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The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

Once in a while, a book comes along that surprises you. I picked The Crowfield Curse up on a whim, being attracted to its stark cover art and intriguing title, and it turns out to have been the best book-related choice I’ve made in months. A rich, unsettling atmosphere, imaginative use of old folktales and legends, a sweet, likeable protagonist, a fascinating central conceit — this book has it all.

After the death of his family in a fire, fourteen year old William Paynel goes to live at Crowfield Abbey. It’s a hard life there, but Will knows that he’s lucky to have daily meals and shelter, especially during the middle of winter in the year 1347. Surrounded by monks both strict and kindly, including hunchbacked Brother Snail and simple-minded Brother Peter, Will is more or less content with his lot in life.

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The Crowfield Demon by Pat Walsh

In The Crowfield Curse, young William and his friends and allies righted a long-ago wrong at Crowfield Abbey and faced down the terrifying Unseelie King. But now another evil is rising at the abbey — one that has even the Unseelie King running scared.

The Crowfield Demon is even better and spookier than The Crowfield Curse. I didn’t realize how familiar the abbey had begun to feel after one relatively short book; when the structure begins to fail, it’s like a shattering of the world, albeit a small, circumscribed world. Pat Walsh builds the suspense well. Creepy, inexplicable art in the church; mysterious artifacts found beneath the stones; foul odors; unsettling dreams; hidden documents from the past — all of these add up to a great mystery. William, Sh... Read More