Books by Joan Aiken
Arabel and Mortimer
by Joan Aiken
In this silly sequel to Arabel's Raven, Mortimer floats out to sea on a grand piano, tries to get even with three giraffes that have stolen his doughnuts at the zoo, and takes off with King Arthur's sword. Will Arabel ever be able to control her troublemaking pet raven?
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Arabel's Raven (Arabel and Mortimer)
by Joan Aiken
Young Arabel's life is changed forever when her father, a taxi driver, brings home an injured bird he finds in the street. This wacky raven eats everything in sight, answers the telephone by squawking "Nevermore!" and causes chaos wherever he goes--but Arabel loves her new feathered friend, whom she names Mortimer.
This is the first volume of Arabel and Mortimer's adventures, brightened with hilarious illustrations by Quentin Blake.
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The Witch of Clatteringshaws (Wolves Chronicles)
by Joan Aiken
Dido Twite’s sharp wits are put to the test in this new adventure in the Wolves Chronicles. After King Richard dies, Dido’s good pal Simon is put on the English throne, but he hates being cooped up in drafty St. James Palace, and his crusty old advisors won’t let him have any fun at all. If only another descendent of the king could be found, Simon would gladly be replaced. Never short a solution, Dido discovers a lead to another member of the royal line. But no one knows exactly who—or where—the child is.
The masterful storyteller Joan Aiken once again invites readers into a spellbinding world of magic, mystery, and mayhem—with a dose of “proper” English hilarity, of course.
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Black Hearts in Battersea
by Joan Aiken
Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure.
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Midwinter Nightingale
by Joan Aiken
Dido and Simon are in danger in this new addition to the Wolves Chronicles. Dido, back in England from America, is almost instantly kidnapped and taken to a derelict mansion surrounded by a deadly moat. The evil baron residing there, who is also a werewolf, wants desperately to know where King Dick is hidden. For the king is dying, and the evil baron wants to put his own demented son on the throne. Meanwhile Simon is with the ailing king. Not only does King Dick want Simon to paint a portrait of him and his family, but Simon is also next in line for the throne. However, they do need to find the coronet for the ceremony that will crown Simon. Though the coronet is rumored to be in the derelict mansion where Dido is imprisoned, no one can find it. It’s one cliffhanging, hair-raising chapter after another in this tongue-in-cheek, devilishly delicious adventure.
From the Hardcover edition.
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The Witch of Clatteringshaws
by Joan Aiken
Dido Twite’s sharp wits are put to the test in this new adventure in the Wolves Chronicles. After King Richard dies, Dido’s good pal Simon is put on the English throne, but he hates being cooped up in drafty St. James Palace, and his crusty old advisors won’t let him have any fun at all. If only another descendent of the king could be found, Simon would gladly be replaced. Never short a solution, Dido discovers a lead to another member of the royal line. But no one knows exactly who—or where—the child is.
The masterful storyteller Joan Aiken once again invites readers into a spellbinding world of magic, mystery, and mayhem—with a dose of “proper” English hilarity, of course.
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No copies available.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Wolves Chronicles Series)
by Joan Aiken
Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage. Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture is sold, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to a prison-like orphan school. It seems as if the endless hours of drudgery will never cease.
With the help of Simon the gooseboy and his flock, they escape. But how will they ever get Willoughby Chase free from the clutches of the evil Miss Slighcarp?
This edition of the beloved classic features an introduction by Aiken's daughter, Lizza, providing insight into the struggles Aiken—much like her heroines—had to endure before finally finishing this classic story a decade after she started writing it.
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The Whispering Mountain
by Joan Aiken
Winner of the Guardian Prize for Fiction
In the small town of Pennygaff, where Owen has been sent to live after his mother’s death, a legendary golden harp has been found. Knowing of the prophesy of the Harp of Teirtu, Owen must prevent the magic harp from falling into the evil clutches of its reputed owner, the sinister and diabolical Lord Mayln. But it won’t be easy. Owen and his friend Arabis are plunged into a hair-raising adventure of intrigue, kidnapping, exotic underground worlds, savage beasts...even murder.
For only too late will Owen learn that Lord Mayln will stop at nothing to have the golden harp.
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Eliza's Daughter: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
by Joan Aiken
A Young Woman Longing for Adventure and an Artistic Life...
Because she's an illegitimate child, Eliza is raised in the rural backwater with very little supervision. An intelligent, creative, and free-spirited heroine, unfettered by the strictures of her time, she makes friends with poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, finds her way to London, and eventually travels the world, all the while seeking to solve the mystery of her parentage. With fierce determination and irrepressible spirits, Eliza carves out a life full of adventure and artistic endeavor.
PRAISE FOR JOAN AIKEN
"Others may try, but nobody comes close to Aiken in writing sequels to Jane Austen."
PublishersWeekly
"Aiken's story is rich with humor, and her language is compelling. Readers captivated with Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility will thoroughly enjoy Aiken's crystal gazing, but so will those unacquainted with Austen."
Booklist
"...innovative storyteller Aiken again pays tribute to Jane Austen in a cheerful spinoff of Sense and Sensibility."
Kirkus Reviews
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The Watsons and Emma Watson: Jane Austen's Unfinished Novel Completed by Joan Aiken
Jane Austen wrote the untitled fragment that was later called The Watsons in 1803-5, and it was published posthumously in 1871. Joan Aiken, well known for her Jane Austen sequels and children's books, finishes the fragment, introducing a new hero and seamlessly continuing where Jane Austen left off to a satisfying ending for all Austen fans.
Emma Watson returns home after 14 years spent with a beloved aunt, whose re-marriage has caused a significant change in Emma's circumstances. Used to a life of ease, warmth and intelligence, Emma is thrust back into a home where, with one exception, her sisters are petty and jealous, if not vulgar, her father is ill and weak, and her brothers are not men of fine minds. This is a poignant exploration of a young lady's endurance in the face of reduced circumstances, and in true Jane Austen fashion, there is an admirable hero to make all right in the end.
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Mansfield Park Revisited: A Jane Austen Entertainment
by Joan Aiken
In Aiken's sequel to Jane Austen's complex and fascinating novel, after heroine Fanny Price marries Edmund Bertram, they depart for the Caribbean, and Fanny's younger sister Susan moves to Mansfield Park as Lady Bertram's new companion. Surrounded by the familiar cast of characters from Jane Austen's original, and joined by a few charming new characters introduced by the author, Susan finds herself entangled in romance, surprise, scandal, and redemption.
Aiken's diverting tale gives the reader interesting speculation on how the Crawfords, whose winning personalities were marred by an amoral upbringing, might have turned out, and Jane Austen's morality tale takes new directions with an unexpected and somewhat controversial ending.
"A lovely read-and you don't have to have read Mansfield Park to enjoy it."-Woman's Own
"Her sense of time and place is impeccable."-Publishers Weekly
"An excellent sequel...remarkably effective and very funny."
-Evening Standard
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The Serial Garden
by Joan Aiken
A Junior Library Guild Selection and Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children.
"A literary treasure."Philip Pullman
"My happiest discovery this year."Los Angeles Times
The complete collection of twenty-four charming and magical Armitage family stories. Includes a prelude by the author and introductions from Garth Nix and Lizza Aiken.
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The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories
by Joan Aiken
“Among the stories collected in this omnibus, are some of the very first Joan Aiken stories that I ever fell in love with, starting with the title story ‘The People in the Castle,’ which is a variation on the classic tales of fairy wives.”―Kelly Link
“[A] haunting and wondrous book.”―Emily Nordling, Tor.com
“This short story collection, edited by Aiken’s daughter Lizza and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist Kelly Link, compiles tales of the surreal and supernatural suited for an adult audience.”―Ryan Porter, Toronto Star
“Sprightly but brooding, with well-defined plots, twists, and punch lines, these stories deserve a place on the shelf with the fantasies of Saki (H.H. Munro), Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Susanna Clarke.”―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Here is the whisper in the night, the creak upstairs, the sound that raises gooseflesh, the wish you’d checked the lock on the door before it got really, really dark. Here are tales of suspense and the supernatural that will chill, amuse, and exhilarate.
Best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken (1924–2004) wrote over a hundred books and won the Guardian and Edgar Allan Poe awards. She supported her family by copyediting at Argosy magazine and an advertising agency before turning to fiction and went on to write for Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Vanity Fair, Women’s Own, and many others. Visit her online at www.joanaiken.com.
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The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories
by Joan Aiken
Praise for Joan Aiken's stories:
"Wildly inventive, darkly lyrical, and always surprising . . . should be cherished."—Publishers Weekly
"Darkly whimsical stories. . . . Aiken writes with surpassing spirit and alertness, her elegant restraint and dry wit never fail to leave their mark."—Kirkus Reviews
"Will appeal to readers of short stories and literary fiction. Highly recommended."—Library Journal
"Aiken's pastoral meadows and circus chaos, gothic grotesques and quirky romances . . . have a dream-like quality executed with a brevity and wit that is a testament to her skill as a story-teller."—California Literary Review
"Fantasy is combined with magic, myth and adventure to form weird, wonderful and immersive tales."—For Book's Sake
Here is the whisper in the night, the dog whose loyalty outlasted death, the creak upstairs, that half-remembered ghost story that won't let you sleep, the sound that raises gooseflesh, the wish you'd checked the lock on the door before dark fell. Here are tales of suspense and the supernatural that will chill, amuse, and exhilarate. Features a new introduction by the late author's daughter, Lizza Aiken.
Best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken (1924–2004) wrote over a hundred books and won the Guardian and Edgar Allan Poe awards. After her first husband's death, she supported her family by copyediting at Argosy magazine and an advertising agency before turning to fiction. She went on to write for Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Vanity Fair, Argosy, Women's Own, and many others. Visit her online at joanaiken.com.
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