Manukau City Council - Your Library

My experience with Poet's Cottage was a rather serendipitous one - for I had just finished watching the movie Enid (starring Helena Bonham Carter) and was, at the time, also reading Enid Blyton, the biography by Barbara Stoney. The eccentric, cruel and yet childlike character Pearl in Poet's Cottage reminded me so much of an Australian Enid. The book initially makes references to Enid Blyton in the beginning which makes me wonder if this mirroring of complex children's writers is intentional.

 

The murder mystery aspect of the novel is a delightful surprise which had me somewhat hooked, but the tender story of daughter Sadie in search of her roots, her soul and her true home is also a strong feature - making this novel a nice balance of sorts. I would highly recommend you read this book in conjunction with Enid. There is a more-than-meets-the-eye moral and theme and it gives an insight to the relationships of these children's authors and their own children. Who will like this book? I have never really read anything like this but if you're looking for something light (nothing too cerebral), with a bit of the old murder-mystery... this is for you.