The Secret Starling
The Secret Starling
Forever and ever Braithwaite Manor had just stood there on the moors, dark and inhospitable, as though it were saying, “Go away traveler” rather than “Come in.” But it was the only home Clara had ever known and after the half-hour tramp through whistling wind and lashing rain, when its familiar hulk finally loomed into view, she felt awash with relief. She was soaking wet, her shoes were sodden, and her feet felt like lumps of lead.
It wasn’t until she was almost at the door that she noticed the boy. He was trying without much success to shelter under one of the straggly bushes that sprouted from the rock garden, his arms attempting to shield a basket at his feet. “At last!” he cried, leaping up and rushing toward her as she approached. He was small and wiry, with light-colored hair gone muddy brown in the rain. “I’ve been here forever!” Where have you been? And where’s Mr. Starling?”
Clara stopped dead in her tracks and stared. Behind the boy was a for-sale sign, its post jammed into the soil at a strange angle as though it were leaning into the wind. This was not part of the plan! She’d come back to live on her own at home. She couldn’t do that if the house was to be sold! She looked back at the boy who was gazing at her with a mixture of impatience and …was it hope? She didn’t think anyone had looked at her quite like that before.
“Who are you? Did you put this up?” she asked, pointing at the sign. She didn’t mean it to sound like an accusation, but that’s how it came out.
“Of course I didn’t,” the boy said indignantly. I’m Peter Trimble, Apartment 64, North Tower, Kensington, London, SE11. I’ve been sent here to stay with Mr. Edward Starling while Granny is recuperating. Just for a few weeks until she’s better. Didn’t you know? It’s all been arranged.
Orphan Clara Starling lives with her remote uncle in a cheerless manor where the dismal atmosphere, monotonous routine and isolation never vary. Things change when Uncle suddenly sells off heirlooms and fires the servants. He then drops Clara in a neighboring village. When he doesn’t return for her, she knows she has been abandoned Having nowhere else to go, she returns to Braithwaite Manor to find a ’for-sale‘ sign and a young boy, apparently visiting during his Gran’s illness. They get on well, entertaining themselves happily. When they discover a ballet shoe that had belonged to Clara’s mother, they begin a dramatic and dangerous search for Clara’s father, a search that will eventually change their lives.
Set in Seventies Britain, the background is reminiscent of The Secret Garden, one of Clara’s favorite books. Like it, the somber manor is isolated in bleak countryside, and Clara has little joy in her life save for the affection of the kindly cook. Jo Rioux’s expressive full-page black and white illustrations capture the atmosphere as well as characters described in the text.
In the absence of responsible or trustworthy adults, the children are conveniently left to their own devices. Their characters are well-drawn and thoroughly believable, both being intelligent, practical and independent and yet thoughtful of each other. Peter, with his worldly wisdom and passion for ballet, is a breath of fresh air for naïve, lonely Clara.
With various adults out to thwart them in their desperate search for Clara’s parentage, the children overcome many obstacles and have many new experiences, even receiving help from Rudolph Nureyev at the Kirov ballet! Full of action, suspense and surprising revelations, it all seems perfectly credible and has a satisfying ending!
The Secret Starling, originally published in the United Kingdom, grips the reader from beginning to end. It is a literary page-turner that will enthrall children.
Aileen Wortley is a retired Children’s Librarian from Toronto, Ontario.