Customer Reviews

Out of the Ordinary

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In Molly Gurney's chaotic, lively home where her mother is always busy with children, neighbours, kittens and hens, domestic needs always come first. No wonder Molly considers herself to be very ordinary! However, Molly is anything but ordinary. When, in a fit of boredom, she writes an advertisement for a job--"quests undertaken, lost things found, enchantments broken"--and doesn't even send it to the newspaper, it leads her to a magical tryst far beyond her cosy home. First a small child is dumped without warning on the Gurneys' doorstep. Though Molly is used to sharing her home with foster children, Floris wasn't sent by the social services, who can't trace his origins. And there is something even more mysterious about him. To protect the child, Molly has to enter a world of dangerous witchcraft, in which her only ally is the devastatingly handsome musician, Icarus.

Annie Dalton has it all: an exceptional story-telling skill, a style that, though deceptively simple, can only be described as poetry in prose, and the ability to create characters so complex they aren't just three-dimensional; they're almost four-dimensional. Judging from one of the review excerpts quoted in this edition, Out of the Ordinary may have been her first published book. An unforgettable read.

Molly is saddled with a moronic older brother, a games freak younger brother and an imagination that is belied by her too sensible face and red hair. When she writes a mock advert for 'Quests undertaken', she doesn't realise that she will soon be thrust into an age old feud as she is chosen to care for Floris.

Annie Dalton writes eloquently and with beauty. Out of the ordinary draws you into Molly's life, filled with her mother's fosterlings and into the magical world that she is drawn into. The prose moves along with an almost dreamlike quality and the characters make you laugh and cry with them. A must read for any fan of the slightly surreal.

This book was a bit out of the ordinary but the mix of science fiction, parallel universes, romance, and wonderfully portrayed characters its a very good read. Molly is the out of the ordinary girl who seems oh so ordinary.