Overview
The famous Arden family treasure has been missing for generations, and the last members of the Arden line, Edred, Elfrida, and their Aunt Edith, have nothing to their names but the crumbling castle they live in. Just before his tenth birthday, Edred inherits the title of Lord Arden; he also learns that the missing fortune will be his if—and only if—he can find it before the turns ten. With no time to lose, Edred and Elfrida secure the help of a magical talking creature, the temperamental Mouldiwarp, who leads them on a treasure hunt through the ages. Together, brother and sister visit some of the most thrilling periods of history and test their wits against real witches, highwaymen, and renegades. They find plenty of adventure, but will they find the treasure before Edred’s birthday?
Synopsis
The famous Arden family treasure has been missing for generations, and the last members of the Arden line, Edred, Elfrida, and their Aunt Edith, have nothing to their names but the crumbling castle they live in. Just before his tenth birthday, Edred inherits the title of Lord Arden; he also learns that the missing fortune will be his if—and only if—he can find it before the turns ten. With no time to lose, Edred and Elfrida secure the help of a magical talking creature, the temperamental Mouldiwarp, who leads them on a treasure hunt through the ages. Together, brother and sister visit some of the most thrilling periods of history and test their wits against real witches, highwaymen, and renegades. They find plenty of adventure, but will they find the treasure before Edred’s birthday?
Publishers Weekly
The House of Arden will please E. Nesbit's many followers from her series about the Railway Children. Here the Arden family attempts to find the reputed family treasure, gone missing for generations, before Edred's 10th birthday-at which time he loses claim to it. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
The House of Arden will please E. Nesbit's many followers from her series about the Railway Children. Here the Arden family attempts to find the reputed family treasure, gone missing for generations, before Edred's 10th birthday-at which time he loses claim to it. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
A good Edwardian wife, E. Nesbit (1858-1924) supported her family through the genteel endeavor of writing for children. Though the gentility is first and foremost in her well-bred narrator's voice, Edith Nesbit could not stop herself from writing some whoppingly fine adventures. Long out of print, this title is an excellent case in point. When ten-year-old Edred finds himself the new Lord of Arden—the proud possessor of a crumbling castle, but no money or lands—his twelve-year-old sister Elfrida joins him in a search for the mythical family treasure. Through the grudging help of Mouldiwarp, the noble family's heraldic symbol and in fact a little white mole, Edred must learn to be brave and kind and wise to become worthy of the treasure. In truth, young Edred is a wimp. It is his sister who owns all these attributes and dashingly displays them during forays into times past. The Napoleonic Wars and its smugglers; Stuart claims to the throne and highwaymen; London on the very cusp of the Gunpowder Plot which will forever immortalize Guy Fawkes—all are brought to stunning life as Elfrida uses kindness and common sense to make her way and, ultimately, remake her brother. As always with Nesbit's stories, the real treasure is a loving family. The children seem young by today's standards, a little precious, too, for contemporary blase kids. But once past the preliminaries, the adventures do take over. And if older readers cannot be conned into giving this period book a try, it is perfect as a read-aloud for younger children. 2006 (orig. 1908), New York Review Children's Collection, Ages 8 up.—Kathleen Karr