Reviewed by Dajo Finlayson with thanks to Sue Warren for her inspiring insights
A French village, new friends, a locket from the past, a local mystery to be solved and . . . a ghost.
‘Josephine’s heart is hammering. Her skin feels prickly and hot. Surely, she’s imagined him. That’s the only possible explanation. Because boys don’t live in lockets. Not unless they’re ghosts. And ghosts aren’t real. Or are they?’
This wonderful novel sees the beginning of yet another new series from the best-selling Australian author, Jacqueline Harvey, she of the enchanting and ever popular Kensy and Max, Alice-Miranda, Clementine Rose, Willa and Woof and Friday Barnes series of books for middle school readers.
In this instance however, her audience has just expanded to see her protagonist, Josephine Eloise Thomas, known as Jet, as a 13-year-old teenager embarking on an adventure which involves not only a crime and a mystery, but also a likeable teen ghost, and an even more likeable local French boy.
Jet, along with her father, stepmother and older brother, has just moved to France from Sydney where they will be renovating an old chateau whilst also looking into her biological mum’s early life growing up in this particular part of France. Since Jet discovered, via an old photo, which school her mother had attended, the family knew where to focus their search for their new home.
When Jet finds a beautiful, and very old, locket hidden away in a secret compartment in her armoire, opening it causes a very real young ghost to emerge. Jet’s ghost turns out to be Louis XVII, former Dauphin of France, who has now been dead for centuries, although he wasn’t aware of that himself. He, in turn, mistakes Jet for the beautiful redheaded love of his young life, a girl named Madeleine, who also lived locally.
That’s just one storyline of this lively and engaging, but also dangerous and almost deadly romp through history and mystery. By complete accident, Jet and friends uncover a gang of art thieves in the neighbouring, supposedly abandoned Chateau de Lac, a place where Louis was formerly housed.
We get lots of clues about local connections to Jet’s mum and Louis’ tragic history, plus the beginning of a romance with Gabriel. There’s the interspersed inclusion of Jet’s diary and her emails to her bestie, Harriet, who will hopefully be complicit in future volumes of mystery and crime solving. Loads of humour and light-hearted interaction occur as Jet’s family work together reviving and restoring the old chateau. Once again, Jacqueline Harvey has worked her magic bringing readers a delightful and entertaining narrative whilst including elements of historical fact, cultural insights, and now the young romance angle. What’s not to love? Readers will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment in this series.
A French village, new friends, a locket from the past, a local mystery to be solved and . . . a ghost.
