TANGLEWRECK
by Jeanette Winterson
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
ISBN-10: 1599900815
ISBN-13: 9781599900810
Ages 8-12
416 pages

Jeanette Winterson's novels for adults have been praised for their experimentation, their hypnotic use of language, and their exploration of intellectual concepts of science and philosophy. Her first novel for children, TANGLEWRECK, contains all of these elements, wrapped up in a playful package and a genuinely captivating story.

Ever since the mysterious disappearance of her parents, Silver has lived alone with the cruel Mrs. Rokabye in a crumbling Elizabethan manor house called Tanglewreck. There, Silver is a lonely household drudge, performing menial household tasks while being monitored by creepy spying bunny rabbits.

Soon, though, it seems that Silver has caught the attention of the menacing Abel Darkwater, a mysterious character whose fixation with time --- and with Silver --- seems focused on a missing timepiece called the Timekeeper. Since its disappearance many years before, Darkwater has been searching for the lost object. Now he's convinced that Silver holds the key to its re-discovery.

Could Silver's connection to the Timekeeper have anything to do with the mysterious events sweeping London? Creatures from the past appear in the present; busloads and carloads of people are swept off to another time in Time Tornadoes. Is it possible, as one character suggests, that "we are using up Time too fast, just as we are using up all the other resources of the Earth"?

On her quest to find out what's going on with Time, Silver encounters alchemists, quantum physicists, an underground gang from the nineteenth century, Popes, dead cats, and black holes. With its short chapters, shifts in time and place, and eccentric characters, TANGLEWRECK practically urges readers to read "just one more chapter" to find out the next episode in Silver's exciting story.

The blend of science, morality and fantasy in TANGLEWRECK, as well as many of its characters, will appeal to lovers of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. Fans of Winterson's many other novels for adults will also find much to enjoy here, including both subtle and direct references to her previous work. It's unclear whether TANGLEWRECK is intended to be a stand-alone novel --- certainly there are elements that are left open-ended, even though the book does come to a satisfying resolution. In any case, here's hoping that Winterson does turn her pen again to novels for young people, either with a sequel to TANGLEWRECK or with more imaginative fiction like it.

   --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

Back to top.