Wyrdwood

Wyrdwood. "One step, two step, branches black; three step, four step, branches crack . . ." Coming home from boarding school to Merryweather-by-the-sea for Christmas, Kiki Harper notices some alarming differences in her quaint home town.

Her best friend, Stefan, has forgotten to pick her up from the station. That's not so strange; no doubt he's busy poaching rabbits in the Wyrdwood and trying to stay one step ahead of the Blackwood Estate's vicious gamekeeper, Mick Cleaver. The new vicar has planned a big Christmas lights switch-on in the town, which older residents are mysteriously unhappy about. The children in the primary school are strangely subdued and reporting awful nightmares - all except Kiki's own twin siblings, who are as full of beans as ever.

Most disturbing of all - a strange woman is living in her house. Sam Harper. Kiki's dad, found Fay confused and naked in the woods one day and brought her back to the family home. Her father, the twins and the people of Merryweather have all taken Fay to their hearts, and although she seems kind and gentle, Kiki can't get past the fact that Fay is living in her home, wearing her late mother's clothes. And what is that weird old nursery rhyme the twins keep chanting?

The scene is set for a horror story tied up in myth and folklore, which will affect the whole community - and have the readers on the edge of their seat! Kiki is 16 but this is a perfect read for confident readers aged 11 and up. There are some references to alcohol and drunkenness, and smoking, and - as befits any horror story - some fairly gruesome deaths.

I would not be at all surprised to see Wyrdwood adapted for TV; it is written in a way that lends itself to the screen and I will confess to a little fantasy casting while I was reading! A thoroughly enjoyable read.

322 pages / Reviewed by Kimberley Lawson, school Librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+