Black Hearts In Battersea (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
Young Simon comes to London at the invitation of his old mentor, but when he arrives his mentor is nowhere to be found. What Simon finds instead is a wicked plot to overthrow King James, and only his wits and unlikely friends can help him save the dayand himself. Black Hearts in Battersea is thoroughly predictable, but not as such bad. It's one part rollicking adventure and one part heavy-handed foreshadowing, and while the latter strips all suspense from the former, it doesn't sap its energy. Indeed, the excessive foreshadowing feels almost at home: it paints a vivid caricature of adventure and danger, with all of the fun and little of the stress. While the plot is predictable, the protagonist's experience of surviving it remains engagingSimon is likable, bright, and real despite his stylized setting, and there's a certain satisfaction in watching him work his way out a quandary. His companions have a similar appeal; the villains are quirky (often extremely, but not obnoxiously, so), and their eccentricities provide much-needed depth and color to an otherwise simplistic evil. Aiken's tone is smooth, intelligent, and verging on understated, which is what lets her get away with such heavy foreshadowing. Her book is also surprisingly darksurprising insofar as it offers a lot of evil for children's literature, and surprising also that it doesn't feel dark. Consummately written for its intended audience, it's colorful, engaging, and largely tension-free, packed full of adventure and villainy without overwhelming a young reader. Adult readers, meanwhile, may find the dissonance of tone and content rather charming in an Edward Gorey (who suitably provides the cover art for this edition) sort of waybut the book's inclination towards energy and adventure in lieu of depth may make it quick, fun, but ultimately unsatisfying to a more demanding reader. Call me, then, more demanding: I found Black Hearts in Battersea enjoyable, and I appreciate the tone more and more in retrospect, but the book didn't grab me, didn't quite fulfill me; I don't feel the need to read it again, or to seek out more by the author. I look for a bit more substance even in my rollicking adventures, or perhaps rollicking adventures just aren't for me. Nonetheless I mildly recommend Black Hearts in Battersea: the book has a fair bit going for itjust not quite enough for my personal taste.
I read this book as a child, and it stuck with me for years. I'd forgotten the title & author, but I recently managed to track it down and bought a copy of my familiar 1987 edition on eBay.I really enjoyed the opportunity to re-read it, and once again I was swept away to historic Chelsea to follow Simon's adventure. One of the things (besides the 20 years of fading memory) that made it difficult for me to remember much from my first read is that the story is extremely lively and a lot happens in the books few pages. This high-speed adventure is probably one of the things that drew me in as a 7-year-old, but from a critical view it ends up feeling slightly disjointed.One thing that did improve with age was the intertwining of the characters. While my younger self would have found the coincidences and connections between the characters unrealistic, my experience brought to mind the great 19th century novels of Dickens and Hugo, which thrive on these small-world circumstances.However, reading this book wasn't a critical endeavor, and I definitely enjoyed my trip down memory lane. The story is fun, the characters are endearing, and the setting is superbly created. This book will definitely go on the list of titles to pass on to my children or god-children to enjoy.Unfortunately I was left with one nagging question at the end, which is, "Why did Aiken choose to set the book in an alternate history, where the Jacobites triumphed over the Hanoverians?" It seems generally irrelevant to the story, which could have instead built itself on thwarting a Jacobite plot. Perhaps this is explained in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, which I did not read in elementary school, but which sits on my shelf waiting hopefully to answer my questions.
What do You think about Black Hearts In Battersea (1999)?
Simon, a minor character in Black Hearts in Battersea (but one who clearly took over Aiken's heart), leaves Yorkshire for London where he can study painting. However, after arriving in London at the home of the Twite family, he is mystified by the disappearance of his mentor, Dr. Field. No one admits to having seen Dr. Field but there are hints he has been at the Twites, in addition to the letter he sent Simon urging him to come stay with him there. Simon enrolls at the art academy as planned and obtains a job nearby, and is happy to be reunited with Sophie, an orphan he knew years before, who is now employed by the eccentric but warm-hearted Duke and Duchess of Battersea. How Simon seeks his fortune in London while navigating the danger posed by Hanoverian plotters is very satisfying historical fiction.
—CLM
Ha! Who would have thought that I would enjoy this second book in Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles even more than The Wolves of Willoughby Chase! Of course Simon was always one of my favorite characters, so that went a long way towards my enjoyment of this story. Also, this is longer so there are more adventures and more mysteries to be enjoyed along the way. I didn't take to little Dido Twite in the beginning, but she really grew on me as the story progressed. I'm glad to know she will appear in more of the books in the series. I LOVED how Sophie was so creative to use the Duchess' embroidery in SO many ways(view spoiler)[ to save the Duke and Duchess in the attempts on their lives (hide spoiler)]
—Luann
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken follows the story of a young orphaned boy named simon who moves to London to study art after being invited there by an old friend. After reading this first descriptive sentence many have probably already begun doubting their interest in this book, for it already seems like a cliche adventure story where the protagonist is an orphan merely to give them a tragic back story and/or have an excuse to not write in parents. This orphan trope is so overused and common that I feel myself cringe every time a main character is introduced as one. So I can understand it if some have already made judgments about this book, as I had done the same upon first picking it up and I would have put it down had it not been for the way its dialogue was written (with the writing in of accents and drop-ins of historical slang). The unique style showed enough promise that I decided to continue reading, and I’m glad I did. Despite the stories fantasy elements, the characters were all realistic and unique in personality, put into a setting that is equally diverse and unique. The only large fault I could find with the story is that Aiken made Simon a lost-heir (yet another overused fantasy plot), but that was quickly forgiven when I read how the rest of the story was fleshed out with everything flowing so smoothly (plot-wise at least). All in all, it was a very nice and quaint read that you can imagine reading to a younger sibling/child whilst cozied up in a plush sofa.
—Paris
