The Shadow Guests by Joan Aiken

First published: 1980

Type of work: Fantasy

Themes: Family, science, and the supernatural

Time of work: The late twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 13-15

Locale: Courtoys Mill, twenty miles from Oxford, England

Principal Characters:

• Cosmo Curtoys, a young boy who leaves Australia to live with his cousin
• Eunice Doom, Cosmo’s cousin, who is a professor of mathematics
• Mr. Marvell, the man who runs the experimental farm and uses the farm buildings at Mill Place
• Mrs. Tydings, the housekeeper at the Mill House, who lives in a little cottage across the lawn
• Mr. Gabbitas, the white-haired headmaster at the Morningquest boarding school

The Story

The Shadow Guests is a work of fiction that involves realism, the historical past, and the supernatural, combining a story of adventure with extraordinary happenings. The fictional setting is the old Courtoys’ Mill Place, which is located near Oxford, England. The mill house is surrounded by big trees, a river, a wooden footbridge, a real island, and other mill buildings. On the other side of the island is a weir: water hurling down in a smother of foam. The peaceful estate is lovely, but it has a mysterious air.

The plot covers a sequence of events in Cosmo Curtoys’ life. After his mother and brother disappear in Australia, Cosmo’s father sends him to England to live with his cousin, Eunice Doom, an attractive mathematics professor at Oxford. She lives in the old family home at Courtoys’ Mill. When Cosmo arrives at the mill house, he finds he enjoys the farm that has belonged to his ancestors. Cosmo does not enjoy the boarding school in Oxford he must attend. At Morningquest, he has to deal with Mr. Gabbitas and cruel teasing by classmates. Cosmo looks forward to weekends when he can return to the Mill House and help Mr. Marvell, the grounds keeper.

Soon after Cosmo’s arrival, Eunice tells him of the ancient family curse: It states that every firstborn son in the family line will die in battle at an early age, and the boy’s mother will die of grief. After learning of the family curse, Cosmo discovers that the Courtoys’ Mill House and grounds are haunted by strange apparitions and poltergeists.

In a series of fantastic occurences, Cosmo meets three ghosts of the family past: The first is Con, a Roman slave who is practicing to fight in the games at Corinium; the second is Sim, a pathetic youth training to fight in a medieval crusade; the third is the ugly and unlikable Osmond from Medmenham. Cosmo fights Osmond in a sword battle but knows that he cannot win. Osmond’s mother appears as an evil witch and blinds Cosmo with her black cloak. He falls through the floor into the icy weir water, and he struggles to keep from drowning.

Cosmo later awakens in his own bed and learns that he has been near death from pneumonia. His father, Richard, is sitting by his bedside. He tells Cosmo that he was saved from the rushing water by Lob, the family St. Bernard. Richard also tells Cosmo that his mother and brother were found dead on a little slope of hill in Australia. Cosmo now knows that his mother and brother walked into the desert in order to break the age-old pattern of the family curse. He also knows that the curse hangs over him.

Context

Aiken’s The Shadow of Guests is a work of fantasy. As in The Moon’s Revenge (1987) and The Teeth of the Gale (1988), the work presents a hero who is involved in strange and intriguing adventures. In Aiken’s novels, dynamic characters allow readers to experience historical events, romantic quests, gothic settings, period language, and improbable events. Like Cosmo Curtoys, many young people face family disappearance or death. Unlike Cosmo, however, they are not involved with haunted estates or shadow ghosts from the past.

A versatile and prolific writer, Joan Aiken has written in many forms. She has published plays, poems, short stories, and novels. Like her father, Conrad Aiken, she demonstrates a remarkable range of writing skills and techniques. She has written in many genres, such as historical fiction, fantasy, folklore, and realism. Aiken was born and reared in England, and many of her stories are set in England and its countryside. Her novel The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1963) depicts an old English country home. Resembling Courtoys’ Place in The Shadow Guests, a unique English estate is also the setting for Midnight Is a Place (1974) and Return to Harken House (1990). The Stolen Lake (1981) is about twelve-year-old Dido Twite’s return to England.

All of Joan Aiken’s works are meant to enchant and transport. Her novels, however, are not always based on accurate and exact happenings, as she often rearranges history to suit her stories. Unlikely episodes and action-filled plots are her trademarks. In her works, Aiken illustrates that life is not always easy. The world is filled with evil and hardship, but virtue and strength can prevail in the end. There is always hope and promise for future endeavors.