in this book too the main character has supernatural powers which drive the plot. This is an exciting story with characters who grow and develop through their experiences, even the arrogant and selfish rich boy Claudius, who is much improved by a little danger and privation. A book which should appeal to teenage readers, especially girls, is Set in Stone by Linda Newbery (David Fickling Books, £12.99), aimed at what is now known as the ‘young adult market’. It is 1898, and the unworldly young artist, Samuel Godwin, is engaged to go as tutor to the beautiful but neurotic Marianne and her somewhat sluggish sister Juliana at Fourwinds, a romantic but secluded country house. ‘Beneath its immaculate surface, corruption lurked unchecked.’ It did indeed. The two girls, their father, Ernest Farrow, and their young governess, Charlotte Agnew, are caught up in a network of secrecy, incest, madness and passion. There are overtones of The Woman in White, especially in the narrative method, with tutor and governess recounting alternate chapters. There is something of Rebecca too, and a hint of The Turn of the Screw — a heady cocktail. As Charlotte rightly observes, ‘Relationships, as you can see, are somewhat confused in this household.’ It must have been difficult to live with, but it makes for a compelling read.
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