Grace’s Escape is the second book following on from Grace’s Secret. In the first one, Grace and her mum, Charlotte, relocated to Scotland from Broome to a castle hotel in Faerie Glen Hollow. They are still living there and Grace’s time-travelling adventures continue, accompanied by her friend Ellie.
This time, the time-portal map takes them to 1890. Castle owner Lady Eliza is waiting for the arrival of two young sisters to whom she has offered a home because their father has been wrongly imprisoned and they are homeless. However, the sisters have not arrived and Lizzie wrongly assumes that Grace and Ellie are the two girls. They set out to solve the mystery, along the way discovering fraud, exposing the villain and rescuing the missing sisters.
It is all very busy, with Grace able to time-travel back and forth, taking medical and equipment supplies from the 21st century back with her to 1890 and bringing the sisters into the 21st century, even if only briefly. The storyline also includes meeting J M Barrie, Beatrix Potter and May Gibbs all together as they are staying at the hotel at the same time.
There are lots of cultural references, not only to books and characters created by these famous authors but also to current culture. Some of the plot developments are not resolved so there may well be another in the series on the way. Author’s notes at the end explain some of the historical background but the multiple timeslips and sometimes confusing references back to the events of 1862 in the previous book may suggest starting with the first in the series before reading this one.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
Age Guide 8+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Louise Park is a bestselling children’s author and publisher. I write under my own name as well as three pseudonyms.
As an author, I spend my days battling beasts, finding those secret doors, portals and hidden tunnels to magical lands, pretending to be the world’s best ballerina, and solving Harriet Clare’s MEGA-HUGE and terribly troublesome dramas!
Who knows what I’ll be spending my time doing tomorrow? The best part about being a children’s book creator and writer is that every day is a new and excitingly grand adventure!
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