Sort of historical fiction for grades 5th and up. I enjoyed this story. I think kids will find it engaging, tho' many will who some of the have no clue who the any of the artists, writers or photograph are. Maybe it will inspire them to look them up. It's a short read, so maybe only an afternoon or two.

DNF @ 28%

Plot is a critical element to all stories.
Especially ones that are shorter. The Finding is a 118 pg story that at page 30 appears to me to have zero plot. I mean it doesn't even try.
Now maybe in my Anne if Green Gables days or was okay to just tell a story about a girl but things still happened and there was always plot for Anne.
I refer to Anne because this book has the writing style of LM Montgomery yet it lacks any sort of character (or plot).

I'm just not entertained enough at the 30% point that our lead gal can't walk. So let's talk about why the , or what that really means for her future and lack of education. Let's at least discuss how many times she's been out of the house or focus more on her awful Grannies treatment of her. Gliding over the details and just telling me about the girl is not interesting. I want to be shown what her life is like.

The boys in the story are even more boring (if possible). One wants to be an artist... and starts taking classes from a man who puts him in proximity to our lead gal but nothing more (or at least not y the time I stopped reading).

There are references to smuggling alcohol and maybe something nefarious with our photographer "the Witch". And maybe the ending is a twisting turning moment of excitement. Unfortunately I will never know because I was tired of reading anymore about a girl and a boy whose characterization was equivalent to a crushed down box of cereal. Flatter than flat.

This is an odd little book. It is set in Victorian times, mostly on the Isle of Wight, which became a popular place for the middle and upper class to take sea holidays, because that is what you did in Victorian times, apparently. We meet, in passing, George Watts, and Edward Lear.

I can only presume that the front cover is a George Watts painting that inspired this book, but there is no afterward, nothing to explain why the author choose that picture, or what she was thinking about.

And I suppose she doens't have to explain. It is interesting that many of the people she wove into her tale were on the Isle of Wight, and were doing the things she mentions, as her two main characters, Essie (Esther) and Tom find out what they want to do with her life, having seeing how the artists live.

The main problem I had with this book was lack of historical knowledge of the time and place, so I was not as awed as I could be.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This book is about 2 different characters living onthe Isle of Wight.
Esther is paralysed from the waist down who is given the opportuinity to learn to walk again by the aid of a benefactor who sends her to Great Ormond Street Hospital, whereas Tom wants to be a painter yet his mother wants him to follow in his father's footstaps and become a member of the clergy.
The book shows how their lives become entwined and how life works out for them.
It took me time to get into the novel but kept with it and was glad I did . The second half is a far more appealing read.

Esther is crippled and spends a lot of time with her baby sister. When she sees her mother taking the baby up the hill to the Witch's house she tries to go after her. Esther thinks something terrible will happen. Tom comes along and finds her and takes her there only to find Mrs Cameron is a photographer and Mother is having the baby's picture taken. Eventually Esther is helped to the extent that she is able to walk on crutches.

The Finding

by Meg Campbell

Troubador Publishing Ltd

Matador



Children's Fiction , Historical Fiction

Pub Date 28 Apr 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Finding Through Troubador Publishing Ltd, and Netgalley:

Esther is thirteen, her legs do not work, and her family keeps her hidden, but she wants to stop her Mother from taking her sister Becky to the witch.

Essie manages to get herself outside, and crawls down the street, to help save her sister, not from a witch but someone she thought was a witch because her hands were stained black fro. chemicals.

Her family treats her as if she is a dog, The photographer decides she wants to use Essie for pictures, she likes her just as she is, and she will be paid, but Essie still fears she's a witch. But Essie discovers she likes being with the "Good Witch".

The "Good Witch" takes her on a boat to see a Doctor who may be able to fix her legs, and allow her to walk again, and she takes her to buy new clothes, and on a train. But Essie must go the Hospital For Sick Children, where her legs are straightened with Splints and she learns to walk with Braces and Crutches.

I give The Finding five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

When I first began this story, I had a sense of dread. Although I loved the writing, and characters, the thought of the crippled teenager slithering up a hill was hard to take. I can not begin to imagine the agony Esther must have felt pulling herself through the brambles. And the mention of her being scratched and bloody was heartbreaking. I struggled with this, even though Tom picked her up, carring her to Mrs. Cameron's.

However, the story grabbed me when a package was delivered and Esther opened it to find the book.

Intriguing., was the Tennyson's, and mentions of George Watts and Edward Lear. And then we learn of the doctor that is friends of Charles Dickens. As one reads on, they become entranced in this story, which takes us all the way to 'The Illustrated London News'.