THE INK OF ELSPET

Two siblings attempt to rescue their missing father and save the creative world.

The Rev. Marcus Drake, creator of the Max Courageous comic books, leaves his children—11-year-old Everett and 8-year-old Bea—with housekeeper Mrs. Crimp in their London vicarage to go to Scotland on secret business. After his train crashes, a nurse who helped their father after the accident delivers his fountain pen, which has magical healing properties, and with it the hope that he may have survived. An adventure ensues involving magical Ink, a substance used by Inklings through the ages for creative purposes. Inklings are committed to protecting Ink from eradication by blotters and their dye hounds. The siblings rescue Trey, an injured boy who has lost most of his memories and who may have answers they need. It emerges that Bea, Everett, and Trey just may be Inklings too, and it is not only the Rev. Drake’s life at stake, but also the survival of the last Inkwell in the world. Action-packed and full of imaginative worldbuilding, the story’s stakes are palpable. Readers will enjoy spotting literary references to works such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and A Wrinkle in Time. Whiteness is clearly the default; Trey’s father is from India, and his mother’s Englishness is equated with Whiteness. Despite the presence of some complex Western names in the work, Trey’s real given name, Purushottam, is described as too difficult and cause for sympathy.

A high-stakes literary adventure that falls short in representation.