Yes, bratty and brilliant does describe 11 year old Flavia de Luce,amateur chemist,aspiring poisoner and all around oddball. In a series of books Allan Bradley has explored Flavia and the mysteries surrounding her:the crumbling mansion in which she and her father and sisters live,her mother's unexplained death and why her sisters hate her. Actual mysteries happen also, people getting bumped off with alarming regularity, which Flavia solves despite the adults trying to get her out of the way. Flavia is the narrator so we see how her mind works, trying to understand the world around her.
All of this drama takes place in the fifties,in the small British town of Bishop's Lacey and Flavia's decrepit home, Buckshaw.
Written with wit and perception, the latest in the series, Speaking From Among the Bones is due to be published in January. ML
No comments:
Post a Comment