The House on Hound Hill [Hardcover]

Maggie Prince (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1998

Something is not right in Emily's new house in the historic London neighborhood of Hound Hill. It's not just the hollowed-out treads worn in the crooked wooden stairs or the hearth that survives from the seventeenth-century. It has more to do with the sudden appearance of a wild-eyed young man looking for a small kitten with a bent tail. And the discovery of a black rat in the chimney - the same kind of rat that was responsible for the dreaded bubonic plague that killed tens of thousands of Londoners in the 1665 epidemic. The stress of her parents' recent separation and the move to a new house and school are disorienting for Emily, and she begins to experience distressing symptoms: headache and fever, extreme thirst, and hallucinations. She finds herself traveling back in time with the mysterious young man, back to a very different city where tallow candles light the streets and a terrible cart makes the rounds every evening. Readers will be swept up in this riveting and suspenseful ta

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This well-researched but predictable time-travel novel, the British author's American debut, takes readers back to 1665 London, the site of a plague. After her parents' divorce, Emily, her brother and mother move to a ramshackle but historic row house on Hound Hill. Emily's peculiar visions begin when an oddly dressed, strangely formal boy named Seth comes to Emily's door, searching for his cat, and gives his address as her own. As Emily hears clanging bells at night, smells bitter tallow candles, meets crowds of beggars and confronts a supposedly extinct black rat in her chimney, she finally realizes what is immediately obvious to the reader: that she can perceive the events of another time and even visit 1665. But when the curator of the local history museum contracts the plague, Emily learns that others can see the former residents and that it may be dangerous to stay too long in the past. The premise of concurrent planes of time and space is compelling but not always consistent; Emily's longest encounter occurs while she is unconscious, but all others happen in parallel time. Ultimately this unevenness detracts from the momentum. The plague proves the story's most important character, and readers will remember more about the barbaric practices of locking families in their homes and the nightly collection of the dead in street carts than about Prince's cast or plot. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-Sixteen-year-old Emily's world has been shattered by her parents' recent divorce and a move to a new neighborhood. She is depressed, failing at school, sullen, and withdrawn. Can the stress of her unwanted circumstances account for the things she's seeing and the voices she's hearing? At first there are just shimmers and whispers, but then she encounters an oddly dressed man in the alley behind her house. Later, while walking nearby, she suddenly finds herself on a torch-lit street and sees a crowd of beggars scurry away as a cart rumbles past with its plague-infested cargo of bodies. Emily has discovered what some of her new neighbors already know: the past is alive on Hound Hill. Prince skillfully builds the suspense as Emily tries to figure out what is happening to her. Threads from the past are deftly interwoven with the present, culminating in the teen's complete, though temporary, transition to 1665, the year of the Great Plague. The realistic descriptions of life during that precarious time are fascinating and eye-opening. Although Emily's bitter disappointment over her parents' divorce seems to be too easily resolved, this intriguing British import will satisfy fans of fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction.
Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; F edition (October 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395907020
• ISBN-13: 978-0395907023
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,631,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here Comes a Candle to Light You To Bed, May 5, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The House on Hound Hill (Hardcover)

This is a completely absorbing page- turner with fascinating historical details. I thought Emily, the protagonist, was particularly interesting. Many authors label their protagonists, giving them a certain type of personality that isn't very common among teenagers. Emily is normal in every way, yet she shines. This is because she is very realistic and likable. Though she is a bit downtrodden from major changes in her life (a divorce, a new home, and a new school), she doesn't whine excessively, nor does she take it unrealistically with no complaints. I was also very pleased with the ending. There was no corny parting scene where Emily's seventeenth century friends go back to their time through a swirling vortex with tears in their eyes.

I immensely enjoyed reading this book. My only complaint concerns the title. Although the book's title is The House on Hound Hill, it was originally published in Britain as Here Comes a Candle to Light You To Bed. I think the original title is much more intriguing and should not have been changed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It made me jump in my seat, March 6, 2005

By 

J. young "- Jolie" (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House on Hound Hill (Paperback)

I've never been so "in" to a book that it made me jump in my seat until i read this. Prince has done a fantastic job of painting history, intruige, and fiction into this story. Everything from visions of ghosts repeating the cycle of their tragic lives, the protagonist becoming lost in the past, the past intertwining with the present, plague pits, and death make this story a favorite of mine.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The House On Hound Hill review, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The House on Hound Hill (Hardcover)

The House On Hound Hill is a wondrfull book about a teenagegirl's troubles and the plague of London. Emily is shattered by herparents recent divorce and her new neighborhood.She is depressed aboutfailing exams.Emily starts to hear whispers and meets an man looking for his cat.Soon odd things start to happen.Emily discovers the past is still alive.She periodically goes back in time and experiences London in 1665.She sees beggars and watchmen.This book describes how it was at the time of the plague.The imagery and details add colorful contrast to this sad story.I enjoyed this book because I learned about the plague.Parts of the book did seem confusing at first, but they were later explained.