Kitty in the Winter Wild
Meeting her brother and sister to travel home for Christmas should have been a joyous occasion for eleven-year-old Kitty. But this is the worst winter in living memory. The country is blanketed in snow, roads and railways are blocked, power supplies are failing and sinister forces are at work. Who is the enormous woman on the train, and why is she so interested in the School Debating Cup which Kitty has 'borrowed'? When a famous magician tells you there is no such thing as magic, should you believe him? What is it that comes snuffling round the doors in the night? And there are reports of stranded lorry drivers being attacked and whole villages found deserted ...
Kitty in the Winter Wild is available on Amazon.co.uk in the UK, or on Amazon.com in the US, or on any other European version of Amazon.
Kitty, strong-willed and independent, is delighted that at last her mother has decided she is old enough to travel by herself. She enjoys the journey to Castle Crayle where she is to spend three weeks' holiday with her school friend Marcia.
Some reviews of Kitty in the Castle ...
You can buy Kitty in the Castle on Amazon.co.uk in the UK, or on Amazon.com in the US, or on any other European version of Amazon.
The third book about Kitty finds her in the Suffolk marshes, a wild and unwelcoming place when the friend you expected to meet has mysteriously vanished and no one seems to care. Kitty, strong-willed and nosy as ever, soon makes herself unpopular and runs into the greatest danger of her young life, a danger from which she only escapes with the aid of a most unlikely ally, eldritch and fearsome.
You can buy Kitty at the End of the World on Amazon.co.uk in the UK, or on Amazon.com in the US, or on any other European version of Amazon.
Written in the author's usual quirky style, Kitty in the Winter Wild has outlandish characters and a plot that is at the same time bizarre and completely believable. It also has a new heroine who is charming, amusing, vulnerable, determined and not a little irritating. Suitable for children aged eleven upwards, this book will also be enjoyed by adults who have not forgotten their childish senses of humour, imagination and adventure.
CGS's review of 'Kitty in the Winter Wild' ...
"Ever since I discovered David Bramhall's books some years ago I have given them as Christmas presents. This one is a particular joy. The central character is a feisty eleven year old girl with a terrible collection of jokes and the plot is hard to summarise as it includes Roman soldiers, Arthurian knights, WWI soldiers although it begins in the present time. It has faint echoes of Narnia and The Eagle of The Ninth but, at the same time, is completely different. The blurb on the book says it can be enjoyed by everyone from 10 or eleven upwards and I agree.
I loved the book although it is many decades since I was ten and I am sure that my granddaughters, who are much closer to that age and, like the central character Kitty, have glorious red hair, will also love it. If you are looking for a present for someone, this book is the solution but read it yourself first."
... and this review from Goodreads.com ...
I have been following David Bramhall's books for several years and love his odd blend of fresh humour and dark tension. His characters are as outlandish as their names - the villainess Urethra Grub, the equally unpleasant Reverend Godly-Twist and a little girl's favourite auntie Delilah Wheable, to name only a few - and their adventures are outlandish as well: every plot is at the same time perfectly believable but ever-so-slightly off the wall. And the writing is unfailingly vivid and beautifully crafted with highly detailed descriptions and, at times, blistering pace.
Kitty in the Winter Wild introduces a completely new heroine, Kitty Younger, who is eleven years old, bright, argumentative and courageous. What begins as a fairly normal journey home from boarding school at Christmas, soon becomes a frightening and strange adventure as Britain is enveloped in the worst winter in living memory. Kitty joins up with her brother and sister but their journey goes comletely wrong as roads and railways are blocked, electricity supplies fail and odd things begin to happen. The oddest things of all are some of the friends they meet who seem not to belong to the same century as the children or, indeed, as each other. And the enemies they encounter are the stuff of nightmare, driven by malice as old as the hills from which they come.
Obviously it all ends well, but not before Kitty has endured loss and sadness, desolation and confusion, and has met a magician who can't do magic, a very twiggy sorceress who does it rather well, and a wolf who can use a mobile phone but means to eat her anyway. Suitable both for adults and for children of, say, eleven upwards, this latest book is a tour-de-force to match anything this author has produced before. I can't recommend it highly enough.
If you prefer to use a digital reader, Smashwords have it in a variety of formats - EPUB, MOBI for Kindle, LRF for Sony e-readers, PDB for Palm readers, as well as TXT, RTF, PDF and HTML for laptop or PC.
Kitty in the Castle
But what awaits her at the Castle is not quite what she had expected, and the next few days turn out to be very trying indeed. Her hosts are not welcoming at all, and Kitty's forthright manner soon brings conflict. She meets some excellent friends, though, and sets out to make the best of an unpleasant situation. And to be staying in a castle which offers old legends and mysteries as well as a very modern puzzle ... well, for someone as curious and courageous as Kitty, that has to be a good thing, surely?
Getting to the bottom of the biggest mystery of all requires the guidance of Perkins the kitchen cat and a lot of unladylike wriggling, but what she finds in the basement makes it all worthwhile.
This second book about Kitty Younger will be enjoyed by children from eleven-or-so - and by adults who have not lost their childish sense of fun and adventure!
Slightly shorter than Bramhall's previous Kitty book, and possibly a little less serious in intent, but
wonderfully readable. I have now read nine or ten of this author's novels, and his writing style becomes more fluent
with each one. Kitty is a delightful heroine, twelve years old, confident, argumentative and thoughtful,
while the adventures she gets involved in are unlikely but entirely believable. The passages where she is
squirming her way through the chimneys and drains of an ancient castle are vivid and quite scary, and what
she finds down in the basement is delightfully dotty and very entertaining. Highly recommended - Adie Parker
A lovely read, and perfectly suitable for younger readers provided they can get their heads round "archaeology" and
"palaeontology". Really quite an old-fashioned adventure with a castle, mysterious villains skulking about and a
legend about monsters that may or may not be real. I liked it a lot - Cantayis Fletcher
This second Kitty book is just as enjoyable as the first. Once again, the plot is off-the-wall but David Bramhall has the
ability to make it all perfectly believable and entertaining. There's a monster, who when he is discovered turns out to
be a total hoot! A really lovely book. I think there's another one coming, which I will be looking forward to.
Well done, David! - Beryl the Peril
If you prefer to use a digital reader, go to Smashwords where you will find it in a variety of formats - EPUB, MOBI for Kindle, LRF for Sony e-readers, PDB for Palm readers, as well as TXT, RTF, PDF and HTML for laptop or PC.
Kitty at the End of the World
There are myths and legends, a mysterious inscription, and of course a treasure to be unearthed. Kitty has to battle the fury of the elements, unscrupulous villains, suspicion and accusation, and even finds herself wanted by the police!
This third book about Kitty Younger will be enjoyed by children from eleven-or-so - and by adults who have not lost their childish sense of fun and adventure! However, it is likely to be the last Kitty novel, because our heroine is approaching the age when social media and boys become more important than actual adventures. Perhaps someone ought to warn the boys - it's not going to be pretty.
If you prefer to use a digital reader, go to Smashwords where you will find it in a variety of formats - EPUB, MOBI for Kindle, LRF for Sony e-readers, PDB for Palm readers, as well as TXT, RTF, PDF and HTML for laptop or PC.