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Independent Book Review: Merlin's Crystal, by Frances Pawley
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Merlin’s Crystal is a complete children’s trilogy of magic and charm. Written by France.jpg)
s Pawley, this mystical work took me back a few (okay, quite a few) years to the innocence and creativity of childhood.
Sylvie, Josh and Tom are spending the school holidays with their aunt and uncle in Cornwall. In a house named Manor Parsley, the children quickly determine that this house is more than meets the eye. Strange occurrences pique their interest in the past as the children discover traditional oddities: a secret passageway, an unreadable book encrusted with precious stones and a changing portrait. Meet Manor Parsley:
Twelve-year-old Sylvie stood on the gravel beside her Uncle Bernard’s car, looking up. The house was just as she had seen it in her dreams—dreams she could not understand. Night after night for several weeks she had seen the house, with its vast expanse of garden and trees, the large greenhouse on the right and the beach and the sea on the left, exactly as she was seeing it now. Well, almost exactly, but not quite. She hadn’t seen the new windows. Everything had appeared wild and deserted, locked in dreams of yesterday.Her thoughts were broken by Josh, her year older brother. “Manor Parsley,” he announced, reading the name carved in the stonework above the front door.“Funny name for a house,” he muttered.“I would have thought Parsley Manor,” his best friend Tom said, as he helped Bernard empty the four-wheel-drive of its luggage. Tom was Josh’s best friend and they always did everything together.Yesterday had been Tom’s fourteenth birthday and he regarded this trip to Cornwall as a special treat.“I think it's lovely whatever it’s called,” Sylvie answered, gazing at the building in awe. She thought it a magical place, but everything to Sylvie was magic.“…mm, wonder how old it is?” Tom asked, heaving Sylvie’s pink bag to the ground.“Georgian, 1820,” replied Bernard, as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “We bought it at auction, thought we were getting a bargain—huh!” He shook his head slightly, and looked up at the high chimneys, shading his eyes from the sun. “Little did we know,” he added.
Upon the introduction to these children and the mystical Manor Parsley, the reader will immediately adore this little world created by Pawley. I especially loved the manner in which the children communicated with each other. The dialogue was incredibly realistic and perfect for the characters that Pawley has created. I did feel that there was a bit too much revealing, not allowing the reader to discover enough on their own. That being said, I recognize that this trilogy was intended for a much younger audience than myself, and that in this case, a little more show is preferred. Overall, Merlin’s Crystal is a great, imaginative read for children, filled with classic mysteries in a present day setting.
For purchase information, please visit the Merlin’s Crystal website.
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