Morningquest (Ulverscroft Large Print) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Joan Aiken (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1994 | Series: Ulverscroft Large Print

When Pandora's mother suddenly dies at a luncheon, the ten members of the MorningQuest society immediately adopt her, and she matures in the midst of her unconventional but loving family. By the author of Jane Fairfax.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The prolific and talented Aiken ( The Haunting of Lamb House ) falters with this heavy-handed novel. Pandora Crumbe is 16 when her mother brings her to Boxall Hill to call on the Morningquests, the famous, prodigiously talented family that has invited much speculation by the residents of the English country village of Floxby Crucis. She has barely mastered everyone's names when her mother suffers a fatal heart attack, whereupon the Morningquests offer Pandora their help in everything from funeral arrangements to college tuition. Pandora's enduring fascination with the Morningquests battens on their eccentricities and accomplishments (the seven children have published a successful novel, for example) as well as on the obvious puzzles. How had her taciturn mother, the wife of the village veterinarian, become so intimate with Lady Morningquest, a world-class musician? What lies beneath the brothers' and sisters' various alliances and silences? Aiken's revelations seem formulaic, and her narrative suffers from abrupt, disconcerting changes in point of view. Pandora grows into a glamorous painter and equally dramatic destinies claim each of the Morningquests, but every development is so exaggerated as to stagger, not stimulate, the reader.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Veteran Aiken's latest tale (Jane Fairfax, Blackground, etc. etc.)--both buoyantly messy and thoroughly delightful--is centered on the large, wildly talented, intellectually playful family of a brace of internationally known musicians. A young neighbor, Pandora Crumber--starved for mental stimulation, thanks to a horrid, glum father--will watch, through her adult years, the disintegration of the seemingly immortal family. Pandora's frail and quiet mother H‚lŠne is her escort to the fabulous MorningQuest family, housed in a dignified if barely furnished structure in an isolated prospect of great natural beauty. In the spartan kitchen Pandora finds something like 16 adults and teenaged children, most shouting about philosophy, art, and so on, presided over by the stunning Mariane, the famous soprano, and her husband, the great conductor Sir Gideon. Then, during the meal, ``with a curious little sighing moan,'' H‚lŠne dies of heart failure. Over the months ahead, Pandora gradually becomes part of the family as the musicians travel and the young spin off to various universities. Pandora herself will join one girl to study art in Scotland. At home remains Tante Lulie, who keeps the household afloat by raising vegetables and sewing concert clothes from curtain remnants, and Uncle Grisch--like Lulie, elderly and a concentration camp survivor--who busily rewrites English poetry. Meanwhile, as Pandora loses her true and first love, she realizes that she's ``misread'' the MorningQuests, and a blizzard of secrets whirls up from their pasts--as well as from her own. Then it's one death after another (as if Aiken, tired of the MorningQuests, decided to pop them off) before the close--when Pandora, now an accomplished artist, is in Prague; the box of ills (suicide, thievery,, adultery, hints of incest, etc.) is empty; and Pandora searches, with increasing hope, for a lost love. Despite the helter-skelter plot directions: the pace, place, and talk are enchanting. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 523 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books; Lrg edition (August 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708931251
• ISBN-13: 978-0708931257
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,296,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Aiken (1924-2004) was the daughter of Pulitzer prize winning poet Conrad Aiken and started writing herself from the age of five. During her lifetime she published over one hundred books for children and adults, including the acclaimed Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. In the UK she received an MBE from the Queen for her services to Children's Literature.

This year sees the publication of a brand NEW story collection - The Monkey's Wedding - with previously unpublished material that shows Aiken on top form. This collection of funny, spooky, unexpected but classic Aiken stories has received wonderful reviews and will delight her readers. See below for details.

Her work continues to be adapted for film and television; she is established as a consummate storyteller,and recognized as one of the best loved authors of the twentieth century.

"The Wonderful World of Joan Aiken" is at www.joanaiken.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a romance!, November 11, 2009

By 

Tracy (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morningquest (Hardcover)

As a book about interesting people, this book is top notch.
But it's been marketed as a romance, which it isn't. The "romance" in it is a one night stand followed by years of not communicating, then a note. The ending isn't even very satisfying.

5.0 out of 5 stars Pandora's Boxhall, June 23, 2007

By 

Deborah B. Vaughan (Shreveport, LA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morningquest (Hardcover)

Before going on a long journey, Pandora's mother introduces her to Boxhall and its larger-than-life inhabitants, the Morningquest family. With her usual skill and humor, Joan Aiken deftly draws the reader with Pandora into the family and then pulls the rug out from under us by revealing the vices riddling the family. At the end, only hope is left to us--a singularly cheerless hope, really just a temporary respite from all those vices.

5.0 out of 5 stars To travel is hopefully not better, November 8, 2005

By 

Gazelle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morningquest (Hardcover)

This is the loveliest book in the English language. It is like something out of 'Morningquest' that such a book should be relegated to internet resale (75 cents for the greatest novel ever written!) after being withdrawn from libraries all over the country. My own copy came Fonda, Iowa.

Where to begin? Like the greatest works of literature, it speaks to every reader, on every level. At fourteen, I could enjoy the galloping, romping plot, the assured and funny characterizations, the elegant descriptions (of which there are hundreds). Like Pandora's beautiful, one-line drawings, gems litter the book. "Gideon, she is the one for you. She will make a frame for your life. She is the one." "Growing up is a process of slowly acquiring self-respect." "But, my child, the world is always so much better than the people in it."

After many re-readings there are new things to appreciate, things I missed previously, and things I simply better understand as an older person, with more experiences. Aiken's gift was that she understood human nature, and here it is in all its glory, in this book. Every part of it. The relationships are real, and complicated, and untidy, like all relationships. No one is perfectly good or perfectly evil; everyone is interesting.

Joan Aiken was assuredly the most talented writer of the twentieth century--like Tom painting, teaching, making films, sculpting--she could tackle every genre with equal aplomb and make it powerful and moving. Everything she wrote, from the children's books to the horror, regency romance, epic adventure, and contemporary fiction in Morningquest resonates powerfully, and within this book there is a microcosm of that fabulous gift. Part psychological drama, love story, comedy, tragedy, cold war commentary, family drama, and entirely brilliant and moving.