In late 19th century upstate New
York eleven year old Florence and her younger half-brother Giles are orphans
immured in the gothic pile that is Blithe House, looked after by a housekeeper
and staff employed by their absentee guardian uncle. He does not believe in
educating girls but Florence has secretly accessed the vast library and independently
developed her reading and language skills.
In fact they are over-developed; leading to
a penchant for synthesising new forms of words whenever she feels the standard lexicon
is un-sufficiently expressive. It is her first-person account of events that we
get throughout; her synopsis could read thus:
Her brother is boarding-schooled for a while
and she friendships a boy from the neighbouring estate. But things pearshape
when Giles quits school and a new governess is appointed (we learn a previous
governess fatally-accidented on the lake). Florence suspects Miss Taylor is up
to no good and witbattles her in a struggle that starts with polite sniping but
soon gets life-and-deather.
The precociousness and resourcefulness of
Florence, as well as her passion for books, is reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s
Matilda; but Florence is older, lacks powers of telekinesis, and is working
pretty much alone against an adversary more threatening than the comic Miss
Trunchbull. Although you have to root for her, and fear for her welfare, her
capacity for ruthlessness is more than a little concerning by the end.
It is hard to decide if Florence and Giles
is aimed at the youth or adult market – it seems to occupy ground between the
aforesaid Matilda and Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. (Which features similarly
named siblings Flora and Miles in a not dissimilar environment).
Not that it matters; I enjoyed the read
which was well worth the £1.99 download. The oddities of vocabulary, which
could have been irritating, actually fitted in well with and added charm to the
narrative.
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