Title: The Wish House

Author: Celia Rees

# of pages: 216

Plot Summary:

Richard and his family has visited the Welsh village every summer, and he longs for the times when he can reunite with his close friend Dylan, two years older than him. Unfortunately, though, this year, 1976, Dylan has begun working for his father on his farm, and is no longer able to spend entire days with him.

Richard remembers the old times when he and Dylan would have thrilling adventures in the Wish House, an abandoned, crumbling building. However, upon revisiting the structure, he finds a nude woman sunbathing on the lawn. He later discovers that the Dalton family has resettled in the house. J. A. Dalton is a famous artist, but it is his daughter's striking beauty that constantly captivates Richard.

He finds himself in love with Clio Dalton for the rest of summer, until he finds out how deeply he was betrayed.

Opinion:

The synopsis described the novel as "a brilliantly gripping and original coming-of-age story". I suppose that would have been the case if the transition from childhood to adulthood was based primarily on sex. It seems as though Richard has nothing more on his mind than his longing for Clio to be alone with him, as though he would have absolutely nothing to do had Clio not existed in his life. He does not face challenges other than fulfilling his desires. He does not suspect that the Daltons expect something valuable from him when they provide meals for him every day. The way much of the story is based on their sexual relationships, and the detailed descriptions of their activities is very disturbing - for this reason, I would have to object to the rating on Chapters Indigo's website as "Ages 7-9". When Richard discovered that he was betrayed by Clio the whole time, I was hardly sympathetic; several incidents in the storyline, within his knowledge, made the ending so obvious that I wasn't surprised by it.

Personally, I would not recommend this novel to anyone. Fans of romance novels in general may find the story uninteresting, since Richard and Clio seemed to have developed their relationship instantly (plus the lack of a happily-ever-after ending). There is little adventure, certainly no action, and mystery is scarce. Perhaps Celia Rees could have made the story more exciting by adding some twists in the plot, or at least reduce the repetitions of events.

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Romance

Rating: 1/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 60 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter