 1st edition, with cover by Pat Marriott | |
| Author | Joan Aiken |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Wolves Chronicles |
| Genre | Alternate history, Children's novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
Publication date | 1962 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Followed by | Black Hearts in Battersea |
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a children's novel by Joan Aiken, first published in 1962.[1] Set in an alternative history of England, it tells of the adventures of cousins Bonnie and Sylvia and their friend Simon the goose-boy as they thwart the evil schemes of their governess Miss Slighcarp, and their so-called "teacher" at boarding school, Mrs. Brisket.
The novel is the first in the Wolves Chronicles, a series of books set during the fictional early 19th-century reign of King James the Third. A large number of wolves has migrated from the bitter cold of Europe and Russia into Britain via a new "channel tunnel", and terrorise the inhabitants of rural areas. Aiken wrote the book over a period of years, with a seven-year gap due to her full-time work; the success of this, her second novel, enabled her to quit her job and write full-time.[2]
It is described by John Rowe Townsend as "a tale of double-dyed villainy, with right triumphant in the end".[3]
It was adapted into a film, with the same title, in 1989.
- ^ "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Wolves of Willoughby Chase, book 1) by Joan Aiken". fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Locus Online: Joan Aiken interview". locusmag.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ John Rowe Townsend. Written for Children: an Outline of English Children's Literature (Sixth edition, 1990).