The Black Book of Secrets
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4.5 • 25 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A boy arrives at a remote village in the dead of night. His name is Ludlow Fitch—and he is running from a most terrible past. What he is about to learn is that in this village is the life he has dreamed of—a safe place to live, and a job, as the assistant to a mysterious pawnbroker who trades people's deepest, darkest secrets for cash. Ludlow's job is to neatly transcribe the confessions in an ancient leather-bound tome: The Black Book of Secrets.
Ludlow yearns to trust his mentor, who refuses to disclose any information on his past experiences or future intentions. What the pawnbroker does not know is, in a town brimming with secrets, the most troubling may be held by his new apprentice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This polished debut from a British writer tantalizingly blends secrets and thick, evocative atmosphere. In an indeterminate, grim past (think Dickensian squalor by way of a Broadway stage set), the boy Ludlow Fitch flees the City, "a stinking place undeserving of a name," and his parents, who have betrayed him for the last time. Chance (or is it destiny?) leads him to remote Pagus Parvus and to another newcomer, Joe Zabbidou, who sets himself up as a pawnbroker. But Zabbidou has a sideline: he pays good money for secrets. One by one the villagers come to him at midnight to unburden themselves and they spill some doozies. The undertaker has dug up corpses, to be sold to a medical school; the butcher served his father a pie of rat, mouse, beetles and worms. As Ludlow inscribes the secrets in Zabbidou's Black Book, he fights down his suspicions of Zabbidou even as he joins the villagers in their hatred of Jeremiah Ratchet, the wealthy villain to blame for their misery and evil deeds. Higgins, framing her book as texts discovered in a hollowed wooden leg, expertly sustains the audience's curiosity, revealing just enough information to keep readers riveted. And for all the grisly details, the novel gets at important themes about self-determination and trust. Original and engrossing. Ages 9-12.
Customer Reviews
The Black Book
This is an ok book. It is kind of confusing and I didn't really love it. This is a good book for people ages 11+. I hope whoever reads this will enjoy it much more than I did.
Fantastic!
Great book. Had a profound effect on me. To this day, years after reading it, I'm still thinking about it on a weekly basis. Theres just something about this book… the way it reads. It mesmerizes you and keeps you wanting more until the very last page… at which point you'll promptly throw down your inhibitions and just about tackle the next book in the series, which has just as many twists, turns, and enigmatic connections to this wonderful story as every other book in the series. Read this. If you don't like it, that's fair, but if you don't give it a try you'll be missing out on an adventure of a lifetime.