This started off so well. It had all my fave ingredients – a big mysterious house with fantastic grounds and hidden corners, an old diary, a boy finding his way. I expected an Enchanted Castle/Moondial type of story, but unfortunately it turned into something much weaker than I anticipated. It felt as if the author got bored and that the editor wasn’t getting her to tighten up enough.

The plus points are the conservation issues at the heart of the novel and also Hussey’s descriptions of the natural world. I wouldn’t say it was a classic though.

this was pretty good
i expected something else but still an okay read