I don’t remember what book I had just finished, but I know I was talking about it and how much I loved it. Why wouldn’t I? That discussion encouraged a recommendation from my boss. This is one of her favorites. Her father brought it home, probably for her sister, but she enjoyed it too. It is the first in a series called Wolves Chronicles. My reading list just got longer.
Bonnie Green is the little girl that every girlie girl dreams to be. Her parents are fabulously wealthy landowners in England. They live in the mansion known as Willoughby Chase. They have maids, butlers, chauffeurs, servants galore. Nannies and governesses too. Bonnie’s closet is filled with dress after dress and her nurse has the ability to make new ones at a whim. Bonnie has a bedroom, a schoolroom and a playroom. In her playroom is a miniature house for her to play in and a life-size rocking horse and enough lovely dolls to line a wall. She has been raised to be confident and independent, if a bit forward and demanding, perhaps even a touch naughty.
Bonnie’s cousin Svlvia Green is an orphan who lives in London with her (and Bonnie’s) Aunt Jane who is aged and frail. Sylvia’s life is much different. She lives in a tiny one-room attic apartment that has been divided into two rooms with a curtain. She sleeps on an ottoman, bathes in a bowl and eats meager meals she cooks over a gas jet. Aunt Jane and Sylvia are making new clothes for her out of white curtains green velvet shawls when this book begins. Sylvia is going to live with Bonnie as Aunt Jane is no longer able to care and provide for her, but too proud to take charity. Sylvia is a quiet, meek, and submissive child who knows her manners and uses them.
Sylvia arrives at Willoughby Chase just as Bonnie’s parents are preparing to leave. Lady Green is ill and the doctor has recommended a sea voyage to quicken her recovery. Sir Willoughby has hired a distant relative, Miss Slighcarp, to manage and maintain Willoughby Chase in their absence. From the beginning, the reader can see that she is an evil woman.
Sylvia has also arrived with a Mr. Grimshaw, a fellow passenger in her compartment on the train. Mr. Grimshaw had protected Sylvia from a wolf and then gotten hurt when his traveling bag fell on his head and knocked him out. The Willoughby’s welcome the invalid into their home until the doctor finds him fit to leave.
Not even a full day passes before Miss Slighcarp begins her plans to take over Willoughby Chase. She fires the servants, burns Sir Willoughby’s papers, wears Lady Green’s best and favorite gowns and sells Bonnie’s toys. Then she sends the girls off to a boarding school that is more like a prison.
Months pass as Bonnie and Sylvia plot, escape, flee, plan and survive with the help of a Goose Boy named Simon. I daresay, Simon is my favorite character! And, of course, it all ends well!
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