This week Chris of Calmgrove and Lizzie Ross are hosting their annual Witch Week, an event inspired by the Diana Wynne Jones book, Witch Week, and this year they are celebrating the work of Joan Aiken. I’ve had the second book in Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles series on my TBR since reading the first, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, last year and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to pick it up.
Black Hearts in Battersea was first published in 1964 and while I would recommend reading The Wolves of Willoughby Chase first, you don’t really need to as this book would also work as a standalone story. It begins with Simon (the boy we first met living in a cave in the woods near Willoughby Chase) searching the streets of London for his friend, Dr Field. Simon is hoping to study at the Art Academy in Chelsea and Dr Field has invited him to share his lodgings in Rose Alley. However, Rose Alley proves very difficult to find, and when Simon does eventually stumble upon the right address he discovers there’s no trace of the doctor – the house is inhabited by the rather unpleasant Mr and Mrs Twite and their daughter, Dido, ‘a shrewish looking little creature of perhaps eight or nine’.
What has happened to Dr Field and will Simon manage to track him down? This is only one small part of this imaginative, action-packed novel which, like the previous book, is obviously intended for a younger audience but is still an entertaining read for those of us who are older. There are missing children and mistaken identities, kidnappings, shipwrecks and balloon rides, and a plot to kill the King – the King in this case being James III as we are in an alternate history where the Stuarts are still on the throne in the early 19th century and are the target of Hanoverian conspiracies. The other significant difference between this fictional world and the real one is that a large number of wolves have crossed from Europe into Britain and although we didn’t see much of them in Willoughby Chase, they do get alarmingly close to Simon and his friends on several occasions in this book!
Black Hearts in Battersea feels almost like a Charles Dickens novel for children, with the 19th century London setting and the array of larger-than-life characters – who include Dido and the Twite family, the eccentric Duke of Battersea, the excitable Dr Furneaux, who runs the academy Simon attends, and the book’s main villain, Eustace Buckle. I wish I had read this as a child, but as an adult I still found it a lot of fun and I’m sure I’ll read the next book in the series at some point, particularly as this one ends with Dido’s whereabouts unknown!
Book 49/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024
She Reads Novels 
So glad you enjoyed this, Helen. I first read it as an adult too, and like you found it great fun. I’m curious to see Dido come into her own after a not entirely positive picture here.
Dido wasn’t what I’d expected, but I’m looking forward to getting to know her better!
Sounds interesting! I remember seeing the original movie *ages* ago and enjoying it. I have thought about reading it/the series. I’ll think on it some more… [muses]
I haven’t seen it, so came to the series with absolutely no idea what it was about. I’m really enjoying the books so far!
I think this is where the series really comes into its strength — and it keeps going! I hope you will try some more, they all have their own pleasures.
I’m definitely planning to read the third one at least!
I’ve only read this and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, but I seem to remember really enjoying it as a child and I wonder if I should read the whole series now.
Do it, Marina Sofia – or at least the next couple of installments!
I wish I’d read these books as a child as I’m sure I would have enjoyed them, but they definitely have a lot to offer adult readers as well!
I read this one last year and really enjoyed it. I do mean to search out the rest of the series and find out what happened to Dido.
Yes, things are left on a cliffhanger where poor Dido is concerned! I’m looking forward to the next book.
It is fun, and as a form of steampunk Dickens really quite knowing as well as outrageous! I do hope you read some more.
I loved the ‘steampunk Dickens’ feel of this book. I’ll be reading the next one, at least, and probably more!
I read and reread the first three books so many times as a child! My edition of Black Hearts has great Robin Jacques illustrations. I had quite a crush on Simon, although I remember the first time I read it being miffed that Bonnie and Sylvia weren’t it it.
It confused me when Sophie first appeared in this book as I was convinced she was one of the girls in the previous book, then I realised I was thinking of Sylvia.
As soon as I spotted Joan Aiken’s name, I had to come to see what you thought and was surprised to read about Witch Week. Somehow this meme had entirely passed me by. I never read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, though the name is so very familiar that I wonder if it was read out loud on Jackanory. I do have a collection of her short stories, which I now feel compelled to dip into. Thanks for the inspiration!
The Witch Week event has been around for a few years now, with a different theme or author every year. I don’t always manage to take part in it, though. I haven’t tried any of Aiken’s short stories yet – I hope you enjoy them!
Hi Helen, I am glad you enjoyed this one. I have only read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by this author, but you’ve reminded me I would like to read more.
Blessings, Jessica 💌
I hope you’re able to read more of Joan Aiken’s books soon. I liked this one nearly as much as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and I’ve enjoyed some of her adult books as well.
My Ma read me most of this series when I was very young and I loved it! I don’t remember much about them anymore, so I recently added them to my TBR so I can give them a re-read. So glad you enjoyed the second book! 😊
I’m sorry I missed out on reading these when I was a child as I’m sure I would have loved them. I hope you enjoy your re-reads!
Hello everyone! It has been wonderful for me to be included in this Joan Aiken #WitchWeek2024 and see people remembering or discovering Joan Aiken books and stories…although ‘Wolves’ and its sequels became well known, her fantasy/fairy stories have an especially magical hold on readers who remember them for years, and she said she herself loved revisiting them, like going back into the past, or returning to favourite places…
For her Centenary I put together four collections of some of the best so people could find old favourites again, and they have come out as EBooks.They are all listed here on the website if you are interested!
https://www.joanaiken.com/centenary-collections/
Thank you, Lizza. I’m relatively new to Joan Aiken’s books and have only read a few of them so far, so I have lots to explore! The centenary collections do look good.
I’m enjoying this series. I plan to read Limbo Lodge soon, I think that’s number 5.
I hope you enjoy Limbo Lodge. It will be a while before I reach that one, but I’ll get there eventually!