Malamander by Thomas Taylor, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb…

Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous malamander creep…

Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy – especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger...

First off, let me get the gushing out of the way because this book is BRILLIANT! I know people say “I couldn’t put it down,” all the time, but I REALLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.

Okay, I’ll calm down now.

Thomas Taylor has such a wonderful way with words and right from the start we feel that Eerie-On-Sea is a very real place. In fact, I completely believe Taylor when he says that we have “probably been to Eerie-On-Sea without ever knowing it.” This means Eerie-On-Sea feels like such a familiar place that we anything that happens there seems possible, and there are some very strange and mysterious things happening.

The characterisation is particularly strong in the novel, and all of the characters are compelling and engaging. Strange things are afoot, and with each punchy chapter (which all have great chapter headings) we creep closer and closer to finding out what’s really going on.

Brilliantly illustrated throughout by Taylor himself (and with a cracking cover by George Ermos) the book is a physically beautiful object too and one that any child would be happy to carry about like a treasure. Malamander is one of those books I loved in school. It is the kind of book I’d have on my desk and the kids would be looking forward to me reading the next chapter so much, that it would repeatedly disappear from my desk. This would read aloud so well, and I was delighted to see that Sony has snapped up the movie rights to the novel in an eight-way bidding war.

The story gently rocks along like a rising tide that creeps up on you, and then sweeps you away. We’re all going to be spending a lot more time in Eerie-On-Sea, and I’ve got my bucket and spade ready!

Malamander by Thomas Taylor is out now from Walker Books

Dawn Finch is a children’s writer and librarian.

@dawnafinch

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Malamander, by Thomas Taylor

(Very sorry - this is late!)

Malamander is positively drenched in the atmosphere of a seaside town in winter. Storms blow in, sea mist drifts through the streets, and in Cheerie-on Sea, the first two letters fall off the town sign. In the Grand Nautilus Hotel, Herbert Lemon is busy – ish – in his job as Lost-and-Founder, with responsibility for sorting and storing lost stuff. Then, one day, a girl scrambles through his window. She’s in a panic, because she’s being chased by a sinister figure, a man in a long sailor’s coat that’s drenched in sea water, with a large iron boathook where one of his hands should be.

And so it begins. The girl is called Violet Parma and she’s searching for her parents, whom she and everyone else lost when she was only a baby. The place she lost them was this very hotel, and now she wants Herbie to help her find them – after all, he’s a Lost-and-Founder, isn’t he? She won’t take no for an answer, and soon Herbie is caught up in her adventure, and the story of the mysterious malamander and its search for its lost egg. And Boathook Man? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out where he fits in.

This is a lovely rich fantasy, permeated with the atmosphere of the seaside in winter. There’s a terrific cast of characters, many of them with names that continue the theme – the hotel staff are Mr Mollusk, Lady Kraken and Amber Gris. Then there’s Jenny Hanniver, who keeps the Eerie Book Dispensary, and Mrs Fossil with her Flotsamporium. It’s a tale full of mystery, danger and treachery, but though you’ll catch your breath sometimes, you always know that Herbie and Violet, brave, loyal and funny, will eventually triumph.

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