the dark behind the curtain [Import] [Hardcover]

gillian cross (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press; New Ed edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192715003
• ISBN-13: 978-0192715005
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tense, realistic, and intriguing, even for older kids., February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Behind the Curtain (Hardcover)

I first discovered this book when I was in junior high school and enjoyed the way the author blended relatively ordinary youth experiences of cruelty, ostracism, gang-type bonding, and petty misbehavior with a disturbing representation of historical fact. Marshall, the callous but popular young star of a middle school production of "Sweeney Todd", becomes the channel of the play's evil, robbing the students around him of self-respect, fostering suspicion, and creating fear, much as his Victorian-slum counterparts did in days past. The handling of the narrator's relationship with Marshall and with the insecure and unattractive Ann is realistic and well-resolved, and the tension is effectively built, a series of innocuous clues leading to the supernatural conclusion. If the book has any weakness, it is the rather hasty and hey-presto ending, which technically satisfies but does not really do justice to the lengthy buildup.

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Best Ghost Story of My Childhood, September 16, 2011

By 

Sir Furboy (Aberystwyth, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Behind the Curtain (Paperback)

I read this when I was a lot younger and my memory of it is that it was a wonderful tense and somewhat scary tale that had me thinking about the book for a long time to come.

There is some historical information here which is always educational - but ultimately it was a delicious and chilling tale, mixed with some themes of trust and friendship.

When I think back to my favourite books ever, this is one of them.

Maybe if I re-read it now I would not think so. These days maybe I am less easily excited by a ghost story. But for young adult readers and older children, this is a very good book.