Most Popular Books by Joan Aiken

Revised and updated, this essential and practical guide by an award-winning children''s author explains how to write books for children, from where to look to inspiration to practical advice on how to create characters and structure a plot.

A young man must prevent a magic harp from falling into the clutches of a sinister and diabolical Lord.

Vengeful ghosts, eerie dreams, and haunted houses abound in these 10 tales.

After the mysterious disappearance of both his mother and older brother, Cosmo is sent away to live with his eccentric mathematician aunt. Lonely and confused, Cosmo must also deal with being the new kid at school. Not an easy assignment! But things take a weird twist when Cosmo is visited by ghosts from the past. Ghosts who claim to need his help fighting an ancient curse! Only in time will Cosmo learn that he is at the center of that ancient...and deadly...curse.

Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie''s parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage. Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture is sold, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to a prison-like orphan school. It seems as if the endless hours of drudgery will never cease. With the help of Simon the gooseboy and his flock, they escape. But how will they ever get Willoughby Chase free from the clutches of the evil Miss Slighcarp?

" The cat sat on the mat. Lots of cats do that, everybody knows. And nothing strange comes of it. But once a cat sat on a mat and something strange did come of it. In Joan Aiken s classic story collection, the strange often happens, and with fantastic consequences... Characters spring out of their books and chase around the room, cats grow bigger than elephants, and houses on legs lay eggs. Buses live on clouds, patchwork quilts become flying carpets, and pies float away when they have a corner of sky baked into them The magical meets the everyday in these much-loved modern fairytales, now in a beautiful new edition with Jan Pienkowski s original silhouette illustrations."

Dark family secrets can be murder . . . ''Joan Aiken''s triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others'' New York Times Book Review Married to an ambitious but feckless architect and living in the pretentious show home they can ill afford, Jane is forced to return to work, leaving her children in the care of a less than reassuring childminder. As the weeks pass, her disintegrating marriage and the discovery of her husband''s secrets lead Jane into a battle to save both herself and her children from an explosive summer of hatred, jealousy - and murder. This claustrophobic thriller, based on events from the author''s own life and her struggles as a young widow, marries the desperate ring of truth with all the added horror of Joan Aiken''s gothic imagination.

The Paget family''s adventures begin in this Gothic Regency period romance reissue from legendary author Joan Aiken When danger forces expatriate English gentlewoman Juliana Paget to flee her home in Italy, she embarks on a journey full of thrilling adventure. Nothing could have prepared her for outwitting a French mob, crossing the Channel in a hot air balloon, or fending off the advances of the fascinating Count Welcker. Arriving in London just in time for her very first Season, Juliana is going to find all her ideals challenged and the truth of her heart finally revealed. What readers say: "A Regency romp with Gothic overtones, and a lot of fun." "Full of thrills and chills." "Classic Aiken—abductions, mysterious strangers and terrible betrayals." "I stayed up late to find out what would happen next!."

Blending the homely with the exotic, this collection of fifteen macabre tales includes an eerie story about a six-year-old girl whose scalp is inhabited by Druids.

A beautiful Cornish coastal village is the setting for a highly sinister conspiracy involving a kidnapped baby, mysterious monks and an almost irresistible new perfume... ''Joan Aiken''s triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others'' New York Times Book Review Martha works for an advertising agency, filming a TV commercial on location on the stunning Cornish coast. The client is the eccentric owner of a chemicals company that has invented a new, almost irresistible perfume, and Martha is in charge of shooting the romantic ads - unfortunately starring his beautiful but highly manipulative daughter-in-law. Before long, Martha finds herself embroiled in the conspiracy over the perfume''s true origin - to say nothing of a kidnapped baby, sinister monks, her own long-since vanished ex-husband and a series of exploding soup cans. And what of her own floundering love life...? ''Witty and acute ... a nice romantic thriller'' Punch

A charming companion book to Jane Austen''s Mansfield Park by one of her most sparkling successors.

Jane Austen wrote the untitled fragment that was later called The Watsons in 1803-5, and it was published posthumously in 1871. Joan Aiken, well known for her Jane Austen sequels and children''s books, finishes the fragment, introducing a new hero and seamlessly continuing where Jane Austen left off to a satisfying ending for all Austen fans. Emma Watson returns home after 14 years spent with a beloved aunt, whose re-marriage has caused a significant change in Emma''s circumstances. Used to a life of ease, warmth and intelligence, Emma is thrust back into a home where, with one exception, her sisters are petty and jealous, if not vulgar, her father is ill and weak, and her brothers are not men of fine minds. This is a poignant exploration of a young lady''s endurance in the face of reduced circumstances, and in true Jane Austen fashion, there is an admirable hero to make all right in the end.

As Jem, the Shoemaker''s boy, works at night in his father''s shop he has three strange visitors asking for some silver keys. Jem must keep the silver keys safe, but how...?

Ellen Paget, a young Englishwoman, comes to Paris in 1860 to be governess to a young noble family, but shortly thereafter, tragedy and scandal force her to return to her father''s house in Sussex under far-from-happy circumstances.

A collection of eleven fairy tales from eastern Europe and the Soviet Union retold by a noted English author.

First comes marriage. Then comes love. Then things start to get really complicated. Desperate to help her ailing mother, Delphie Carteret agrees to a sham wedding ceremony to her cousin, Gareth. Her mother will be guaranteed annuity for life, and Gareth''s obligation to marry before his sick uncle passes is fulfilled. The plan is perfect. But perfect plans usually go awry. Not only is the marriage ceremony valid, but Gareth''s dying uncle makes a miraculous recovery. An imposter is threatening Delphie''s identity and her life, and the whole family is on the brink of scandal. As Gareth and Delphie try to mastermind a way out of this mess, they begin to discover that what''s between them may be surprisingly real... Praise for Joan Aiken: "Ingenious...a country-dance in high style, twirled to the tune of a proven virtuoso." —Kirkus Reviews for The Five-Minute Marriage "Delightful and humorous." —Historical Novels Review for Eliza''s Daughter

In this hilarious classic adventure, an innocent boy and his friends must stop a plot to topple the King of England. Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew’s fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl “It’s a marvel!” —The New Yorker “A wild yarn, not to be put down once it is started.” —Washington Post “A riot of wildly improbable adventures happening to absurd and loveable characters with Dickensian names in a time that never was . . . Heartrending, hair-raising, rib-tickling, and delightful.” —New York Times

From the acclaimed writer of Wolves of Willoughby Chase comes an exciting adventure about two orphans struggling to survive in 19th-century England. An abundance of action, suspense, and melodrama . . . there is never a dull moment.--School Library Journal.

Royals, witches, enchanted pigs, mermaids, wolves, and mortals star in thirteen stories gleaned from a trio of the author''s earlier collections.

Although she is desperate to return to England, Dido Twite is caught in Nantucket where she and Penitence Casket have to stay with creepy Aunt Tribulation.

A secret village of elves living in the cupboard must fend off vacuum witches and deep-freeze trolls in the battles of the kitchen wars The people who live in the house have no idea that an entire village of elves resides in their china cupboard, behind the soup bowls and bread-and-butter plates. And when the humans start their spring-cleaning by taking everything out of the cabinets, the king elf’s crown disappears. Now the elven community is in a terrible state, and the only way to save the realm is to find what their ruler has lost. Luckily Prince Coriander has returned, after years of training at the elf school, to hunt down the crown. But the kitchen holds hidden dangers—Fendire, the infrared dragon who lurks behind the gas burners; deep-freeze trolls who can swallow an elf in a single mouthful; very scary kelpies in the dishwasher; and the great cat Mistigris. The prince soon finds himself battling a furnace dragon, retrieving his mother’s ring from the bottom of the dishwasher, and rescuing a nixie girl who lives in the kitchen sink—all while racing to discover who will become the new king of the elves! This ebook features illustrations by Jo Worth and a personal history of Joan Aiken including rare images from the author’s estate.

A magical and fantastic collection of early stories by one of the most original children''s authors of the 20th century. For 8-11 year olds.

When Charles is given just twelve months to live, his doctor sister takes him to a small Cornish village to end his days. They are joined by other friends including Tuesday, the young author of an unexpectedly sensational novel that brings her nothing but trouble. Combining doomed love, a beautifully groomed and immaculately behaved psychopath, an escaped circus leopard and a fortune hidden in the pages of a library of books Joan Aiken once again serves up all the ingredients for an explosive finale. ''Unusual, enthralling, full of wry fun'' Sunday Times

''I wish we''ll have two children called Mark and Harriet. And I hope lots of interesting and unusual things will happen to them. It would be nice if they had a fairy godmother, for instance. And a phoenix or something out of the ordinary for a pet. We could have a special day for interesting and unusual things to happen - say, Mondays. But not always Mondays, and not only Mondays, or that would get a bit dull'' As a result of their mother''s honeymoon wish, Mark and Harriet Armitage have a fairy godmother, a pet unicorn, and are prepared for anything life can throw at them (especially, but not always, on a Monday): hatching griffins in the airing cupboard, Latin lessons with a ghost, furious Furies on the doorstep, and an enchanted garden locked inside a cereal packet. Life with the Armitages can be magical, funny, terrifying - but never, ever dull.

A teenage adventurer gets wrapped up in her father’s dastardly schemes in this children’s novel by the author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Dido Twite is finally back in London and reunited with her old friend Simon, now the Duke of Battersea and a favorite of King Richard. But no sooner does Dido start to settle in than her rascally father, Abednago, appears and drags her off into the night. Soon Dido finds herself caught in the midst of another dastardly conspiracy: a Hanoverian plot involving a mysterious double for the king, the miraculous healing powers of music, and a spy network made up of abandoned street children called lollpoops. Meanwhile, out in the forest, starving wolves are closing in on the city . . . Dido and Pa is the seventh book in the award-winning Wolves Chronicles, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

As readers and listeners enter the pages of these nine adventures, they will discover a universe where the everyday and enchanted worlds of very real humans and kelpies, elves, and fairies comingle in perfectly logical, funny and magical ways.

''The Under People. They live in a huge Cave. They are thought to be boring upwards. Giant worms and flying ants. Underground magic.'' Mickle, the palace cat, knows something is wrong. He can feel it in his whiskers. Then he finds scribbled notes revealing that the kingdom in danger. (Yes, of course he can read. And speak - when he chooses to!) Mickle can''t trust the King and Queen with his mission, so he approaches Prince Michael and together, with the wise old mare Minerva, they set out on a perilous search to find the sinister Under People before they can invade Astalon.

Joan Aiken, one of Jane Austen''s most sparkling successors, takes up Austen''s pen yet again, this time continuing where Pride and Prejudice left off in Lady Catherine''s Necklace. In Austen''s classic novel, the arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh tried vehemently to prevent the betrothal of her nephew Mr. Darcy, whom she had intended for her daughter Anne, to the less socially connected Elizabeth Bennet. Defeated, she retreats to her grand estate-- Rosings Park. This enchanting sequel tells the story of what happens one balmy April day when a sudden blizzard disrupts the weather, causes a carriage accident, and affects the lives of all those involved in a most amazing way. From out of the blizzard emerge the Delaval siblings. Miss Delaval, having twisted her ankle in the carriage accident, accepts Lady Catherine''s gracious hospitality while she recovers. But the Delavals'' presence proves disturbing to the entire household-- first causing the removal of two artists from their cottage home on the de Bourgh property, then meddling in Miss Anne''s marriage plans. Suddenly, Lady Catherine is kidnapped, revealing some members of the household to be not at all what they seemed.

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.

A collection of scary stories about ghosts, toads, and weird happenings.

Can Jon find a ghostly horse that’s been extinct for centuries? Jon is a lonely orphan who lives on a farm with his adopted parents. When they ask what he’d like for his birthday, Jon knows immediately: to see the Moropus, a prehistoric horse that’s big and furry, with claws on its feet instead of hooves. According to legend, it haunts the lonely moors at a waterfall that is known as Horse Force because its gushing cascade sound just like a mare’s whinny. But there’s 1 problem: If Jon wants to see the ghost of the legendary creature, he has to visit Horse Force at the stroke of midnight—alone. Can he get up the courage to go there all by himself in the dead of night? Luckily there is 1 friend who can help Jon—his faithful pony Whiskers! This ebook features illustrations by Gavin Rowe and a personal history of Joan Aiken including rare images from the author’s estate.

The Children Of London Are Vanishing No one knows why, so Is Twite, younger sister of Dido Twite (from Dido and Pa and Nightbirds on Nantucket), sets out to discover the whereabouts of Arun, her cousin, and Davie, the king''s only son -- both missing. Is soon finds herself aboard a secret midnight train heading north to Playland, a place of fun and frolic and dancing every night, or so they say.... Instead of fun, Is is heading straight into horrible, horrible danger...and exciting, terrifying adventure!

Reprint. First American ed. published: New York: Delacorte Press, 1981.