The Magic of Endings

Jojo Locke’s Dad vanished six years ago. Not only can none of the family really remember him, but no one ever talks about him or about the hole he left in each of their hearts and lives.

When Jojo and his brother Ricco arrive to spend the summer with their grandparents, they could never have predicted the events that they would experience next. Having looked forward to this summer, the one between leaving primary school & awaiting the start of his next chapter at secondary school in September, Jojo finds himself strangely unsettled, with disturbing dreams and perplexing thoughts about his father.

A mysterious visitor arrives at the house announcing herself as ‘Aunt Pen’, Jojo’s godmother, setting off a chain of unusual and magical occurrences. She soon reveals herself to be a real faerie with the ability to grant wishes, although as the brothers soon find out, these wishes don’t always turn out as expected! With the granting of each family members’ wish, different areas of Jojo’s father’s life are revealed and more memories of begin to surface for Jojo, but what is this mysterious world that he glimpses? Whilst experiencing each of the wishes, Jojo gradually learns more about himself and when Aunt Pen tells Jojo that he will need to have courage for what is to come next, he understands that there will be something important that he will have to face and achieve alone.

The Magic of Endings is a wonderful mysterious tale, with real touches of both humour and pathos. I loved the arrival of the house-cleaning goblin and the tea with badgers, but also felt deeply for Jojo as he grieves the loss of the father he thought he never really knew. His Grandmother’s dementia is dealt with very sensitively, and she too is able to benefit from a magical wish to ease her heart.

This fun, fast-paced magical adventure, has plenty of ‘edge of your seat’ moments to keep the reader enthralled, dipping into many of the myths and folk stories that abound around coastal Britain. As the story whirls to an emotional but inevitable conclusion, we are left feeling hope for the family now healed and full of love and happy memories.