Silas and the Winterbottoms

Stephen M. Giles (author)

PanMacmillan, Australia: 2009; 260pp

ISBN: 9780330424851

Genres: adventure, fantasy, gothic, mystery

Issues: ethics, values

Silas Winterbottom, a tyrannical, wealthy recluse of peculiar habits, invites two nieces and a nephew to his retreat in Somerset. Given the fact that Silas has ignored his entire family for years except to offer insults, the children are understandably surprised.

Silas' letters hint that he is dying and wants to choose one heir to inherit his entire estate. But Milo, Adele and Isabella soon suspect there is a more sinister motivation. At first the cousins, who've never previously met, compete for Silas' favour but when they realise that their very lives may be in danger, the trio is forced to work together to circumvent the evil plans afoot.

An absorbing gothic mystery/thriller, Silas and the Winterbottoms has a nightmarish feel that will appeal to readers of Neil Gaiman and Lemony Snickett. The characters are carefully drawn to represent some of the least attractive aspects of human nature - greed, lack of compassion, the desire for power, control and revenge.

The children at first epitomize the strength of parental influence. Adele is a nice child whose extreme anxiety is brought about by a slightly insane and demanding mother who willingly sacrifices her daughter on the altar of her greed. Isabella is a cold-hearted, calculating and manipulative girl whose father has trained her to use her charm and beauty to get what she wants without undue concern for others - or for the law. Milo, orphaned and raised by a loving grandfather, is the most grounded, considerate and perceptive of the three. As the children are tempered in the forge of Silas' cruelty and darkness, they realise, as we all must eventually that it is our choices, not our genes, which determine who we truly are.

While packed with page-turning adventures, threatening characters, mysterious and unexplained happenings - not to mention a four metre crocodile - Silas and the Winterbottoms offers much more than that to the perceptive reader. An interesting beginning to what promises to be a series of rather chilling adventures.