Nightbirds on Nantucket [Paperback]

After a ten month long sleep, Dido awakes on board a whaler in the middle of the Artic sea, on a boat completely covered in icicles and frost. There she meets young Nate, a ship's hand, who informs her of her surroundings, of how far she is from home. Also on board is the fox-like and slimy Mr Slighcarp and the moony Captain Casket, who is determined to chase and catch the magnificent pink whale. He informs Dido that his young daughter Dutiful Penitence Casket is also on board, but who has locked herself away in a cupboard in mortal terror of the sea. He requests that Dido attempt to coax her out, and then accompany her to her Aunt Tribulation on the island of Nantucket before she tries to head back to England. Dido, taking it into her responsiblity to teach Penitence not to be so timid, agrees despite her homesickness.

But there are other mysteries about, such as the fierce stowaway that Dido finds hiding in the hold, and the suspicious actions of Mr Slighcarp that aren't solved by the time Penitence and Dido reach the domineering and threatening Aunt Tribulation. The two girls eventually realise there's a Hanoverian plot in the making that involves a giant gun being fired from Nantucket to London, which will not only succeed in destroying the palace, but with blowing Nantucket backwards into New York harbour! With pink whales, German inventors, hidden woods and a familiar villainess from "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase", Joan Aiken once more dishes up excitement and intrigue set in her continually-growing parallel world, where history mingles with fiction, and characters engage in some rather incredible situations!

To a point, "Nightbirds in Nantucket" was not quite up to the standards of "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" and "Black Hearts in Battersea", as the duo of the strong-willed Dido and the meek little Penitence reminded me a little too much of Bonnie and Sylvia of "Wolves", (especially in "Aunt Tribulation"'s treatment of them), and the Hanoverian plot of conquering King James III was basically the same threat that was faced in "Black Hearts". However, Joan Aiken's imagination is amazing, whether she be creating the icy whaling ship sailing through the Artic Sea, or the warm sunny moorlands of Nantucket with its white-washed cottages. Her melodramatic plot twists and devices are always humourous and adventuresome (despite their unlikeliness), and the story ends on a note of further adventure for the irrepressable Dido Twite.