Brightwood by Tania Unsworth (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: Brightwood

Author: Tania Unsworth

Publication: 10 March 2016

Format: Kindle eBook

Amazon Description: 

Daisy Fitzjohn knows there are two worlds: the outside world and the world of Brightwood Hall, her home—and the only place she’s ever been. Daisy and her mother have everything they need within its magnificent, crumbling walls. But, when Daisy’s mother leaves unexpectedly one morning, a strange visitor arrives on the estate, claiming to be a distant cousin, James Gritting. As the days tick by and Daisy’s mother doesn’t return, Gritting becomes more and more menacing. He wants Brightwood for himself, and he will do anything to get it—unless Daisy, with only her imaginary companions to help her, can stop him.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Daisy Fitzjohn is eleven years old. She lives at Brightwood Hall with her mother who is an overprotective hoarder of epic proportions. It all began when her mother was six years old and lost her family in a boating accident that she, too, was supposed to be a part of. She swore that she would never lose anything important again so she hoards. Food, random bits and bobs from each day, and Daisy herself. Daisy was born at the family home, Brightwood, and has never left.

Daisy spends her days reading, climbing over thousands of boxes, doing her homework (homeschooled, of course), and talking to her friends -- a rat named Tar, a topiary horse named True, and various portraits and statues around the estate. They have no telephone and no television. Her only contact with the outside world comes from the rubbish that gets thrown over their gate and whatever her mother brings home from the bulk-buy store.

Aside from the prologue which was the boat trip thirty years ago, and the epilogue that takes place eight months after the bulk of the book, the entire story encompasses a week in Daisy's life. And what a week it was!

Daisy's mother goes to the store on Monday instead of her usual Wednesday ... and doesn't return. Without a telephone, Daisy has no way to call for help. Without any knowledge of the world outside of Brightwood, she wouldn't even begin to know where to go for help. So, she stays home and waits.

On Tuesday a strange man arrives at Brightwood and she follows him as he examines the house and grounds. It turns out that the man is her mother's cousin and before long he has Daisy questioning everything that she had ever known -- and not known.

"Be still. Listen. Deep inside you, deeper than your heart, something lies hidden. Nothing can touch it, not the gardener's shears, not rain or storm, not even the boxwood blight. Can you feel it?"

 Before long it becomes clear that her mother might not be returning right away, if ever, and that her cousin wants Brightwood for himself. It's up to Daisy and her friends -- maybe imaginary, maybe not -- to make sure that doesn't happen.

It's a middle-grade book so "written for" someone at least three decades younger than I am but that didn't keep me from falling in love with Daisy and it certainly didn't keep the pages from turning until I found out what happened next. A good book is a good book, regardless of the age of the target audience.

This is a good book.

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two
of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two
from anywhere in the book currently being read.