


Unashamed bigness.īack in the nineties, before certain bestsellers were bestselling, children’s literature was in something of a lull. I come to all of them regularly, every few years or so, and devour the lot. They pull apart the rich seams of fantasy within this series and explore the untold stories left within. There are prequels (squeakuels?) to the Deptford books which move forward and backwards and somehow everywhere at once. (Sept.I’ve been a fan of Robin Jarvis’ work for a long while, discovering him first through The Whitby Witches, which I read as a child, and then devouring all of the other books he ever wrote. The author conveys a sense of place powerful enough to elevate the South London boroughs of Greenwich and Blackheath to requisite stops on any bookish child's literary tour of the British capital. Jarvis provides counterpoint to the heart-racing adventure with scenes of haunting beauty, including Audrey's mystical encounter with the Green Mouse and the country mouse Twit's nocturnal flight over London.


Numerous hair-raising encounters with the bloodthirsty rats ensue, until at last the valiant mice come face-to-face with Jupiter in a climactic showdown. Albert's daughter, Audrey, armed with a special ""brass"" bequeathed to her by the Green Mouse, ventures into Jupiter's realm to rescue her father her brother and a band of loyal friends eventually follow her. These worlds collide when the mouse Albert Brown is magically lured into the sewers. Jupiter, a villain par excellence, rules over the rats and emanates a nearly palpable aura of evil. Meanwhile, deep in the foul recesses of the sewers, brutish ratsDwhose primary diversion is hunting and eating miceDtoil at endless digging. In an abandoned old house known as the Skirtings in the London borough of Deptford, a colony of gentle mice lead tidy, sheltered lives, follow their ancient traditions and worship the Green Mouse (a kindly god who resembles the agricultural deities of ancient Britain). First published in Britain in 1989 and making its first appearance on American shores, book one of the Deptford Mice Trilogy is a spooky and enthralling animal fantasy just right for Redwall fans.
