Tiger in the Well, the [Import] [Hardcover]

Philip Pullman (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Viking; First edition (1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670832790
• ISBN-13: 978-0670832798
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,613,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't find the ten star button, August 23, 2001

By 

F. G. Hamer "MadManxMan" (Isle of Man) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I notice that Pullman's Sally Lockhart Trilogy are all rated 'Young Adult'. Who made that dumb decision? Pullman is eminently readable by anyone from 10 to 100 (and I should know, because I'm about halfway between the two!). Put simply - no matter what age you are, if you read just ONE Philip Pullman book, you'll be totally hooked. He has the rare ability to draw his readers into his story-telling right from the first pages, and he doesn't let go of you until he's finished spinning his yarn. He doesn't exactly attack you, but he sure has a mean way with words, that will leave a firm grip on your throat for a long while after the final page has been turned.

He also has an exquisite command of characterization. Not for Pullman the weak, wishy-washy characters. His positively jump off the page at you and drag you into their world of Victorian London. There's something of Dickens in Pullman's stuff. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad. But that makes it sound trite and clichéd - which it isn't. It's much more complex than that, which probably explains why Philip Pullman is one of the few authors from this side of The Big Pond, who succeeds on that side of The Big Pond.

The Sally Lockhart trilogy is on my list of 'Books you MUST read before you die'. And since I'm no longer a Young Adult, I've made sure to read them quickly!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy, November 24, 2000

By 

T. Adshead - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

We start the story with Sally living happily in the country, with her friends and her daughter, and everything is wonderful. Then she falls into a nightmare - someone, claiming to be her husband, wants custody of her daughter. Who hates Sally so much that he wants to destroy her utterly, and steal her daughter?

This is a really gripping story with no loose ends. Sally goes on a journey through the underside of Victorian London, ending up in Spitalfields. I used to live in this area, and loved reading the way that Pullman brought its history to life. The baddies are very bad, and get their comeuppance. The finale is worthy of a Hollywood action movie.

I came to these books after reading The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. The Sally Lockhart trilogy has none of the fantasy aspects of these books - it's set firmly in gritty, dirty Victorian England. The stories are simpler, so the books would be easier for a younger reader. Sally is a real role model heroine for a young girl - she never gives up, and is very smart and brave.

For the older reader, the attractions are the quality of the stories (except perhaps for the middle book), and the excellent descriptions of life in Victorian England. These stories rattle along at a fast pace, with plot twists coming from the baddies trying to outwit Sally and her friends. Sally ends up in the Victorian underworld, and the portrayal of street gangs, and the lives they lead, is very believable. A nice piece of social history. Highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The final book in the Sally Lockheart trilogy, August 25, 2002

By 

Nancy E. "Nancy" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

After two years Sally Lockheart is finally recovering from the death of the father of her child, Harriet, and has created a successful business for herself and her partner Margaret. Life is going along rather nicely for out heroine until she receives a letter which claims that she was once married to a man she's never met, Mr. Parrish. The letter also claims that Mr. Parrish is the father of Harriet and he is asking for full custody of Sally's daughter because Sally is not a suitable mother. Sally is furious of course and will do anything to protect her daughter from this strange man. Unfortunately when she tries to investigate she finds herself drawn into a tangled web of events. Mr. Parrish isn't working alone, he's working for someone that hates Sally from the very depth's of his soul. And that can only be one person. Meanwhile London is receiving a very large amount of unwelcome Jewish immigrants. Among them is a Mr. Goldman, a socialist journalist who is wanted dead in more than one country. A journalist who also happens to have a rocky relationship with the same Mr. Parrish but for two very different reasons. What will happen when the two meet?

The Tiger in the Well is another impressive edition to the Sally Lockheart trilogy. It's interesting to see that with each novel Sally matures and turns into a really strong woman. Although the Tiger in the Well is not as good as the 2nd novel in the trilogy, the Shadow in the North, it is definitely worth reading. I'm just still surprised that these novels have been put into the YA section when the only real YA book would probably be The Ruby in the Smoke, and even that can be considered an adult novel. The sequel novel to the trilogy, The Tin Princess, is on my shelf and ready to be read.