A slight departure from my last few reads but a welcome change!
Following the bibliophilic adventures of Tilly Pages and her friend Oskar, this is the first book in what is now a series of five, with the fifth part, The Treehouse Library, publishing today in the UK!
Anna James opens the door to Pages & Co, run by Tilly’s grandparents Elsie and Archie, and surely the shop of any bookworm’s dreams!?
‘The shop was made up of five floors of corners and cubbyholes, sofas and squashy armchairs, and a labyrinth of bookshelves heading off in different directions. A spiral staircase danced up one wall, and painted wooden ladders stretched up into difficult-to-reach corners. Tall arched windows made it feel a little like a church when the light spilled in and dust motes danced in the air. When it was good weather the sun pooled on the floor and the bookshop cat – named Alice for her curious nature – could often be found dozing in the warmest spots. During the summer the big fireplace behind the till was filled to bursting with fresh flowers, but as it was October a fire was roaring there.’
But when Tilly encounters two strangely familiar new friends, first Anne, “with an e” and then the inquisitive Alice, her family’s illustrious bookwandering history is revealed, setting in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever!
Together with Oskar, she visits the Bookwanderer headquarters, the British Underlibrary, where they meet the (perfectly named) chief Librarian, Amelia Whisper, and discover the full extent of their newfound talents; not only are the pair able to interact with their favourite characters, but they can travel into the pages of the books themselves! There are, of course, rules, sternly enforced by another employee of the library, Enoch Chalk, the antithesis of the friendly Amelia, and of whose ulterior motives the children are immediately suspicious.
Delving further into the uncharted territory of bookwandering, the friends’ adventures bring them closer to answers Tilly has longed for since her mother’s mysterious disappearance. But once revealed, the truth is beyond anything she could ever have expected, or even believed …
I didn’t really pick up this title so much as it was thrust into my hands by an excited group of Year 6s, raving about the series at our class book club.
It’s undoubtedly a series written with book lovers in mind, the children who read under the covers with a torch well past bedtime. There are parallels with the Inkheart trilogy, one of my own childhood favourites, though not so much as to overpower this story – it certainly stands up on its own. It’s also aimed slightly younger, middle grade if I were to give it a category, whereas Inkheart is darker and more complex. In any case, I’d like to think Tilly Pages and Meggie Folchart would be friends.
This reminded me of what I love about children’s books and YA; the willing suspension of disbelief required is refreshing. Following an afternoon immersed in Pages & Co, it may seem perfectly plausible that you would happen upon Lizzie Bennett one rainy afternoon in London. Admittedly, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the Captain Crewe plotline but hopefully this will be developed in Tilly and the Lost Fairytales.
I was gifted the next two books at the end of the school year, so looking forward to seeing what Tilly does next!
Bookishly Abroad 