"The Return of the Railway Children" by Lou Kuenzler is, of course, the sequel to the much loved "The Railway Children" by Edith (E) Nesbit (an author I was completely obsessed with as a kid, and have yet to properly introduce to C).
We rejoin the tale some years after the original novel. In the depths of WWII, 12-year-old Edie is nervous at the prospect of being sent to live with an unknown aunt whilst her mother Phyllis flies planes for the ATA.
However, Aunt Roberta welcomes Edie with open arms, along with Greta and Gus, two fellow evacuees.
Together, the three children come to love their new home at Three Chimneys.
But does a dark secret lurk at the heart of the village... and are Greta and Gus hiding a secret of their own?
Subtly blending characters from the original book (what young boy wasn't completely in love with Roberta, largely due to the movie version of the book and Jenny Agutter?) with a new cast of characters you'll come to know and love, it's once again a fabulous and heartwarming adventure beside the rails.
We are used to seeing these modern treatments of classic novels, and Lou has done a fabulous job of capturing Nesbit's voice, and producing a delicious tale to snuggle up with. Now it's given us even more incentive to get C reading the original, and more of Edith's work as well.
Fabulous stuff!
"The Return of the Railway Children" is out now, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for review).