The House of Dead Maids [Hardcover]

Clare B. Dunkle (Author), Patrick Arrasmith (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 14, 2010

Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave?

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the boy who will become Heathcliff has doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up–Beginning with her selection from a group of orphan girls by the aloof Miss Winter, 11-year-old Tabby narrates a tale about her service at Seldom House, a crumbling, remote manor on the English moors. Strange events occur almost immediately: she is given a large room but is locked in at night and soon encounters the eyeless ghost of another young maid named Izzy. Tabby is told that she is to care for the young master, who will arrive shortly. He proves to be a dirty urchin who has a quick temper and imperious manner and is referred to by the old master as “a heathen git.” As the children roam the house, grounds, and surrounding hills, more and more ghosts appear to them. Finally they encounter a group of grimy, moldering maids on the moors. Determined to learn why Izzy seems to be trying to warn her, Tabby explores the manor and finds that a gruesome fate awaits her and her young master. Not until the last chapter do readers discover that this story is a prequel to Wuthering Heights. Dunkle has incorporated real people (Tabitha Aykroyd was the Brontës' housemaid, well-known for telling her young charges “otherworldly tales”), fictional characters (the boy is revealed to be a young Heathcliff), and the ancient Druidic practice of human sacrifice into a tense tale of supernatural doings. Whether or not the story will lead readers to Emily Brontë's classic novel remains to be seen.–Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OHα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

If the prospect of a prequel to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights won’t exactly set most kids’ hearts aflutter, the chilling jacket illustration of a pale girl without eyes might do the trick. As prequels go, it’s no Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), but it’s no slouch either, channeling Brontë’s gothic atmosphere for a tale more thoroughly soaked in ghostly mayhem. Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd (modeled after the real-life servant of the Brontës, who allegedly told the sisters many a terrifying tale) is hired out to Seldom House, a moody estate in need of a nursemaid for the new master, a feisty young boy (Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, though here he is referred to as “Himself”). Ghosts are afoot in Seldom House, but that doesn’t flap the unflappable Tabby—what’s scary is that the ghosts are maids, just like her. Arrasmith’s drawings, which begin each chapter, promise an intensity of horror not matched by the understated prose; still, though, Dunkle’s period detail and the delicious pagan rituals of a fantastic, Shirley Jackson–style climax overcome the predictable plot arc. Grades 7-10. --Daniel Kraus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805091165
• ISBN-13: 978-0805091168
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,589,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clare B. Dunkle was born Clare Buckalew and grew up in Denton, Texas. She earned a B.A. in Russian with a minor in Latin from Trinity University in San Antonio and worked in Trinity University's library after earning her M.L.S. from Indiana University. For seven years, she and her family lived in the Rheinland Pfalz region of Germany not far from the Roman city of Trier. Her daughters attended a boarding school there and read her first four books as a series of letters from home.

Dunkle's debut novel, THE HOLLOW KINGDOM, won the Mythopoeic Award for Best Children's Fantasy Book in 2004. Her books have earned spots on a variety of "best book" and "core" lists, including three Bank Street nods, and her fiction has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and The Horn Book. She lives now in San Antonio, Texas, where she writes dark fantasy and science fiction for teens. In her spare time, she reads Victorian ghost stories.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars She's seen the cold ones August 5, 2010

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Clare B. Dunkle has tried out a lot of different genres -- a fantasy trilogy, a sci-fi duology, and a masterful historical horror tale. "The House of Dead Maids" easily fits into the last category, with ghastly dead girls slipping through a strange cursed house, but Dunkle makes the living characters just as creepy... even a strange little boy with no name.

Tabby Ackroyd is the new "young maid" at Seldom House, charged to take care of a wild, nameless boy (known as "Himself"), who is apparently the new master of the house (even though he's not related to the OLD master). But Tabby soon discovers that there's something horribly wrong with her new position -- nobody except her cares about Himself, there isn't a church nearby, and strange ghostly girls with pitlike eyes keep appearing.

But the most horrifying discovery is when Tabby realizes that one of the dead girls was the previous maid -- and she's only one of many maids who has died there. As she tries to protect herself and Himself from the evil forces surrounding (and filling) Seldom House, Tabby begins to realize that the danger is not just aimed at the little boy, but at herself as well.

"The House of Dead Maids" has some interesting literary connections -- Tabby is based on the Bronte sisters' housekeeper, and Himself... well, you'll find out who he is, and why his wild, passionate ways are so important. But even if you're unfamiliar with Bronte lore, this book is still a magnificent story -- think a gothic horror story for kids.

Most of this comes from Dunkle's command of language and atmosphere. The entire book drips with dank, heavy gothic atmosphere and a general feeling of impending doom ("She was nothing but a hollowed-out skin plumped up with shadow"). And she manages to reveal just enough of the mystery surrounding Seldom House without making us feel like Tabby should know what's going on -- there's something horrible coming up, but we don't really know what it is.

The two most impressive characters are, of course, Tabby and Himself -- she's a prim, rather ordinary 19th-century servant girl with very strong Christian beliefs. Himself is the exact opposite: a wild, strange child who is swayed entirely by his own selfish passions. Mrs. Winters and Jack are particularly creepy, especially when she gleefully announces that "it warms my heart to think that one day I'll watch you die, and we'll always have each other then."

"The House of Dead Maids" is an eerie little gothic tale that doesn't last half as long as you want it to, courtesy of Dunkle's superb writing and characterization.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entirely creepy! August 7, 2010

By Avid Reader VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

At first I was not into the spirit of the book, being old and jaded, but quickly brought myself back to my younger teen years when I loved a good scary yarn, whether it was Poe or Bronte or Lovecraft. This is a short little book but ranks high on atmosphere and spookiness. Ghosts just aren't ghosts but smell of rot and have no eyes. The heroine is an eleven year old orphan who is taken to a house out on the moors to take care of another young orphan. It helps here to have read Wuthering Heights, this being the story of a young Heathcliff! There's a mystery here at the house and a whopper of one it is. It might be too scary for some young minds. Recommended only for those who like real horror. The scary atmosphere is kept high on every page and culminates in real grisliness. You find out why this is the "House of Dead Maids". NOT to be read at night!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars suitably creepy August 8, 2010

By Elvisettey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Young maid Tabby Aykroyd is recruited by the imposing elder maid Miss Winter to come serve at Seldom House as nursemaid to a young, wild self-proclaimed "heathen git" who is nameless, unchristened. She finds herself in a household of taciturn servants and in charge of a rebellious child who proclaims himself master of all he surveys. Very quickly, she realizes that the house is haunted by the ghosts of ghoulish dead maids, gray, horrid things with dark holes where their eyes and mouths should be. Why are these terrifying specters appearing before her? What are they trying to communicate? And what are the ghosts that her nameless charge-- whom she has named Himself-- claims to see?

The atmosphere of Dunkle's novel is brooding and atmospheric throughout. A darkness prevades every page, and rich description is abundant. It is eerily provacative in the way of a good ghost story, shot through with descriptions of the creepy old house, wild moors, and the mysterious village. There are no spots of light, no safe places of retreat for Tabby or for the reader: all is darkness, and the reader feels Tabby's claustrophobia and isolation acutely. Psychologically, Dunkle has created quite the ideal setting for a ghost/suspense story.

In terms of readership, Dunkle does not "dumb down" the text for her juvenile readers. The vocabulary is advanced but not overwhelmingly challenging, and there is a suitable amount of period colloquialism. Indeed, Tabby's frequent references to her faith (which she uses to justify why the ghosts should not hurt her, to counteract superstition) recall an earlier era and lend to the novel's historicity. All of this makes the novel more engaging for the interested adult reader as well. The connections to Wuthering Heights will also endear this to an adult reader, particularly a Bronte fan (though purists will no doubt devote themselves to fault-finding; I, however, say that this is spoiling a perfectly good text).

Overall, a very fast-paced ghost story that is appropriately chilly and atmospheric, with a memorable cast of brooding characters in the servants and a very memorable young "heathen git" Heathcliff. Tabby, our narrator, is a very sympathetic character who is reasonable and sensible without losing her youthfulness (seen in the simplicity of her belief and her unquestioning acceptance of the social caste system). The novel is sure to keep young readers flipping the pages under the covers with a flashlight, and will keep adult readers turning pages too, for it is hard not to be engaged in this "prequel" to Wuthering Heights.