The Hidden Gallery

more adventures of Penelope and her wolf pups.
I really like these books. I also like the reader, Katherine Kellgren.

So, what specifically do I like? I like Penelope. I like how she is a proper Victorian teenager, slightly silly, but well aware of her place and proper behavior and duty. I detest the fake Victorians, who are more like modern teenagers playing Victorians, and getting it all wrong, because they put weight on wrong places. You see, if you want to know how a Victorian teenager thought, you read books about Victorian teenagers written by Victorians. Like Louisa May Alcott and Frances Hodgson Burnett. And I have read a LOT of those books. A Victorian teenager wouldn't “revolt” against their parents and guardians just for the fun of it, like a lot of modern teenagers do. We have this idea of a “teenager”, you see, the Victorians did not. The Victorians had just children or adults, and if you wanted to be an adult, you behaved like an adult. Now, we do have the Lady Ashtons, hothouse flowers with nothing else to do with their lives than being “pretty”, and possibly produce an heir. Anyway, Penelope feels like an adult, even though she's just 15-16, but not quite adult yet, because she is a bit silly every now and then, and does thoughtless things, just because she doesn't know any better, because of lack of experience. She still makes childish conclusions and decisions, but she is doing her best. I really like her.
I love the children. I absolutely adore these wolf cubs!
I like the mystery. Sounds like a lot of people indeed are related...
I like the adventure. It is exciting and a little scary, but safe... though I know it now, not when I was reading it. Now, of course the children and Penelope have, what my husband calls “a hero contract”, that is, they won't die. But - maybe other bad things happen.