Stella Montgomery is back! Those who loved Withering-by-Sea by Judith Rossell (which is to say anyone who read it) will be thrilled to hear that Wormwood Mire is even better! After the events of Withering-by-Sea, Stella is sent away by her awful aunts to Wormwood Mire to be taught by her cousins Strideforth and Hortense’s governess before she is then sent to boarding school. Before she left her aunts gave Stella a book called A Garden of Lillies, a cautionary-tale type of book full of little verses like: ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat/And you as well. Be sure of that.’

Poor Stella, out of all the orphans in all the kids’ books I’ve read, I’ve never wanted any of them to be happy as much as Stella. When she finally arrives all alone at the huge, spooky manor in rural England and her happy, cheerful cousins opened the door, I let out a sigh of relief. And of course as soon as Stella arrives at Wormwood Mire the fun begins! There are strange creatures to discover and run from, secret passages hidden behind bookshelves, a bird that speaks Latin and there is still the mystery to be solved of who the second baby is in the photo Stella found in the first book! Judith Rossell’s gorgeously unobtrusive illustrations fill this beautiful hardback, making it not only a joy to read but also a joy to hold and look at. I can’t wait ’til the next one!

Dani Solomon works in the Children’s & YA section at Carlton.