About this item
Highlights
- When a young girl's mother is killed in the German blitz of WWII, she is evacuated to the English countryside estate of a shadowy, mysterious recluse whose household is overseen by a stern, authoritative housekeeper and members of her cold, unfriendly staff.
- Author(s): Ace Mask
- 194 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, General
Description
Book Synopsis
When a young girl's mother is killed in the German blitz of WWII, she is evacuated to the English countryside estate of a shadowy, mysterious recluse whose household is overseen by a stern, authoritative housekeeper and members of her cold, unfriendly staff. She finds comfort in a gallant collie who helps her unlock a curious, life-threatening secret and together they come face to face with danger and the terror of war when a diabolical enemy arrives at their doorstep. THE CAPTAIN'S COLLIE is a touching and exciting story for all who have ever known the love of a dog.
Review Quotes
4 STARS
Fire, ashes, and rubble. A German bomber destroys a hospital one night during the Blitz before getting shot down. A young girl's mom dies due to this attack and she is relocated to the large home of a reclusive Captain Bramwell in a quiet country village. While there, she befriends an effusive collie named Banner. This is the premise of The Captain's Collie by Ace Mask.
Alice Piper, the young girl, has to navigate life in a new place, without her parents. The plot centers on her exploration of the village and estate and the development of her friendship with Bramwell and Banner. This short historical fiction goes much deeper than the surface, however. There are two important themes I noticed while reading. The smaller theme is forgiveness. Throughout the book characters learn who, what, and when to forgive. The much larger theme is the invisible damage of war. Captain Bramwell was disfigured while fighting in WWI, but his internal struggles are the main culprits that make him hide in a cottage for 26 years. Along with a severe mental disorder, he has depression, which is also what Alice understandably suffers from while grieving her recently deceased mother.
Alice is intelligent and precocious in nature, but she still makes poor 11-year-old child decisions. Many of which bring a lot of tension to the narrative. Unlike other 'wise' child characters I've encountered before, she does not feel like a mini-adult. This balance really shows off the author's writing skill. He also does a great job with Banner. The adorable collie is never seen to be human-like and behaves like many dogs I have met in person. One second he'll follow instructions and the next second he'll be running off after something he finds to be more interesting. A big aspect of his character is his work as an emotional therapy dog for Bramwell and Alice and it's something that is brought up often and in various ways.
There are also many secondary characters that make up the household and people in the village. They are all distinctive and participate in the ongoing, somewhat mysterious, plot. Their stations in life and general levels of education are displayed by their varied accents and ways of speaking. Alice's father is away fighting in the war, but she isn't the only one affected in such a way. Many of the people in the village have sons, husbands, or fathers that are away or dead because of the war. There are also some that don't appear to have anyone missing and the way they speak about the bombings and fighting is very different from the others with loved ones in peril or gone.
Ace Mask does a fantastic job with the storytelling and writing and I could see myself enjoying some of his other published works that also feature collies.
Thimble - Online Book Club