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Summary
Summary
From the internationally bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind comes a chilling mystery about one magical summer that turns into a nightmare . . .
When fourteen-year-old Irene Sauvelle moves with her family to Cape House on the coast of Normandy, she's immediately taken by the beauty of the place--its expansive cliffs, coasts, and harbors. There, she meets a local boy named Ishmael, and the two soon fall in love. But a dark plot is about to unfold involving a reclusive toymaker who lives in a gigantic mansion filled with mechanical beings and shadows of the past.
As strange lights shine through the fog surrounding a small, barren island, Irene's younger brother dreams of a dark creature hidden deep in the forest. And when a young girl is found murdered, her body at the end of a path torn through the woods by a monstrous, inhuman force, Irene and Ishmael wonder--has a demonic presence been unleashed on the inhabitants of Cape House? Together, they'll have to survive the most terrifying summer of their lives.
Author Notes
CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN (1964-2020) was the author of eight novels, including the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Cemetery of Forgotten Books series: THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, THE ANGEL'S GAME, THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN and THE LABYRINTH OF THE SPIRITS.
His work, which also includes prizewinning young adult novels, has been translated into more than fifty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous awards and reaching millions of readers.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-9-Like the family in The Prince of Mist, Irene Suavelle's family is in transition and has to move. Her father, Armand, has passed away, and her mother takes a job as a housekeeper for a mysterious toymaker, Lazarus Jann, who lives on a large estate with the Brontesque name Cravenmoore. Once they arrive, they can hardly believe their good fortune. But soon they find that all is not as it appears. Jann's mansion is full of creepy automatons. Hannah, a 16-year-old girl who works for Jann as a cook and a maid, is found dead in the woods, at the end of a path that seems to have been created by something not human. There are clearly secrets here that don't wish to be uncovered. In the meantime, Irene has fallen in love with a local boy named Ismael, and their relationship is tested by the supernatural events that they experience. Irene and Ismael's blossoming romance is one of the best things about the novel, which is bookended by letters between an adult Ismael and an adult Irene shared many years later, which give the story a very poignant sense of loss and memory. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Zafon's YA gothic horror novel follows 14-year-old Irene Sauvelle as she moves with her destitute family to the coast of Normandy. There, her mother finds a job as a housekeeper at Cravenmoore, a vast estate owned by the mysterious toymaker Lazarus Jann and his wife. He seems like a kind, lonely eccentric, though his leering puppets populate the mansion. Jonathan Davis-who has read previous novels by Zafon-turns in an exceptional performance. His narration is eerie and full of with gothic menace, and his pacing slows as he describes the various set pieces that give the novel its atmosphere. Additionally, lends effective voices to a variety of characters (Irene, her younger brother, her mother, and the elderly Lazarus) without ever over performing. Ages 12-up. A Little, Brown hardcover. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
First published in Spain in 1995, this early work from Zafon hits all the gothic horror bases: creepy castles, foreboding caves, haunted lighthouses, murky woods, masked balls, and just about everything else you might hope for. Mostly, though, this is a cunning twist on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a little bit of ventriloquist-dummy horror thrown in for good measure. Fourteen-year-old Irene's penniless mother has just won the jackpot: she's been hired to keep house at Cravenmoore, the estate of reclusive toymaker Lazarus Jann. He's a kindly eccentric, but the grinning automatons populating his castle carry an air of menace. Just as frightening is the personless shadow giving chase to Irene and her little brother. And what of the legend of the woman who drowned in the lagoon? Though there is probably one mystery too many here, Zafon cuts between his various characters with cinematic skill, and his habit of telling stories within the narrative is put to spine-tingling use, just as it was with The Midnight Palace (2011). Good, solid scares. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Zafon is still cruising off the might of the international best-sellers The Shadow of the Wind (2004) and The Angel's Game (2009). Anything he does for quite a while will garner a good deal of interest.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist