All work and no play makes Florence something something...

"It is a curious story I have to tell, one not easily absorbed and understood, so it is fortunate I have the words for the task. If I say so myself, who probably shouldn't, for a girl my age I am very well worded. Exceedingly well worded, to speak plain. I have hidden my eloquence, under-a-bushelled it, and kept any but the simplest form of expression bridewelled within my brain."

Lets start this off by saying that I freakin' loved this book. Think Secret Garden meets Edgar Allan Poe meets The Omen. Totally my thing.

In a remote and crumbling New England mansion in the 1800's, 12-year-old orphan Florence, who is our narrator, is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself - and narrates this, her story - in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles. Sometimes Florence doesn't sleepwalk at all, but simply pretends to so she can roam at will and search the house for clues to her own baffling past.

After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a vengeful and malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful supernatural enemy, and without any adult to whom she can turn for help, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to both protect her little brother and preserve her private world.

This novel is written in a startlingly different and captivating narrative voice. It is amazing that this author, this man, can channel the voice and feelings a 12 year old crazy-as-a-coconut, trapped girl. The great thing about the narrative is that the voice of Florence reveals things to us that only we can notice and that goes unnoticed by Florence - people she thinks enemies we see as friends and the truth is revealed by her naive interpretations.

Please read this book...and tell me what you thought!