Wednesday, 19 April 2017

The Shadow-Cage and Other Tales of the Supernatural

Philippa Pearce
Puffin Books

A collection of stories, both haunting and mysterious, created from everyday life and ordinary things.

Philippa Pearce is probably far better known as the author of classic children's book, 'Tom's Midnight Garden' than for anything else which, if the contents of this little Puffin anthology are anything to go by, is a real shame.

The 10 tales here show a lively and inventive imagination able to be macabre ('The Shadow-Cage'), funny ('The Dog Got Them' & 'Guess'), gentle ('Miss Mountain'), poignant ('At The River Gates'), strange ('Her Father's Attic'), brutal ('The Running Companion'), sentimental ('Beckoned'), vicious ('The Dear Little Man With His Hands in His Pockets') and a little bit silly ('The Strange Illness of Mr Arthur Cook').

As a book it is the quickest of reads - an afternoon - but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of running around in the lady's imagination for a while. 

Available here: The Shadow Cage and Other Tales of the Supernatural

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