The Tale Of Cuckoo Brow Wood (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
This is the most exciting, magical story by Susan Wittig Albert! Even though she colours in every resident, we stay with characters we like: Beatrix, Will Heelis, Caroline, Dimity Woodcock, and introduce Irish schoolmate Deidre Malone. Deidre is housed by the veterinarian family, for being their nanny. She tells Caroline and Jeremy what her mother taught her about fairies, thus bringing an element I love that had been missing: something mystical!This is Susan at her best: detailed where you want it but chasing characters after the action. Some information is gleaned by accident but like out of the movies, Beatrix and others directly launch into a showdown with no second to spare. Everything kept me reading with a fever pitch, like the three teenagers embarking to locate fairies in Cuckoo Brow Wood. It was enchanting to go inside these woods, always on the map but not delved into before. Even this book's cover is the prettiest. We meet absent villager Major Kittredge, of whom Dimity was fond before he went on a mission. He returns with a scarcely-acquainted wife everyone mistrusts. Their public reception grants us a look at Raven Hall, containing a legendary artifact.It’s fulfilling to reveal sides not seen before. Beatrix and Will like animals but what also says a lot about a person, is openness to the supernatural. Reactions to legends were neat. With all the above making an extraordinary novel, striking personal touches tied me to it! I too was new in town, with my first piece of land. The parallel synch of the novel stood my hair on end. At the time of reading, as I closed the last page, it was ‘May Eve’ in real life; allegedly the ideal night to search for fairies…. and I happen to live in a forest!
"Perhaps it's the gentle breezes that waft into Sawrey off the lake. Or perhaps it's the town's distance from big-city life. Whatever the reason, Miss Beatrix Potter loves the genuine warmth of her new neighbors. But even the kindest of souls can turn snappish when houseguests overstay their welcome ..."When Beatrix returns to Hill Top Farm from her parents' home in London, she finds the attic overrun with rats. Rosabelle, resident rat and generous hostess, has offered her family a place to stay. But when word gets out, she soon has dozens of rat families on her tiny hands. To get rid of them, Beatrix invites some cats over -- deeply offending Felicia Frummety, resident cat."The town vicar shares Beatrix's problem -- some pesky visitors have all but refused to leave the vicarage. Even worse, a mysterious, moneyed outsider plans to ruin the pristine shoreline of Lake Windermere by building a sprawl of villas. And trouble has beset three village children, favorites of Beatrix, who are counting on the help of the fairies of Cuckoo Brow Wood. Now, with her signature tact, Beatrix must work with her friends -- humand and animal -- to set things right ..."~~front flapIn this third book in the series, the animals become more prominent as characters in the plot, which is both oddly disturbing and somehow completely natural. It's another "nimble evocation of country life" and even the unsettling detour into thieving rats and fairies on the hill don't mar the overall tranquility of life in an English village in the Lake District at the turn of the 19th century.
What do You think about The Tale Of Cuckoo Brow Wood (2007)?
In this volume, the series stepped too far into fantasy for me. My favorite part of the series has been the story lines that draw on author/artist Beatrice Potter’s life and give a perspective on her personality and work. While the ongoing story lines with talking animals living in the town and countryside fit in as an homage to Ms. Potter’s work, adding a dragon didn’t fit the rest of the story and was a bit too fantastical. Worse, it appears the dragon will be a recurring character. My rating is 3 stars because the book is a capably written cozy-type mystery, just not to my taste.
—Susan
Lake district 1907. Quaint, endearing, and relaxing, these stories can't help but provoke nostalgic reminiscences of childhood, when everyone seemed to believe in fairies, magic, Father Christmas and talking pets! On a more serious level, the historical context seems to be accurate, and the social position of women in that era certainly gives food for thought!If, as a child, your mother or granny used to read you bedtime stories such as Beatrix Potter's Tales and Cicely Mary Barker's beautiful "Flower Fairies" (both published by Frederick Warne), then you'll love this series.
—Sarah
I am a huge Beatrix Potter fan, so I could not resist a mystery written with Beatrix Potter as the "sleuth." I was not sure anyone could pull off such a thing, but this is a fabulous read. The author has kept a tone that matches Potter's tales and her journals. Stories from the animals' points of view intersperse and often connect with the human mystery. The mystery was gentle but compelling. It is possible that people not as familiar with Beatrix Potter's life would not enjoy the books as much, but I think the story stands on its own quite well, with wide appeal. Susan Wittig Albert is a versatile and interesting writer--she has several other quite different mystery series, including the China Bayles' mysteries set in the fictional Pecan Springs, Texas, and involving native plants and herbs of the region.
—Vilo
