DIDO AND PA

In another sequel to The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase, Aiken creates a London "100 years ago," when good Scottish King Dick sits on the throne while Bonnie Prince Georgie, Hanoverian, plots usurpation. This is an exaggerated Dickensian world where children are maltreated, where the extremes of poverty and wealth, callousness and caring are made vivid by Aiken's witty assemblage of action and detail. Pa is a despicable plotter against the crown, willing to sacrifice his own daughter, yet also the finest musician of his day (Handel or Mozart?); Dido's ambivalence towards him presents the problem of response to good within evil in microcosm. Favorite characters from previous title appear: Sophie, Simon (now Duke of Battersea), Podge, all twined in a marvelously inventive plot in which Dido is instrumental in foiling the wicked Hanoverian, a tunnel broad enough for two carriages has been built beneath the Thames, and wolves threaten the borders of the city. Some of the language is British, difficult, or both (but so comical and musical, that it would be a travesty to tamper with it); some of the just desserts meted out to the Wicked are gory. Readers who get past these barriers will find lively characters and an enthralling story.