The Haunting of Charity Delafield [Hardcover]

Shot through with mystery, this is a deliciously old-fashioned story of how one lonely girl unravels the obscurity of her past. Charity has no mother, a father whose remoteness keeps him at a distance and the burden of an unnamed "condition" which prevents her doing the things she wants to. But behind a demure and obedient exterior, Charity is a curious child: one snowy day she sets out, determined to find out what lies behind her recurring dream ... It's a touching journey of discovery filled with atmosphere and surprise.
--The Guardian, 03.12.11

Haunted by a recurring dream, Charity is kept a prisoner in her father's mansion, with only her cat for company. Her moth is supposedly dead; but a diary whose words escape when you open it, a rocking horse and a mysterious message all lead her towards the truth. A deliciously eerie tale for 10- to 12-year-olds about the world of faerie colliding with early Edwardian rationalism.
--The Daily Telegraph, 10.12.11

(Beck) creates a quite gloriously Gothic atmosphere of suspense, heightened, perhaps, by (his) complementary career as (an) illustrator. You feel that you can see the warm, friendly below stairs life contrasted with the cold, overprotective "privilege" imposed on our heroine. Beck's book is exquisitely produced and a delight to hold; this would make a perfect present for any dreamy 9+.
--The Times, Saturday Review, 19.11.11

A magical, enchanting tale, with stunning illustrations that will transport you into another world.

A magical, enchanting tale, with stunning illustrations that will transport you into another world.

Flame-haired Charity Delafield has grown up in a vast, isolated house - most of which she is forbidden to explore - with her fiercely strict father. With only her kindly nurse, Rose, and her cat Mr Tompkins for company, she knows very little of the outside world - or of her own family's shadowy past. What she does know is that she is NEVER to go outside unsupervised. And she is NEVER to over-excite herself, because of the mysterious 'condition' that she has been told she suffers from.

But Charity has a secret. All her life, she has had the same strange dream - a dream of a dark corridor, hidden somewhere in the house. Then, one day, Charity stumbles across the corridor. It leads to a door . . . and suddenly she realises things are not quite what they seem.

Flame-haired Charity Delafield leads a lonely existence.

Growing up in a vast, isolated mansion with her fiercely strict father, she is forbidden from exploring the house, from speaking to strangers, from stepping a foot beyond the tall, iron gates - even from reading fairy tales. Told that she suffers from a mysterious 'condition', Charity must never do a thing to over-excite herself - or her imagination.

But Charity has a secret. All her life, she has been visited by the same dream - a dream of a dark corridor, and a locked door, hidden somewhere within the house. One snowy day, she stumbles across the door - and with the help of chimney sweep, Silas, and a very unusual diary, Charity begins to unravel the strange, magical story of her family's past.

IAN BECK is a familiar name to the Doubleday/Corgi lists with his previous successful picture books. A freelance illustrator for over twenty years (including such notable artwork as the record cover for Elton John's Yellow Brick Road album), Ian turned to writing and illustrating children's books on the birth of his own first child.