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This unusual novel melds evil doll horror with a family generation saga, told in three POVS over three generations of girls and women in Wales.
At the turn of the century, three sisters are moved to Wales by their doctor father when he inherits a three-hundred-year-old house which used to be the place where prisoners--including witches--were held. The youngest, Briony, finds a creepy doll in the attic. It's made of a single piece of wood, DIDO is carved down its spine, and it has a beautiful face with an evil smile. It seems to have a bad affect on Briony's personality, until the oldest sister, Juniper, takes it for her own. It has an even worse effect on Juniper...
Dido, who presumably was a witch's poppet, is distinctly unsettling. Her effect is to influence people to cut themselves off, to obsess over her, and to be cruel to family members. Juniper had tendencies in that direction already, so Dido found her fertile ground.
There's a lot going on that's not about Dido's influence, though that's a thread running through the book. It feels like one of those sprawling family sagas where the characters get married and have children, and war breaks out and people discover unexpected heroism and some of them die, and then life goes on for the survivors. Only this was published as a children's book, so the story is relatively short rather than the usual 600 pages, and also there's an evil doll. It's a weird concept but very well-done.
I found this book at a library book sale. Shows the benefits of frequenting those; I'd never heard of the book or author before.
At the turn of the century, three sisters are moved to Wales by their doctor father when he inherits a three-hundred-year-old house which used to be the place where prisoners--including witches--were held. The youngest, Briony, finds a creepy doll in the attic. It's made of a single piece of wood, DIDO is carved down its spine, and it has a beautiful face with an evil smile. It seems to have a bad affect on Briony's personality, until the oldest sister, Juniper, takes it for her own. It has an even worse effect on Juniper...
Dido, who presumably was a witch's poppet, is distinctly unsettling. Her effect is to influence people to cut themselves off, to obsess over her, and to be cruel to family members. Juniper had tendencies in that direction already, so Dido found her fertile ground.
There's a lot going on that's not about Dido's influence, though that's a thread running through the book. It feels like one of those sprawling family sagas where the characters get married and have children, and war breaks out and people discover unexpected heroism and some of them die, and then life goes on for the survivors. Only this was published as a children's book, so the story is relatively short rather than the usual 600 pages, and also there's an evil doll. It's a weird concept but very well-done.
I found this book at a library book sale. Shows the benefits of frequenting those; I'd never heard of the book or author before.
