The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
"The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" by Joan Aiken is a gothic-style thriller designed for a young audience, intertwining elements of adventure and suspense. Set in an imposing mansion in the English countryside, the story follows two young girls, Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia, as they confront the sinister intentions of their governess, Miss Slighcarp. After Bonnie's parents leave for a trip, Miss Slighcarp begins to seize control of the estate and dismiss the loyal household staff, prompting the girls to uncover her deceitful plans, which include forging a will.
As the narrative unfolds, the girls find themselves in a series of perilous situations, including being sent to a grim charity school run by an oppressive teacher. With the help of their friends, including a boy named Simon, they embark on a daring escape to seek assistance. The story is imbued with gothic elements such as hidden passages and a sense of isolation but maintains a tone that ensures the young protagonists ultimately prevail.
Aiken's storytelling is rich with energy and spirit, reminiscent of the works of Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens, making it an engaging read for children who enjoy thrilling tales with a sense of justice and adventure.
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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
First published: 1962
Type of work: Adventure tale/thriller
Themes: Crime, family, friendship, and social issues
Time of work: The late nineteenth century
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: Willoughby Chase estate and London, England
Principal Characters:
Bonnie Green , the high-spirited daughter of a wealthy noblemanSylvia , her frail, orphaned cousin from LondonMiss Slighcarp , a distant relative hired to act as Bonnie and Sylvia’s governess and guardianSimon , a young boy who raises geese and lives in a cave near Willoughby ChasePattern , Bonnie’s devoted maidAunt Jane , Bonnie and Sylvia’s impoverished auntMr. Grimshaw , a mysterious travelerJames , a loyal footman at Willoughby Chase
The Story
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a gothic-style thriller that pits two young girls against their evil governess and her plans to seize control of the family estate and fortune. The Willoughby Chase of the title is the estate in question, a grand house in the English countryside where Bonnie Green lives with her parents, Sir Willoughby and Lady Sophia Green. As the story opens, Sir Willoughby is taking his wife abroad to restore her health and has arranged for Bonnie’s orphaned cousin, Sylvia, to live at the house as her companion. He has also sent for a distant relative, Miss Slighcarp, to act as the girls’ governess and to manage the estate in his absence.
Sylvia’s departure from London is a sad one; she is leaving behind her elderly, impoverished Aunt Jane. On the train trip to Willoughby Chase, she shares a carriage with Mr. Grimshaw, a man who saves her from a wolf attack and is injured by a falling suitcase when the train arrives. He is taken, unconscious, to the estate along with Sylvia. The two young girls quickly become fast friends, and Bonnie introduces her cousin to Simon, a young boy who raises geese and lives in a cave on the estate.
Bonnie’s parents depart and the girls soon learn, to their dismay, the true nature of Miss Slighcarp’s intentions toward them as she fires Sir Willoughby’s longtime servants, dons his wife’s fine clothes, and begins selling off items from the estate. The girls also discover that Mr. Grimshaw is in reality a cohort of Miss Slighcarp, who faked his injury to gain entrance to the house. Only Bonnie’s maid, the devoted Pattern, who has hidden herself in the house, and a loyal footman named James remain to help the cousins, smuggling food to them in the nursery by means of a secret passage. The girls use the passage to spy on Miss Slighcarp and Mr. Grimshaw, and see them destroying Sir Willoughby’s will and substituting a forged one of their own devising. The reason for this becomes apparent when the governess tells Bonnie that her parents’ ship has sunk and she is now an orphan like her cousin.
When Bonnie devises a plan to send for help, Miss Slighcarp finds her message and the girls are sent to live at an orphans’ charity school run by another of the governess’ friends, the tyrannical Mrs. Brisket. The school is a damp, dismal place where the students work night and day, sewing and laundering clothes, receiving only meager meals, and suffering cruel punishment for any disobedience. Simon locates the pair, however, and engineers their escape, and the girls travel with him to London on his annual trip to market his geese.
Arriving in the city, the children seek out Aunt Jane and find her perilously close to starvation. They are assisted by a kind doctor, who also helps them subdue Mr. Grimshaw when he attempts to break in. At the police station the following day, Grimshaw confesses to plotting with Miss Slighcarp to take over Willoughby Chase, and the children accompany the police back to the estate, which Miss Slighcarp and Mrs. Brisket have turned into a school. The two women are arrested with the help of James and the secret passage. To Bonnie’s delight, her parents return home, very much alive, having survived the shipwreck in a small boat. Sir Willoughby decides to bring Aunt Jane to the estate and establish her as the head of a small school for the orphans left homeless by Miss Slighcarp and Mrs. Brisket’s arrests, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to bed to dream of their recent adventures.
Context
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is an exciting thriller that combines the elements of a children’s story with those of a gothic novel. Its setting, its story line, and its characters are all cast in the gothic tradition, while many of its touches draw on ideas and events that appeal particularly to a young imagination. Willoughby Chase is a mansion with many gothic overtones—an isolated location, hidden passages, priest holes, and a dungeon—yet it is also described as a warm and cheerful place, as befits the home of a much-loved heroine. The same is true of the novel’s plot, which places its young characters in great peril yet also offers them the grand adventure of traveling the countryside in disguise—and without adult supervision.
The novel that the book most closely resembles is Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1847), with its early scenes of Jane’s stay in the dismal boarding school and its later intrigues in Mr. Rochester’s mansion. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, however, stops short of any of the real horrors that unfold in Jane Eyre, opting instead for a world in which wrongs are always righted and no one comes to any serious harm. The book also owes a debt to Charles Dickens, with many of its characterizations and character names—Miss Slighcarp, Pattern, Mr. Gripe—possessing a distinctly Dickensian ring.
Joan Aiken is a writer who has moved with ease between the worlds of adult and juvenile novels, and critics often comment on the energy and spirit that she brings to all of her works. These qualities are certainly present in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase; it is a lively, entertaining tale that offers enough mystery and danger to please young readers with a taste for suspense.