A stone army, an enchanted castle, mysterious ancient powers - and some very clever tortoises - Olly finds there's more than meets the eye at Gullywith. When his family moves to Gullywith Farm, Olly just can't imagine being happy in his new home. Gullywith is the coldest house in the world and no one has lived there for years. Then Olly meets KK and she tells him locals won't go near the place. It seems to be jinxed ...but most strange of all, Olly notices that there are stones at Gullywith that can move around of their own accord. Stones with ancient markings on them. He feels sure that they are angry. Olly visits the mysterious Nonny Dreever to ask his advice and he tells them they must return the stones to Withern Mere. Olly is drawn into a world of myth, magic and midnight adventure deep inside the surrounding hills. What is the ancient power that controls the stones and can anything be done to end their hold over Gullywith? Susan Hill deftly weaves a tale of real life and enchantment to delight young readers.
The beginning of this story really drew me in. Any story set in England with kids tends to spark off memories of childhood. This started off well. Olly and his family move to Gullywith farm, they want a new begining. Things start to get a little strange when stones start appearing. Olly is set to look into it with the help of KK, a strange local girl and some eccentric local characters.
I did like the bookshop and the bookshop owner and some of the other pieces but the story just didn't flow right for me and the ending left me unsatisfied. There was potential there that just wasn't used and it left me feeling like I had missed something somewhere in the story.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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31 October, 2009:
Finished reading
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31 October, 2009:
Reviewed