Before he even gets a chance to open his glistening new paints Simon stumbles right into the centre of a plot to kill the King. The Twite household, where Simon is lodging, seems particularly shifty. But the city is plagued by wolves and mysterious disappearances.

'Wait, wait! Save us! What'll we do?' Simon is determined to become a painter when he grows up so he sets off to London to make his fortune. Beautifully illustrated by Robin Jacques. Dido Twite, introduced here, becomes a major viewpoint character in many later books of the series, and her Cockney street waif persona is a delight. Lots of exciting events in this book, everyone is connected somehow in a Dickensian way, and the characters are entertaining and believable, even if some of the plot turns are barely so. Sophie and Simon foil several attempts on the life of the Duke and Duchess of Battersea as well, and all kinds of adventures follow, from Simon being kidnapped and shipped off on a dangerous sea voyage, to Sophie foiling an attack by wolves on the Duke and Duchess, and then there’s the hot air balloon ride back to London pictured on the cover, to thwart another plot against the King. Before long, Simon also befriends the Duke of Battersea, and he and Sophie and Dido are swept into a secret dangerous plot by people in the Duke’s employ to kill England’s King James III and replace him with a new ruler from Hanover, Germany. Simon and the Cobb family become friends, and through them he meets Justin, who works in Battersea Castle, just across the river, and then discovers that his old friend from childhood, Sophie, is working as a ladies’ maid at the castle. Cobb, whose shop is near the school, and is soon working for him. He gives Simon a test, and soon admits him as a student. Furneaux, is also puzzled by the disappearance of Dr. Simon rents the apartment, and makes his way to the art academy, where the director, Dr. He’s soon entangled with the young girl Dido Twite, who takes a liking to him and his donkey, and seems to know more than she’s telling about Dr.

Field, who had written to Simon that he was living there, but clues make Simon think there’s more to the story. When he finds it, he discovers an empty top floor apartment, and the Twites know nothing about any Dr. Field above the Twite family in London’s East End near the Thames. As this book opens, Simon and his donkey are in London looking for the rented flat of Dr. Field, a medical doctor but also a man studying to be a painter, and he saw talent for painting in Simon and encouraged him to come stay with him in London so he could take lessons at the same art academy. In “Wolves,” he brought the two girls in that story to London, and they met Dr. This is the second book of Aiken’s “Wolves Chronicles,” a sequel of sorts to “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.” It follows Simon, the boy from the first book who lives in the woods on his own.

Black hearts in battersea by joan aiken