Date published: May 2011
ISBN: 978-1428511453
Historical Fantasy/ Victorian Gothic
Paperback
Reviewed by Pam
Obtained from Author
Miss Percy Parker is a most unusual young lady. Brought up in a convent, she suddenly finds herself bustled off to Athens Academy, a prestigious London boarding school. Sadly, it was swiftly brought home to her, how different she was from the other pupils.
With snow white hair, alabaster skin and pale blue eyes, Percy covers herself with a large scarf and blue tinted glasses in the hope she’ll blend in. As she also sees many ghosts who inhabit the buildings, in the Greater London area her life is never ordinary. She soon makes one close friend, a German girl called Marianna, who has difficulty with English sometimes.
The teachers are often more than they seem especially the strangely compelling Professor Alexi Rychman and the secretive head mistress Rebecca Thompson, who cover many secrets. Alexi is slowly drawn toward Percy while giving her extra mathematics tuition, the one subject she has no head for.
She’s fond of Greek, French, German and Spanish as well as a few others, and can also translate ancient messages. When other strange things happen in the academy and the grounds, Percy begins to have frequent visions. Meanwhile what they believe to be ‘the Ripper,’ kills many women on the streets at night.
THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER is a complex tale of intrigue, ghosts and other mythical beings which go bump in the night. It’s written in a totally different way from most fantasy tales, combining myth, spiritualism, ghosts and a passionate tale of love. There is a feeling of the old gothic and a myriad of ghosts, plus odd creatures good and bad. The human characters are drawn from all walks of life and complement this tale with a difference, very well.
The Guard is made up of six and they await the seventh member. The seventh is badly needed so they can keep people safe from the creatures a dark force wishes to unleash across the world. It gives the book an entirely different ethereal feel as angels sing and strange doors open.
The tale is dark and very gory in places, but it suits what is happening in the story at the time. As a reviewer who loves paranormal historical and fantasy tales I found myself turning pages to see what was going to happen next, once I’d become tangled in Alexi, Percy and the other colorful characters adventures.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.
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