I've been reading The House With A Clock In Its Walls, a Gothic novel for, y'know, kids.
It's beautifully written. It's one of those books that doesn't employ particular artifice (after all, it's written for nine to twelve year-olds) but every word in it seems perfectly placed. I've been reading it out loud late at night to try to instil nightmares in my girlfriend, and it's very easy to do so.
Although it's aimed at youngsters, there are some surprisingly mature themes in it; friends outgrowing one another, dealing with loss, guilt, and also magical artefacts that require body parts from executed felons. So that's an odd mix, and possibly a lot darker than the natural comparison, Harry Potter. Young hero, parents dead, magically gifted? Check, check, check.
However, there are a few flaws. While the start of the book is fantastically creepy, with skulking in mysterious darkened passages, towards the end this feeling of dread is replaced by something rather too close to a deus ex machina. For much of the climax of the story Lewis, the protagonist, is relegated to the position of onlooker, while the adults, Jonathan and Mrs Zimmermann, get on with the serious business.
There's also one or two loose ends (cars, Tarby, Hammerhandle) but to be fair, this does seem like Bellairs preparing the way for the rest of his series of books. And it would be stretching credulity (ok, if you've accepted an evil supernatural clock then realism was hardly a high priority for you) if Lewis was immediately a potent wizard. But it would have been good to either have Lewis a bit more active, or to draw out the climax a little longer.
But that said, it's still a wonderful book, and stands up well, even at thirty-seven years of age. I wonder why it hasn't got the movie treatment already. Or perhaps it has?
James Foreman
(Ed. note: no, not yet - but they're trying.)
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