Alan Garner Resident Scholar Profiles TOP SCHOLAR: Michael JR Jose SCHOLARS:
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Review Summaries
"This is an intense tale aimed at older teenagers about the repeating patterns of ancient and modern emotions. Alison and Roger are step-brother and step-sister. Alison's mother is divorced and has married again to Clive, Roger's father, and a kind man. They are on summer holiday in mid-Wales at the family retreat, a large old house which Alison has inherited. The house has a dark and dangerous history, with roots deep in Welsh history and the legends of the mountains. At the house they employ a Welsh housekeeper, whose son Gwyn strikes up a friendship with Alison. They also employ Huw, a groundsman, who is a bit half-ish, and full of obscure Welsh sayings.
At the start Alison is ill, and while in bed is troubled by an ominous scratching noise in the attic. Gywn investigates and finds nothing but a china dinner service, which is hand-painted in flowers seeming to form owl-shapes. The owl-flowers are a magical link to the past and have a strange power, and they all soon find that old events and legends of the Welsh valley have a way of coming to life and influencing people to re-live them. Even the stone walls of the house hold secrets which the plates will unlock. Alison learns of the life of a legend of a beautiful woman who long ago was formed of the flowers of the valley and brought to life by a wizard. It seems that the murders and tragedy that surround her lovers have come back to haunt them.
The frustrated social aspirations of the housekeeper and her ambitions for her son, and the social difference between Gwyn and Alison all form tensions and bring to the surface the problems of the families involved. "
Michael JR Jose, Resident Alan Garner Scholar
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Overall Review
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- the haunted house chased me!
Family relations
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- a teen
Profession/status:
- student
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a lot
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Mountains
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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