Review of Kate Milford's Greenglass House

Lots of good news! Cressida Cowell just came out with a new book, The Wizards of Once. We loved her How to Train Your Dragon series, so we’re really looking forward to that. I’m also about to pick up N.D. Wilson’s Boys of Blur. I’m currently reading Hugh Howey’s Shift during the day, and rereading The Silmarillion at night (a nerdy and surprisingly effective technique for getting to sleep). Just finished Greenglass House on the long drive to Louisiana (while also listening to How to Train Your Dragon on Audible, read by David Tennant in his BRILLIANT Scottish accent!). I’d never read any Kate Milford, before Greenglass House. I must say, I’m actually kinda impressed. Nerd #1 picked this one up at Books-a-Million because it “looked cute." It does look cute. The cover art really introduces the “feel” of the story—a little whimsical, a little quirky. Lots of snow and cold stuff like ice, which we don't get in Florida.

Milford has a bit of a Trenton Lee Stewart style to her writing, weaving a puzzling mystery around a cast of distinct characters and bright children. Milford’s novel tells the story of Milo, whose parents run Greenglass House: an inn occupied dominantly by smugglers. The house was originally owned by infamous smuggler Doc Holystone, whose ghost and that of his child have been allegedly sighted on the grounds. The house’s mysterious history begins to unravel when a group a curious visitors arrive at Greenglass House for Christmas. When things begin to go missing and people start acting suspicious, Milo and his new friend Meddy take it upon themselves to find the missing objects and uncover each visitor’s role in the strange happenings. Milo is an interesting character, filling the role not usually filled in kid’s books: a child who is okay with their adoption, loves their parents, yet still feels guilty when wondering about his birth parents. It’s an interesting point of view, one I don’t think I’ve experienced before. Milford explains in the acknowledgments that she and her husband were in the process of adoption from China while she was writing the book, which is how she got the idea for Milo’s character. Milo is a well-written character, and it’s refreshing to read about a kid solving mysteries close to home and actually involving his parents. He reports back to his mom and dad, expressing his suspicions about certain guests. They listen. It’s nice to read about a more realistic parent-child relationship than what we usually see in children’s literature, with the child getting away with everything as the oblivious parents stand in the background unheedingly. While Milo loves his parents, however, his character can be rather belligerent when anything is asked of him. He grumbles and complains when asked to do a chore, with his parents apologizing and offering him treats in return for completing the work. He is rarely rebuked. Somehow, I don’t think that sort of behavior would fly in our home.

I have very few complaints about this book. There isn’t much violence, though Doc Holystone was murdered and his daughter fell to her death over the cliffside. The only things that really bothered me about the book were Milo’s attitude towards chores and the big reveal of his friend Meddy actually being the ghost of Doc Holystone’s daughter. This is a bit of a shocker, and mildly disturbing. It explains why other people don’t ever seem to notice her over the course of the book. However, it’s a slightly disturbing idea that this little boy has been running around the house, talking to and scheming with the ghost of a dead girl without knowing who she really was. Milford doesn’t handle the subject in a creepy or disturbing way, but I personally found it to be a little disturbing. I’m one of those annoying people who has half the plot of a book, movie or show figured out within the first ten minutes—and will probably talk about it. Don’t watch Doctor Who with me. A couple of months ago, I was watching BBC’s Merlin with our younger sister and I said, “See that old druid guy? He’s going to die first. Probably from an arrow.” BAM. Prophecy. Apparently some people find that irritating. Point is, I like mysteries where you can actually try to puzzle out what the answer is. Harry Potter is a prime example of the perfect balance: the clues are always there, and looking back, it all makes sense. But if you think you know what’s going on, you’d better think twice, because you’re probably wrong. That’s what a good mystery is like. There have to be just enough clues for the audience to figure it out themselves if they’re really trying, but not enough that it’s too obvious from the very beginning. Too often we get books that are either too vague (leaving out important information for the purpose of a later, shocking reveal) or too obvious. Greenglass House was almost bordering on “too vague”. There were a lot of overlapping mysteries going on, the one of Meddy being a shocking, bizarre and entirely unexpected reveal. Yet I still knew who the main villain was, within the first couple of chapters. Overall, my impression of Greenglass House was a good one. Nothing inappropriate for the target age, well-written. It’s an interesting novel full of unique and quirky characters. I plan on reading the sequel, Ghosts of Greenglass House, which came out earlier this month.