Poor Tom's Ghost

by Jane Louise Curry

Book Overview

"...a superbly atmospheric story, full of suspense and chilling moments." --Times Literary Supplement

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689500726
• ISBN13: 9780689500725
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 178 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Poor Tom's Ghost

Roger Nicholas is thirteen and a bit too tightly wrapped, too introverted. His father Tony is an actor with the National Theatre in London, England, and his step-mother is an American actress there, and with her own daughter aged nine. Tony inherits what appears to be an ugly pink stuccoed monstrosity of a house close to the Thames in the London suburb of Isleworth. But belying its early 19th Century appearance is the presence of a distinctly Elizabethan ghost. In the process of uncovering the mystery they uncover the real house and its earlier origins and a bit of family history into the bargain. The characters are very well drawn, and Roger in particular is a very complex young lad who grows and matures through the course of the story. I was and adult when I discovered this book at the time of its first printing, and was instantly captivated by the story and by its telling, and by the talent of the author. I have re-read this book a dozen times in the last 25 years and still enjoy it immensely. I cannot reccommend it highly enough.