Robert Westall (1) (1929–1993)

A short novel aimed at older children and published around 1976 which is clearly referenced in the text. A dysfunctional family consisting of parents who are both widowed, the son of the mother and the two daughters of the father, arrive at a beach house in Northumberland which the father has just inherited from his uncle who drowned at sea in mysterious circumstances. En route they stop at Durham where the mother deliberately steps on the tomb slab of Saint Cuddy as he is known locally, or Cuthbert, as the saint reputedly was anti-women.

They have not been at the beach house for long when strange things occur centred around a man who appears at night and seems to be luring the youngest girl from the house. But first there is the discovery of an ancient boat in the boathouse, which has the ability to take its passengers back into the past, into the period when Cuthbert was alive.

I quite enjoyed the story and found the characters fairly realistic with their tensions, squabbling and hangups. Interestingly, at the start the mother is the unsympathetic character and the father seems the nice one, but part way through they flip over. The father's flaws become all too visible.

Knowing something about Saint Cuthbert, this was quite an interesting take on his character although one thing jarred: his tomb would not have been a simple slab. The original one was a raised gold and jewel encrusted shrine - it formed an important place of pilgrimage until the Reformation at which point the shrine was broken up and the valuables pocketed by the officials of King Henry VIII. The simple slab is a modern replacement, so the guide's story about the saint miraculously carving the name in the floor just as it is seen by them is completely wrong, and no one in the story suggests he is talking rubbish so that came over as a clunking mistake, early on in the book. However I was able to suspend disbelief afterwards although I don't know how accurate the portrayal of Cuthbert and his circumstances actually was. I rate this story as a 3-star quite interesting read.… (more)

Reading this acclaimed YA novel as an adult, without being told Simon’s age, I would have found it difficult to pinpoint. At times, he seems older; other times younger than his 13 years. This is a book about coming to terms with loss. Simon cannot accept his mother has moved on. The ghosts of the story are many but of the psychological kind. Simon’s hate haunts the book as do the characters. Simon idolises the memory of his father, and moments when his inner demons get the best of him both torment him. Whether the ghosts of the ruined water-mill are real is another matter, but they’re real to Simon. The book’s full of tension and misery. Alas, I found it hard to like Simon and hence care about him because of his early attitude in the book where he doesn’t care what happens to his hamsters, even though he cares far more about a stray cat and her kittens later on. It’s a slight point, but one that may annoy some modern readers. Still, the book is compelling and I can see why it’s award-winning, mostly owing to the writing and the atmosphere the author creates.… (more)