Peppermints in the Parlor. ISBN: 068930790X
The Perils of Peppermints. ISBN: 0689850433
Barbara Brooks Wallace
Read October 2 & 3, 2013
Juv Gothic Dickensian mysteries.
Oh the joys of juvenile gothic tales. Shades of The
Little Princess meets Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Series of
Unfortunate Events. Dear spunky Emily is our guide through the perils
of childhood when surrounded by adults who are either dimwitted,
gullible, or criminal.
In Peppermints, Emily's pampered childhood is over -
her parents dead within the first page of the first volume, and she's
off to her Aunt and Uncle Twice (siblings on both parents' sides, of
course) to live in their own fabulously wealthy mansion.
On arrival, things are unexpectedly dismal - Aunt
Twice is wan and haggard, and Uncle Twice is nowhere to be seen. Even
worse, the beloved memory of the mansion is betrayed by a decrepit old
pile housing even more decrepit old people - all left there by their
families to molder away. The architect of this horror is Mrs Theodosia
Sly Meeching, grim of countenance, and heavy of hand. She lavishes
punishments upon servants (Emily and Auntie, as well as the sullen
Tilly, a fellow "orphing" girl) and oldsters alike, for the smallest of
infractions - including (as per the title) taking peppermints from the
parlor.
How Emily perseveres through hardship and prevails over her sinister foe is totally unrealistic, but very satisfying.
In
Perils, Aunt and Uncle Twice once again prove their utter inability to
function as reasonable rational adults, and squander their fortune, sell
their mansion, and pack off to India - all on the advice of a
fortuitiously-met lawer named Mr Josiah Slyde (I love these names,
they're seriously epic). Small children aren't allowed in India (obviously), so
Emily must stay in America, at an equally fortuitously-known school
which is of such high character that there is an actual ROYAL PRINCESS
in residence.
Sadly, things once again go sour from the beginning, and
Emily is once again reduced to penury and servitude. Again, no
resemblances to reality were harmed in the writing of this epistle, but
it's awfully good fun in the reading. The adults (with the exception of
the fishmongers, on whose gingered heads rest my whole fading hope for
adult humanity) are hopeless until the very end, whereupon they are
altogether much too cocky and thrilled with themselves after Emily's
done all the work and suffered through all the hardships and worry.
Earthshaking literary worth? Not a chance. Great
fun and a light (relatively peril-free) gothic adventure? You bet! If
this set's a hit, move on to The Little Princess, Wolves of Willoughby
Chase, Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Secret Garden.
