The House of Dead Maids

August 15, 2010
Pagan magic, Heathcliff's back story and a lot of scary dead maids: Dunkle's knack for the creepy (By These Ten Bones, 2005) sets spines tingling. Woodcut-style chapter-head illustrations ratchet up the spook factor, especially those depicting corpses and ghosts. When Tabby becomes the "Young Maid" at Seldom House, she finds herself in a strange world, where she is expected to do little other than look after a bloodthirsty, nameless little boy, the "Young Master." Seldom House and the neighboring village have no church, and dead maids haunt Tabby. Gradually she realizes she and the Young Master are marked for sacrifice ("It's an honor to be given to the land," one of the villagers tells her). While it seems clear from the start that Tabby will survive (she narrates the story from a later vantage point), it is not until the end that the connection to Wuthering Heights becomes clear. For readers familiar with Brontë's novel, the final connection is a masterstroke; even those who don't get it will find this a keeper. (Horror. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2010

Gr 6 Up-Beginning with her selection from a group of orphan girls by the aloof Miss Winter, 11-year-old Tabby narrates a tale about her service at Seldom House, a crumbling, remote manor on the English moors. Strange events occur almost immediately: she is given a large room but is locked in at night and soon encounters the eyeless ghost of another young maid named Izzy. Tabby is told that she is to care for the young master, who will arrive shortly. He proves to be a dirty urchin who has a quick temper and imperious manner and is referred to by the old master as "a heathen git." As the children roam the house, grounds, and surrounding hills, more and more ghosts appear to them. Finally they encounter a group of grimy, moldering maids on the moors. Determined to learn why Izzy seems to be trying to warn her, Tabby explores the manor and finds that a gruesome fate awaits her and her young master. Not until the last chapter do readers discover that this story is a prequel to Wuthering Heights. Dunkle has incorporated real people (Tabitha Aykroyd was the Brontes' housemaid, well-known for telling her young charges "otherworldly tales"), fictional characters (the boy is revealed to be a young Heathcliff), and the ancient Druidic practice of human sacrifice into a tense tale of supernatural doings. Whether or not the story will lead readers to Emily Bronte's classic novel remains to be seen.-Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2010
Grades 7-10 If the prospect of a prequel to Emily Bront's Wuthering Heights wont exactly set most kids hearts aflutter, the chilling jacket illustration of a pale girl without eyes might do the trick. As prequels go, its no Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), but its no slouch either, channeling Bront's gothic atmosphere for a tale more thoroughly soaked in ghostly mayhem. Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd (modeled after the real-life servant of the Bront's, who allegedly told the sisters many a terrifying tale) is hired out to Seldom House, a moody estate in need of a nursemaid for the new master, a feisty young boy (Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, though here he is referred to as Himself). Ghosts are afoot in Seldom House, but that doesnt flap the unflappable Tabbywhats scary is that the ghosts are maids, just like her. Arrasmiths drawings, which begin each chapter, promise an intensity of horror not matched by the understated prose; still, though, Dunkles period detail and the delicious pagan rituals of a fantastic, Shirley Jacksonstyle climax overcome the predictable plot arc.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
Dunkle's gothic tale inspired by Wuthering Heights conjures Emily Brontk's isolated, windswept moors but heightens its supernatural elements. Plain Tabby is taken to dreary Seldom House to watch over a small, wild boy; the children are soon visited by a ghost. Dunkle's style recalls a nineteenth-century narrative, echoed by spooky black-and-white illustrations. An engrossing thriller and worthy companion to its literary ancestor.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2010
"In most houses, family's related by birth. Seldom House family's related by death." Dunkle's gothic tale inspired by Wuthering Heights conjures Emily Bronte's isolated, windswept moors but heightens its supernatural elements. Plain Tabby is chosen from Ma Hutton's knitting school and taken by solemn Miss Winter to dreary Seldom House for purposes unclear. She is given little to do in the dusty, neglected house but watch over a small, wild boy who is designated "master" of the house and has no name other than "heathen git." At night the children are visited by a ghost girl with "holes where her eyes should have been, great round sockets of shadow," who climbs into their bed and reaches out with cold, wet hands. Dunkle builds suspense through carefully laid hints about the dark powers of Seldom House and the villagers' ancient pagan beliefs. When Tabby finally discovers their evil secret, she gathers all her wits and her Christian faith to try to save herself and her young charge. As in Bronte's atmospheric novel, setting plays a central role, and the character of Seldom House is palpable: "The wind was its most active visitor, prowling about ceaselessly, rattling the casements and sobbing in the chimneys." Dunkle's style recalls a nineteenth-century narrative, echoed by the spooky black-and-white illustrations; it carries the reader to a remote time and place that somehow intersects both the real lives of the Bront sisters and the fictional world of Wuthering Heights. An engrossing thriller and worthy companion to its classic literary inspiration. lauren adams

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 15, 2010
Pagan magic, Heathcliff's back story and a lot of scary dead maids: Dunkle's knack for the creepy (By These Ten Bones, 2005) sets spines tingling. Woodcut-style chapter-head illustrations ratchet up the spook factor, especially those depicting corpses and ghosts. When Tabby becomes the "Young Maid" at Seldom House, she finds herself in a strange world, where she is expected to do little other than look after a bloodthirsty, nameless little boy, the "Young Master." Seldom House and the neighboring village have no church, and dead maids haunt Tabby. Gradually she realizes she and the Young Master are marked for sacrifice ("It's an honor to be given to the land," one of the villagers tells her). While it seems clear from the start that Tabby will survive (she narrates the story from a later vantage point), it is not until the end that the connection to Wuthering Heights becomes clear. For readers familiar with Bront�'s novel, the final connection is a masterstroke; even those who don't get it will find this a keeper. (Horror. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)