Ill. Kathrin Honesta
Pub. Nosy Crow (July 2021)
Age Range - 9-12 years
Huge thanks to Nosy Crow for kindly sending me an ARC for review purposes! 😃
Where has Faith’s dad gone? Why has he left his family living in an old house perched on a crumbling cliff top? A crack has appeared in the cliff and Faith watches anxiously as it gets bigger and bigger each day… Her brother is obsessed with the sea ghosts he claims live in the basement, and when he disappears as well, Faith starts to believe in the ghosts too. Can she find her brother and bring her father back before everything she cares about falls into the pitiless sea below?
The House on the Edge is a story about mysteries, and about the past intruding on the present. Living near the Dorset coast, my interest was piqued by mentions of smugglers and shipwrecks, and these become increasingly significant as the novel plays out. But far from being a novel about skullduggery on the waves, this is a book about a family in crisis. The House on the Edge is so much more than a mystery story.
Our narrator is 13-year-old Faith, a girl with the weight of her mother's depression on her shoulders. She's a young care giver, and much of her story arc is about her learning that some problems are too big for one person: sometimes, you have to accept help. Indeed, for a novel aimed at children aged 9-12, there are some pretty heavy themes here: running away from home, a child going missing, the grief of losing a parent (and the impact such loss has on other family members). I really have to applaud Nosy Crow for getting behind a book that tackles such big issues. Children need books like this: books that present the world as it really is; books that present child characters who live with the burdens and worries faced by real children.
Of course, this only works because of the enormous talent of Alex Cotter, who writes vividly compelling and credible characters. My original interest in the novel stemmed from my love of a good ghost story, but I quickly realised - that's not what the book is about. On the surface, it's a hugely enjoyable, fast-moving mystery. And for many readers, that will be enough. It's funny and well-observed, and the little pieces of its jigsaw-puzzle-ending are scattered sufficiently widely that it's a surefire page-turner. [As with all the best books, I smashed it in a single sitting.] But there's real depth here. This is a book for children who have lost a parent, for children who are care givers, for children who have seen the devastating effect of grief. Those children need and deserve to see themselves represented in a novel. They deserve to have those big feelings normalised.
The House on the Edge is so much more than a mystery story.
teaching ideas
themes in the novel
These are some of the themes I was drawn to (some spoilers here):
Loss/bereavement - Faith's mum is clearly grieving the loss of her husband. Chapter 1 is a perfect showcase for this theme:
"Mmm, yum," she says, coming over to take a mouse bite of toast, her appreciation-smile looking as exhausted as her eyes and bones. She has on the same pair of Dad's old blue pyjamas. She rarely gets dressed these days.
Grief - Both siblings are struggling with the sudden disappearance of their father, and they handle it very differently. Again, Chapter 1 is great for illustrating this:
I don't understand why my dad would just up and leave, without even a goodbye. If I listen to Mum, he needs time to himself; if I think like Noah, he's been taken by pirates. But I don't think like Noah.
I prefer not to wonder where Dad is.
Finding a home - Sam (the erstwhile basement-dwelling sea ghost) is searching for somewhere to call home. In chapter 15, he states:
"I want a home is all." ... "I only want what everyone's got...warm bed. Food. I want to feel safe."
- Young carers - Faith is the primary care giver to both her mother and her younger brother. Faith resists help from adults outside her family (and, in the case of Uncle Art and Aunt Val, inside her family) although, inevitably, outside agencies are forced to intervene.
- Smugglers and wreckers - a significant (and darkly fascinating) area of 18th/19th Century history in coastal areas, particularly in Southern England. There are mentions of smuggler tunnels linking different parts of the local area, which is very much rooted in fact.
The supernatural - the idea of ghosts and hauntings pervades the first two thirds of the novel.
in the classroom
- PSHE:
- The themes of grief and bereavement present firm PSHE links.
- Another strong discussion point is Sam's desire to have a home (see Chapter 15). He states that he wants a warm bed, food, to feel safe ("what everyone's got"). But, of course, not everyone has these things.
- Additionally, we learn that Sam's homelife in Manchester is an unhappy one, which offers further topics for discussion.
- Faith is a young carer, a fact which might be triggering for students in a similar position.
- History:
- Smuggling and wrecking play a vital part in the fabric of the story, and there is a wealth of fascinating history (and folklore) to explore. The tales of John Carter and Cruel Coppinger might be useful springboards.
- Geography:
- The novel is set by the coast, with clear references to nearby Exeter. I don't think it's explicitly stated in the story, but the links to smuggling and the proximity to Exeter suggest the novel is likely set in Dorset. Smuggling was prevalent in Dorset in the 18th Century - in Poole especially, thanks to its harbour.
classroom resources
Coming soon!
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