The Interrupted Tale
Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Series
Author: Maryrose Wood
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Book 4 in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series
Pages: 320
Published: 2013
Age: 8+
Turning sixteen is a bittersweet occasion for Miss Penelope Lumley: Her parents remain disappointingly absent, and her perfectly nice young playwright friend, Simon Harley-Dickinson, has not been heard from since he went to visit his ailing great-uncle Pudge in the old sailors' home in Brighton.
Luckily, an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females provides just the diversion Penelope needs. Optimistic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar. And when Penelope is asked by the Swanburne Academy board of trustees to demonstrate the academic progress of her three wolfish students, so the board can judge the true worth of a Swanburne education, the future of her alma mater—and of her job as governess to the Incorrigibles—hangs in the balance.
About the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Series
Books in series order
- 1.The Mysterious Howling(2010)
- 2.The Hidden Gallery(2011)
- 3.The Unseen Guest(2012)
- 4.The Interrupted Tale(2013)
- 5.The Unmapped Sea(2015)
- 6.The Long-Lost Home(2017)
Reading age: 8+ years
This series should be read in order.
Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: They must have been raised by wolves. The Incorrigible Children actually were. Discovered in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children. Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. A recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must eliminate their canine tendencies.
But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to civilize the Incorrigibles in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?
Penelope is no stranger to mystery, as her own origins are also cloaked in secrecy. But as Agatha Swanburne herself once said, things may happen for a reason, but that doesn't mean we know what the reason is – at least, not yet.