- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Hodder Children's Books; New edition edition (4 Oct 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340893494
- ISBN-13: 978-0340893494
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 15.2 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 621,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Valley of Secrets
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Aimed at both children and adults, this book is a celebration of the English countryside, a suspenseful mystery and an ecological adventure all rolled into one. Never hurried, but rarely dull, the story unfolds in short, considered chapters and depicts the hidden world it’s magical Cornish location with considerable skill.
In many ways, The Valley of Secrets is a life’s work for author Charmian Hussey. Her debut novel began life as a modest, locally-published volume. Inspired by the childhood fantasies of her son, now in his thirties, Hussey’s book was seized upon by book collectors and began to change hands for four-figure sums. This new, mainstream edition brings her story to a wider audience and, importantly, it deserves attention.
It is the story of a teenage boy called Stephen Lansbury who, after living his whole life in care homes in London, is informed by a crusty old solicitor (who could have been lifted from a Dickens novel) that he is the sole beneficiary of his uncle’s estate. Stephen inherits a large country house in Cornwall, Lansbury Hall, and sets off at once to take up residence there. Apparently unoccupied, the dusty pile sits amidst a vast expanse of overgrown gardens and hidden valleys. Protected by high walls and shrouded in mystery, the house and its secretive owners are almost a legend amongst the locals and they are duly agog when this young man arrives to make his home there.
But not all is as it seems. Stephen’s uncle was an Amazonian explorer, and when Stephen discovers and reads the journal of his relative’s last voyage overseas, it becomes clear that he brought something back with him… which may still survive.
This is a defiantly old-fashioned story, which revels in its environmental messages and glories in its sumptuous descriptions of the local flora and fauna. It’s a fascinating book and is certain to be enjoyed by many. (Age 10 and over) --John McLay
Review
Hussey stretches a short story's worth of ineptly developed plot over tedious rambles about the Cornish countryside, un-compelling mysteries revealed with agonizing slowness, prolonged flashbacks in the form of passages from an old diary, and whiny rants against faceless rain-forest despoilers. Informed that he's inherited a large country estate, Stephen, abandoned as a baby, arrives in Cornwall to find the gates unlocked, the house open-but not a soul to be found. With breaks to pore over an ancestor's wordy account of an early 20th-century trip up the Amazon, Stephen roams the grounds, discovering dozens of native and exotic plants. At length, he comes upon the estate's inhabitants: a very old Amazonian Indian named Murra-yari and a herd of "Bugwomps," limbless, caterpillar-like creatures with the eyes and personalities of primates. Money problems threaten an end to the ensuing idyll-but Murra-yari suddenly produces a pre-Columbian gold figurine to sell off, then dies, making way for Beth, an attractive replacement companion. Crump contributes small, atmospheric chapter-head scenes, which don't help to plug the holes in this leaky, agenda-driven tale. (lists of species, multimedia resources) (Fiction. 11-13) (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Old Fernley the postman was out and about early, making deliveries in his small red van. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Old Fernley the postman was out and about early, making deliveries in his small red van. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is beautifully produced and has a classical feel to it. The enticing illustrations, that wet your appetite for the story but reveal nothing of the plot, nudge the reader's imagination gently along. Not that Charmian Hussey's genre actually needs propping up. The pace rises and falls with perfection - unnoticeably as one's so immersed in the tale. "A great read for children from nine to ninety" is quoted on the cover, and I would thoroughly endorse this as the story is truly layered to accomadate one's maturity. It isn't often a book makes me laugh out loud, or shed a tear, or contemplate the morals of civilisation; but The Valley of Secrets made me do all three! The listings of further information at the end of the book makes it all the more unusual and adds credability to the novel's content.
The young hero is thrust into an unexpected world that places all sorts of demands on him as he discovers his, and his ancestors' journey. An overlap of settings: Cornwall and The Amazon, both wild in their way and completed with local characters, come to life as we travel a path of emotional highs and lows.
A cross between The Emerald Forest and Alice in Wonderland, with a large portion of Charmian Hussey. Whatever she writes next, I'll be there.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have very much enjoyed reading The Valley of Secrets. It’s one of the best books I’ve read for ages and, as claimed on the back of the book, just as suitable for adults as for children. I enjoyed it because it’s not only very well written with beautiful and unusual illustrations, but it is also quite unlike any other book - no witches or wizards or dragons or elves, but an interesting, real and gripping story and I thoroughly recommend it. I think it would make a terrific film.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read this book with my three children, we all thought it was fantastic, we were so keen to find out what would happen next all four of us sat up night after night, this book is so good it became a big part of our lives when we were reading it!!!
We cant wait for the next one.
We cant wait for the next one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unfinished;
I try to keep my reviews positive, therefore two stars was, unfortunately, the highest I could award for Valley of Secrets. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Fee
One of my favourite books
I read any book that grabs my attention regardless of it's intended audience. I brought this book for myself after seeing the hardback copy in an independent Devon bookshop. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Paganmagick
Review of The Valley of Secrets
The message this books conveys about conservation and ecology is very valuable and this book would be absolutely compelling if it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly written by... Read more
Published 14 months ago by CelticKisses
The valley of Secrets
This was as described and arrived promptly in good secure packaging 5/5, now it's up to me to find a wet and dreary day to suggle up in a duvet, a supply of hot chocolate and do... Read more
Published 21 months ago by maybell
Nice old deary: book v. dreary
The heart-warming story of Charmian Hussey's late success as an author, the beautiful illustrations, the geographical sweep of the (in)action, that inviting "masterpiece" on the... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by F. Hubbard
Really very good, it's captivating
Really very good, it's captivating, the descriptions are amazing! It's like you are really there. I simply love the Valley of Secrets. I strongly recommend it. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2010 by Roger Rat
Too detailed descriptions ruin it...
I know I'm too old to read this book but still I did. (I admit) I was charmed by the pretty and intriguing cover...
The book has great potential. Read more
The book has great potential. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by L. Andersson
Utter Rubbish!
As an adult who enjoys much of todays childrens'/young adult literature I was bitterly disappointed by this book. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2009 by M. Nix
brilliant
If you haven't read this yet - DO! I is a pure work of art.
Published on 27 Sep 2008 by L. E. Robbins
Brilliant, drags on a bit but overall excellent!
This really is a brilliant book. It took me a while to get into it, but when you do, it is hard to put the book down. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2007 by D. Box
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