The Tiger in the Well

A wonderfully dense plot which makes putting the book down difficult and finishing it a real loss. There's the shock of the opening as Sally Lockhart, an unmarried mother, is sued for divorce, and for custody of her child, by a man she's never heard of. As documents and people begin to confirm this nightmarish impossibility, Sally is forced to run from her comfortable life. Pullman blends the raw excitement of chases, the fascination of penetrating the mystery, with the physical sensations of Victorian London, particularly the East End, and a detailed sub-plot about growing socialism, Jewish persecution and immigration. A Victorian setting which uses all the craft of Victorian writing - Dickens, Mayhew and penny-dreadfuls - in a thoroughly knowing yet apparently effortless way. This is young adult writing of a quite stunning kind.