The Secret Starling: 01/03/24

The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle and Kim Geyer (Illustrator) (2019) is a historical novel set in 1974 in England. Clara has lived a solitary life with her uncle, a rotating set of governesses, and an every dwindling staff. The last to go is Cook. And then Clara finds herself dumped in the nearby village with £200.

Through an interesting set of circumstances, Clara ends up teamed with a boy her age, Peter, and his cat, as they try to save Clara's home, rescue Peter's grandmother, and learn about both of their pasts.

I originally read a version of this book in 2021. It was a review copy I won on Library Thing. It was an imported copy with illustrations by Jo Rioux, a Canadian artist. I thought I had posted a review of that edition but it seems I didn't. So this review will cover both versions.

There's a weird territoriality to publishing, especially when dealing with books written for children. More than any other type of book, these are heavily edited (Americanized) and their original art almost always replaced by artwork made by North American artists. Sometimes the titles are even changed to make them more approachable for children.

In the case of The Secret Starling the changes were distracting. The original text uses British slang that both sets the pacing of the book and helps to set it in a specific era. With the changes, the story loses its grounding and save for the lack of modern technology and later some mentioned dates, could have happened anytime from now to a hundred years ago.

Regardless of the unfortunate editing on the American edition, the novel sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. Clara and Peter are sibling travelers (CC). Their destination is home (66) (in the desire to save both their homes). Their route there is the railroad (train and tube) (00).

Five stars

Comments (0)