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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
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Krista H. As a fan of audiobooks, I find I often tend to listen to children’s or teen’s titles as a rule. Having recently finished Gilda Joyce : the Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison, read by Jessica Almasy, I picked up The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, read by Nigel Lambert. Originally published as a novel in 1962, this unabridged BBC audio production runs 4 hours and 53 minutes.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is the first book in Aiken’s Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. Set in a fictional England of the 1800s, the books premise is that wolves have migrated from Europe to Britain through the Channel Tunnel, tormenting all who come into contact with them.
This particular book revolves around the lives of two girls: Bonnie, the wealthy young girl living with her parents on an estate in the country, and Sylvia, her impoverished cousin, living with elderly Aunt Jane in London. When Bonnie’s parents must travel abroad for her mother to recover from an illness, Bonnie’s father brings his distant cousin, Miss Slighcarp, to Willoughby Chase to run the estate in his absence and be governess to his daughter. At the same time, Sylvia, Bonnie’s cousin, is to move to the estate to begin a new life with the family.
Once the parents have embarked on their voyage, the true plans of Miss Slighcarp are revealed. With her accomplice, Mr Grimshaw, (who Sylvia has unknowingly traveled with to the estate on the train from London!) they proceed to take over the estate, banishing the servants, burning Sir Willoughby’s papers, and treating the girls very harshly. They have also “arranged” to have the boat Bonnie’s parents are on to sink, so they are permanently out of the way. When the girls discover a secret passage and overhear the plans of Miss Slighcarp and Mr Grimshaw, they are sent to an orphanage run by Mrs Brisket, who turns out to be another player in the plan.
I don’t want to give away the story here, so you’ll have to listen to find out what happens! What happens to the girls? Do they escape the orphanage? Are Bonnie’s parents killed when the boat sinks or do they survive? What happens to Willoughby Chase? Do Miss Slighcarp and Mr Grimshaw succeed with their evil plan?
The story is well read by Nigel Lambert, who provides a wide range of voices distinctive for each character. Recommended for listeners of historical fantasy fiction. I would also suggest listening to Eva Ibbotson’s The Star of Kazan, read by Patricia Connolly and Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl read by Cynthia Bishop and a full cast.