Quite an exciting older children's book, with secrets and tension, and a supernatural element that’s oddly prosaic in some ways. Even though I didn’t always follow every subplot precisely, I enjoyed it very much. 12-year-old Penelope is a likeable heroine, and the often acerbic Cousin Tabitha is a delightful companion despite her frailty. The ending chapters are quite dramatic - perhaps overly so; but somehow it didn’t matter - and I found it hard to put down.

It’s fascinating from the point of view of real social history - written in the 1940s as a contemporary novel it gives a great picture of what life was like for a well-off and intelligent but somewhat lonely girl such as Penelope. There are assumptions made about the ‘class’ system, but it’s remarkably egalitarian, considering the era.

There’s a good introduction to the book, written for the 2011 reprinting, which first-time readers are warned contains spoilers. So I didn’t read it until I had finished the novel - and then enjoyed the general background and commentary that were given.
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