Having read Sophie Andersons Castle of Tangled Magic last autumn, I was keen to read more and the multi award nominated The House with the Chicken Legs certainly didn't disappoint.
With so many important themes running through this book - family and belonging; death and loss; the sense of 'otherness' and finding your own path - this is a book that, although aimed at readers 9+ will be swallowed whole and enjoyed by any reader who enjoys fairytales and folklore too.
I read it over two nights and through Andersons urgent first person narrative was immediately transported to a wonderfully intricate tapestry of the life live by Marinka and her grandmother - Baba Yaga - a 'Guardian' who every night guides the souls of the dead through 'the gate.'
It sounds like a macabre read - but it's not.
This is a book filled with the richness of life lived, of the power of family and the strength we can find in knowing who, and what, we are.
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