Publication Date: 07/08/2014 ISBN: 9781471401596 Category:

Heap House

Edward Carey

Publisher: Hot Key Books
Publication Date: 07/08/2014 ISBN: 9781471401596 Category:
Paperback / Softback

£8.99

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Mr B's review

If you haven’t ever heard of Edward Carey before, you are missing out! We all adore his work, but for me Heap House is just the best. Set in an alternate version of Victorian London, we follow Clod Iremonger. He lives in Heap House, amongst all the rubbish Londoners throw away, but to the Iremonger’s it is extremely valuable. Clod can hear all of the objects whispering names, all day, every day and he just wants to understand why. His family are obviously keeping secrets from him and when a new servant turns up- Lucy- Clod finds his chance to delve into the mystery surrounding their family. I just adore the relationship between Clod and Lucy- it is odd, quirky and completely wonderful! I also have to mention- it is illustrated throughout, and Edward is just a genius. Such a brilliant, funny adventure and one that I urge everyone to read! – Amy

Description

‘Roald Dahl by way of Charles Dickens’ – Vox.com
‘Dark and wildly original urban fantasy tale’ – The New York Times
‘Delightful, eccentric, heartfelt, surprising, philosophical, everything that a novel for children should be’ – Eleanor Catton, winner of the Man Booker Prize 2013
‘A rare work of individual brilliance’ – Inis magazine

The Iremongers have taken up what was not wanted and wanted it.

Clod is an Iremonger. He lives in the Heaps, a vast sea of lost and discarded items collected from all over London. At the centre is Heap House, a puzzle of houses, castles, homes and mysteries reclaimed from the city and built into a living maze of staircases and scurrying rats. The Iremongers are a mean and cruel family, robust and hardworking, but Clod has an illness. He can hear the objects whispering. His birth object, a universal bath plug, says ‘James Henry’, Cousin Tummis’s tap is squeaking ‘Hilary Evelyn Ward-Jackson’ and something in the attic is shouting ‘Robert Burrington’ and it sounds angry.

A storm is brewing over Heap House. The Iremongers are growing restless and the whispers are getting louder. When Clod meets Lucy Pennant, a girl newly arrived from the city, everything changes. The secrets that bind Heap House together begin to unravel to reveal a dark truth that threatens to destroy Clod’s world.

Publisher Review

Edward Carey’s HEAP HOUSE – delightful, eccentric, heartfelt, surprising, philosophical, everything that a novel for children should be. * Eleanor Catton, winner of the Man Book Prize 2013 * My favourite novel for children published this year was the marvelously funny and inventive HEAP HOUSE * The Guardian * Astonishing and inventive, it calls out to be read. — Nicolette Jones * The Sunday Times * Dark and wildly original urban fantasy tale. * The New York Times * This inventive and continually surprising novel evokes a darkly distorted image of Victorian London which is at once frightening, grotesque and often very funny … a peculiar but superbly-realised fantasy – the first book in what promises to be an excellent trilogy. * Booktrust – Books We Like * A rare work of individual brilliance. * Inis magazine * A deliciously macabre trilogy for middle graders and young teens channels Dickens crossed with Lemony Snicket … in turns witty, sweet, thoughtful and thrilling-but always off-kilter-and penned with gorgeous, loopy prose just this side of precious. * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *

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