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Saturday, 27 February 2016

The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn by Tania Unsworth

Synopsis (from Goodreads

Pages: 256
Publisher: Orion Children's Books 
Released: 10th of March 2016 

11 year old Daisy has never seen the outside world.

She has lived with her mother in their family home, the splendid but crumbling Brightwood Hall. But when one day her mother doesn't come home and a strange man arrives at the house, Daisy must use her wits to survive.



What I Have to Say 


This wasn't what I expected, but even so, it was good. I expected more of Daisy starting to find out about life outside of Brightwood Hall, for her to be learning how to live around real people, but instead it's more of an adventure story. It's Daisy being brave and standing up for the house that is hers. 

I liked the subtle way that they showed Daisy's loneliness and how messed up such an isolated childhood has made her through the paintings and animals that she talks to. It hints at the darker side of her life there without intruding on the coming-of age adventure story that it is. 

I love how much of this takes place with only Daisy's imaginings. She needs help with what she's facing and so she makes a person to help her, in the form of Frank, a made up explorer's assistant. I really liked Frank's attitude to everything. Her straight forward way of relating everything to the adventurer lifestyle, calmly leading Daisy through the danger. 

This unique tale of a girl facing the danger of a strange man, isolated from everyone, with only her wits and her imagined conversations to help her, this is definitely a story that's worth reading. 


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