Despite being labeled "Wolves, #6" this was the fourth Aiken wrote; I think that discrepancy threw me when I came back to these books after having devoured them as a child. Not surprisingly, her writing style changed over the years, and it shows in these later Wolves books. (Or why there's still a debate about the order in which one should read C.S. Lewis's Narnia books: publication order or internal-chronology order.)I don't like these later books quite as well as I do/did the first three, though I don't know if that's because I came to them as an adult (out of the intended audience age range) or because of the changes in authorial style.The first three were fairly realistic. Well, realistic allowing for the fact that they're set in an alternate history, wherein the throne of Great Britain is occupied by, not the Hanoverians but the Jacobites; George is the pretender and James the King. The later Wolves books seem a bit more woo-woo than the earlier ones--more supernatural events and sub-plots.Also, the first two sequels picked up with a secondary character from the previous book, Simon for Black Hearts of Battersea and Dido for Nightbirds on Nantucket. I'll admit that Dido was my favorite character: smart-alecky, smart and street-smart, tough as nails but ultimately honorable. Yet...I can't help wondering about some of the secondary characters in the later books: Dutiful Penitence, Chris and Tobit, your choice.
Dido Twite is traveling with Captain Hughes with information about a plot against the King. Their carriage overturns, injuring Captain Hughes and stranding them at the Dogkennel Cottages. Dido tries to find a trustworthy messenger to take the message on to London, but instead she meets witches and shady dealers, a plot to disinherit Tobit, the nephew of Lady Tegleaze, and even her own rascally father, but little help for her plight. She must resort to the Wineberry boys, honorable local smugglers, but when even they are infiltrated she takes matters into her own hands. She travels to London by elephant in time to thwart a fantastic plot involving putting St. Paul’s Cathedral on rollers and sliding it into the Thames during the King’s coronation.This fantastic tale gets weirder and weirder, and would appeal to fans of Lemony Snicket’s books. However, the British dialect used, and the length will make it daunting for less adept readers.
What do You think about The Cuckoo Tree (2000)?
The Cuckoo Tree is a quirky book with characters that are surprisingly unique. The main character, Dido, has just disembarked from a merchant ship and is on her way by stagecoach to London with "her captain" where he is to deliver a message of highest urgency ahead of the upcoming coronation. The coach overturns, and not by accident. Cast up in the middle of nowhere, Dido seeks help from a moldering manor house and launches an adventure that involves highwaymen, scurrilous lawyers, scheming old hags, the heir to a priceless item, and a blind farmer.I've read this book three times and each time I catch onto something new. This last time, it dawned on me that the old hags were from the caribbean. My recommendation while reading: Lots of the dialog is in dialect, so when reading make sure that you read it aloud--at least in your mind.
—Sarah Smith
At the height of her powers, there's no-one to match Aiken for the verve and ingenuity of her stories, and for heroines, there's precious few to match the inimitable Dido Twite. Returned at last from her voyaging, Did quickly becomes ensnared in another Hanoverian plot to do something utterly mad at the coronation ceremony of the new king. Witches and smugglers and lost twins and scheming cousins and cheerful smugglers and sinister puppet shows are all elements of this rollicking tale. Fantastic.
—Nigel
Dido Twite is a great heroine, all mouthy action, sharp elbows and ideas, and this is the first of the series I've read where she's the main character, but I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as my other two forays into Joan Aiken's many books - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, and Black Hearts in Battersea – which I thought were both brilliant. Somehow the plot here is not as strong, it feels as if there's too much beginning and not enough end, because the denoument has brilliant possibilities, but is dealt with rather fast. Also the biggest disappointment for me in the book, there were no wolves, despite the fact the book starts with a big coach crash and Dido spends most of the time wandering round the countryside. It still has a lot of fun stuff though - including another of those outlandish and nefarious villainous plots that the baddies in Joan Aitken always seem to come up with.
—Peter
