A Thief In The House of Memory is a Young Adult fiction novel by Tim Wynne-Jones, and it's quite a fast read--I read it in about four hours. It's a well written, well crafted mystery for younger readers.When Declan discovers the corpse of a would be burglar in the vacant, old mansion that's been in his family for generations, it unleashes a flood of memories of his long gone mother. The memories are so vivid and tangible they're like visions being played out before his eyes. These long dormant memories spur Declan to think about his mother and her abandonment of their family more than he has in a long time. Soon Declan is unraveling the long buried, serpentine mystery of his mother's disappearance. However, he's blocked at several turns by an emotionally distant father who lives hundreds of years in the past and who resists Declan's every attempt to talk about his mother. Declan struggles to fill in the blank spot in his memories that surrounds the time she left and the mystery of who she really was as a person, a wife and a mother.
The characters and their relationships with each other are as well developed as the story itself. Once you pick up this book, you'll find it hard to put it down until after the poignant conclusion.
--Reviewed by Ms. Angie
Comments