Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Black Hearts in Battersea, May 29 2002
By A Customer
BLACK HEARTS IN BATTERSEA is written by Joan Aiken and takes place during the reign of King James III, near the beginning of the nineteenth century. The story is about a boy named Simon, an orphan, who travels to London to meet an old friend named Dr. Field who promised to teach Simon painting. When he reaches the house where Dr. Field is supposed to be lodging, all he finds is an annoying little girl named Dido Twite. The Twites' are the owner of the house, and they tell Simon that they have no clue who or where Dr. Field is. Confused, Simon decides to stay at their house for a while. Soon, he finds himself playing chess with the kind old gentleman who is the Duke of Battersea, taking Dido to the fair, and meeting a boy named Justin. Justin is also an orphan and is in the middle of preparing to be the next Duke of Battersea. Dido starts to like Simon and tells him that she knows what happened to Dr. Field, but she cannot tell him. Simon starts to think Mr. Twite is one of the people who wants to overthrow good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. He also thinks Mr. Twite has something to do with the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Field. It seems that everywhere the Duke and Duchess go, they experience mishaps: a fire at the opera house, a wrecked ship, attacking wolves, and poisonous mince pies. With the help from Sophie, Simon's old friend and the Duchess' maid, they are all saved from the accidents. The accidents sound strange to everyone, and Simon thinks they were purposeful.
However, many of the people who are against King James feel that Simon is dangerous and is ruining their plot. One night Mr. Twite and some other men kidnap Simon, but Dido sees them. She follows them and meets Justin on the way, and they both follow the kidnappers to a ship, called the "Dark Dew". Dido and Justin hide with Simon at the bottom of the ship unknown to the kidnappers, but the ship runs into a storm and falls apart. Dido, Justin and Simon are torn apart from each other, but Justin and Simon are pulled onto the shore of a small island. While they are on the island, everyone, including the Duke, Duchess, and Sophie, finds out that Simon is the next Duke, not Justin. The mystery unfolds the moment Simon and Justin find out about the large and terrible mistake that was made a long time ago.
My favorite character in the book is Dido because she is a friendly, brave, and a caring girl. She is the nicest and most trustworthy member of the Twite family, and she is helpful and a good friend to Simon. Dido has characteristics anyone would want to have, including me. I love this book because it is full of mystery and evil. I think evilness is needed in a book because it makes the story more interesting and exciting to read. My favorite part of the book is the moment that the mystery is solved, because it is exciting to know what caused all the mysterious events. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, and does not mind if the story is a little old-fashioned. BLACK HEARTS IN BATTERSEA is full of suspense, mystery, and excitement. This book is one of the books I can read over and over!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful adventure, Mar 6 2002
By A Customer
This is a wonderful adventure with the sense of fun that The Littles shares. It has the character of a Dickens tale and an innocent charm beyond that. My eleven-year-old loved it! He couldn't put it down and would rate it a 5 star book. The twists and turns in plot are a bit predictable for an adult, but are pure excitement for a child. The charm of it makes it pleasant reading for all ages.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative, lifelike and compassionate, Jul 26 2001
I would strongly recommend this book and all the books in this series to anyone who likes reading faux-historical fiction. The characters are wonderfully drawn (WONDERFULLY) and Joan Aiken's imagination is boundless. Regardless of your age, this is a book to be treasured. The characters are extremely believable and fully developed, and I just thought it was refreshing and nice to see a portrait of the English nobility (true, they're all fictional, but still) that is eccentric, kindly and down to earth, unlike today's real life example. The book is by turns action packed, hilarious and compassionate. It reminded me (for all you Les Mis freaks out there) of Les Misérables, at least insofar as the characters are concerned. Simon could be Marius, the Twites, the Thénardiers... Well, read it, and you will like it!
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Most recent customer reviews
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by Joan Aiken
