The Thief Lord

Cornelia Funke (author)

Oliver Latsch (translator)

Chicken House, UK: 2002; 345pp

ISBN: 1903434777 

Genres: adventure, mystery Issues: family, friendship, trust

Prosper and Bo have fled to Venice to escape their restrictive, unloving aunt and uncle. They chose Venice because their mother always loved it and now that she is dead, it is as close to her as they can get.

But winter has come early in Venice and the children must find a way to survive. Befriended by a gang of street kids who are under the protection of the Thief Lord, the boys soon realise that their aunt has put a private detective on their trail. They must find a way to deceive him or they will have to leave Venice and their comfortable home in an old, disused cinema. Even if they escape this time, how long will their aunt keep chasing them? Prosper knows very well that it is his little brother, Bo, that his aunt really wants. Bo, with his angelic good looks and sweet smile. Bo, who thinks that learning how to steal is a great idea, when his older brother is trying to raise him the way his mother would have wanted. Prosper is weighed down by the responsibility and terrified that his aunt will somehow managed to separate them again.

When the Thief Lord is commissioned to steal the wing that will complete a magical merry-go-round, a carousel that enables the rider to become older or younger according to their desire, Prosper realises he has no choice. If he helps steal the wing and then rides the carousel, he can become an adult, whihc will enable him to get a real job so he can look after his little brother properly.

Reluctantly, he agrees to take an active part in the theft. Things begin to go badly wrong, however, when he realises that the Thief Lord is deceiving them all. The detective, on the other hand, is a more compassionate character than the children at first thought and it soon turns out that not all adults are as unreasonable as his aunt and uncle.

This is a beautifully crafted novel, a strange adventure with an almost nightmarish edge to it. Cornelia Funke has a realistic understanding of how children think, hope and dream, and this permeates her characters. The children are feisty and independent because they have to be, because they've been let down by adults that should have been responsible for them. They provide each other with the support and protection that should have been given to them by their carers but underneath there is the obvious longing to lay down the burden of independence and allow themselves to be looked after. As a result the novel is both an exciting adventure story and a rather sad commentary on neglected children.

A quirky, upbeat ending saves the novel from becoming too bleak for sensitive readers, although adults will still find it rather disturbing. Good reading, nevertheless.