In Bavaria in 1900, a bedraggled cherub flies through Cassie’s window. Her parents are strange and distant and she relies on her friend Raphael to help her find out why the cherub has come, why the stuffed owls in the house are moving position and storm clouds are gathering. But Raphael soon has related problems of his own to reveal which connect to Cassie’s ancestor.
From the Bavarian setting and the house perched on a rock to the nursing duo of Crunch and Grind and the terrifying Sturmfalken creatures, this is a gothic middle grade tale to delight children who like their stories a little darker. Plenty of original steampunk elements too – I’d love a steam-powered zipwire! Pleasingly, Lucy Hope doesn’t shy away from the more gruesome aspects of sprouting wings or taxidermy, and there’s a sense of peril and menace at times that make this fantasy adventure more Brothers Grimm than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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