The Mysterious Howling

The book The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place – The Mysterious Howling made me laugh, yet pulled on my heart strings. It is about three children who are seemingly raised by wolves, yet are very intelligent. The lady of the house, Lady Constance, sees them as nothing but wild beasts and her husband, Lord Ashton, sees them as prized possessions. The governess – Miss Lumley seems to be the only ones willing to give the children a chance and is not scared off by them. Before she begins teaching them, they look and act like wolves. However, she sees that these children are just that – children, and that they need the normal experiences, love, and schooling that all other children across England at the time were receiving.

I really enjoyed how the author was a bit sarcastic, such as on page 100 when talking about the renaming of the capital of Norway, and how throughout the book the author sarcastically defines pretty well known terms and people, such as Charles Dickens, on page 251. Even though it takes place a long time ago in a country that I am not familiar with, I feel I can relate to the main characters better because the author directly addresses the reader throughout the book. The sarcasm is both witty and funny.

This book pulled on my heartstrings because the premise of the book is that three children were found in the forest and it is assumed by their behavior that they were raised by wolves. Lord Ashton is hunting and nearly kills them before he takes them back to his grand house. I cannot even begin to imagine how it feels to be a young child raised by wolves, see other wild animals be hunted, and then nearly be hunted yourself! Ashton’s wife, Lady Constance, wants nothing to do with them and thinks that they should be thrown back into the wild. I feel awful for these children because they did not decide their fate. Their parents did not want them and abandoned them in forest, it can only be assumed. And now the person that took them in only seems to want them to show off to his friends and brag about how they are savage beasts. I am so thankful for Miss Lumley because she shows them the tender loving care they deserve and does it with a smile. It would be a challenge to take responsibility for teaching three students like these children, but I think I would because I would feel so bad for their situation. And after the reader and Miss Lumley get to know them, the children are not so bad. They are in fact sweet and smart, which made me even a little bit sadder when reading. They care so much for Miss Lumley. It is such a shame the way the Ashtons treat them since they seem to have hearts of gold.

I am very pleased that this book is part of a series because I could not put it down and want to keep on reading. It reminded me a lot of The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It is witty, funny, pokes fun at somewhat evil or troubled people, and cannot be put down! Both of these series are amongst my favorite books!