Blog Tour: The Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson

Cover design and lettering © Elise Carmichael

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Whistlers in the Dark, the brilliant new middle grade title from author Victoria Williamson.

I’ve said before that I love both historical novels and spooky reads so to have both combined here in this new title meant that I was really looking forward to picking this up. Set in an area of Scotland under the control of Roman invaders, this is a story which not just ticked those boxes but did so with finesse and style – one which is rich with historical detail and one with several twists and turns that sneaked up on me as I gobbled it up.

Told as a dual narrative, the book unfolds through the voices of 12-year-old Jinny – a member of the local Damnonii tribe and 13-year-old Felix, the half-Roman half-Damnonii son of the Prefect who commands the local Roman fort – two children on opposing sides who fate brings together following a terrible accident which threatens to forever make enemies of them.

It is Jinny whose voice we hear first as she tells us that it is Felix who is solely responsible for breaking her heart by causing both a death and her not being affirmed a woman of the village with her peers. Carrying on to say that hers is the story of how the local standing stones were woken, bringing fire and destruction to all, we watch as simmering with resentment she is sent to gather berries – a child’s job. Climbing to the top of Tintock Brae, she stares down at the great wooden fort to the south, home to Felix and the Romans who have invaded her people’s lands.

Taken aback by the sudden presence of Felix, who – in the absence of his father from the fort – has also been sent to collect berries, Jinny quickly grows angry with him and snatches his basket, running away as quickly as she can. Worried about the trouble he will be in if he returns without his harvest, Felix chases after her and the two of them soon find themselves not just surrounded by mist but also by the standing stones. Seeing an opportunity to take revenge upon the boy by using her slingshot against him, Jinny shoots at him but misses and he is able to run away unharmed.

When four of the local people disappear overnight, Jinny believes they have been snatched by the stones and fearing that she is responsible for waking them up starts to plot how to send them back to sleep. With his father away on army business, Felix has problems of his own to contend with within the fort and quickly discovers that there are those who are using the Prefect’s absence to advance their own schemes. With both of the children needing the other’s help, can each persuade the other they have misjudged them and can they work together to return the stones to their sleep and to put things right within the fort and the tribe?

Jinny and Felix are both strong characters with a keen sense of honour. She feels aggrieved at her failure to be considered an adult by her people – something she considers to be entirely Felix’s fault initially. As she slowly gets to know him better, she comes to see that what happened was an accident and that by her continually failing to control her temper, and not thinking before she acts, she is unlikely to convince the elders of her tribe that she is no longer a girl but is a woman. Felix, on the other hand, feels torn by his dual heritage. Protected by his father’s rank while he was present in the fort, his absence leads to Felix being bullied and treated as second-class because of his Damnonii mother.

While today’s children will not have the same expectations put upon them with regards to their contribution to their family’s or community’s workloads, there will be those recognise themselves or others within the pages of the story and as well as making a great read aloud to accompany a Romans topic in class, the book would make a great starting place to discuss bullying and strategies for coping with experiencing negative emotions.

At around 230 pages, this is quite a bit shorter than most middle grade reads, making it perfect for those readers who are gaining in confidence but do not have the stamina for those books aimed at them that are closer to 400 pages. For young readers who are fans of history in general, or the Romans/Scottish history in particular, this is a must-have.

My enormous thanks go to publisher Scotland Street Press and to TheWriteReads for my gifted review copy of the book and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. The Whistlers in the Dark publishes 21st September. Don’t forget to check out the other stops on the tour.