The Story
Whilst Vita is recovering from Polio at a young age, her grandfather teaches her to throw like an athlete. Some years later, when her grandmother dies, her grandfather is traumatised. Vulnerable, he succumbs to a fraud, losing the family home Hudson Castle. The thief, Victor Sorrotore, convinces her grandfather that, when he purchases the castle, he will turn it into a school where her grandfather can live as a governor. Vita’s grandfather is persuaded of this brilliant plan, but having moved out without any of his possessions, to allow the renovation, loses his lifelong home and the money he was promised in return and is not allowed back in.
Vita and her mother Julia travel from England to find Vita’s grandfather impoverished and depressed, in a tiny flat in New York. They plan to sort out his passport and take him back to England with them. When Vita finds out more about Hudson Castle from her grandfather she realises that there is an emerald hidden there with sufficient value to allow her grandfather to stay in the American city he loves. Can Vita and her new friends Arkady, an animal tamer from the circus, Samuel, a trapeze artist in the making, and Silk, a pickpocket, outwit the man who outwitted her grandfather and find the emerald?
My Thoughts
This book is fantastic! It teaches you the danger of being too trusting and that courage has no bounds. In seeking to right a wrong, Vita, Arkady, Samuel and Silk face danger, imprisonment and fierce opposition. All with a good dose of tomato ketchup, Vita’s new discovery. The survival skills that Vita’s grandfather taught her when she was little are really inspiring too. I enjoyed this entertaining read and all of the characters’ contrasting personalities.
