Once Upon a Castle

by Alan S. Blood

Cover links to Amazon

Uncle Toby had said that there would be castles to explore, with ghosts and things. This helps to cheer up the glum twelve-year old Lovell twins, Tom and Mary, leaving their schools and loving parents to be evacuated to wild Northumbria during World War II.

Then the adventure begins. They live with their Aunt Victoria and Uncle Leslie, meet the loveable ‘Mrs M’, a strange dog called ‘Scamp’ and, worst, the terrible private tutor, Miss Urquart, from whom they run away to find a mysterious castle seen through an old telescope.

Now they are drawn into bizarre supernatural events of a time-warp between the war itself and ancient warfare. They encounter dark forces, as the story twists and turns, and are even rescued by the Royal Navy. Yet, this is only the beginning of more unexpected tragedies before the twins begin to escape from it all.

Praise for Once Upon a Castle

True to Alan's style, he paints beautiful portraits of the setting throughout the book, filling your imagination with amazing images of the older days of London. He guides you through the war torn city as Tom and Mary make the journey to the safety of the countryside. Along the way depicting the shift in scenery from the chaos of war, to the splendor of country living.

Alan filled the story with lovely characters, each lively in their own way yet true to how (I would imagine) people spoke and behaved in those times. It felt as if you really did step back in time and became apart of this close, loving family.

A wonderful ghost story set in world war II England. A story to sit with your children and warm cocoa. Very enjoyable.

This YA novel will also be enjoyed by adults for the history content alone. Your World History student should read this one.

From a child's perspective, my 9-year-old son completed chapter one grinning from ear to ear after I assigned it to him for daily homeschool reading. He then informed me that he couldn't wait to read more.

Author Bio

Alan now devotes his time to writing novels, plays, screenplays and poetry. He won top award in the ‘Hastings International Poetry Festival’ (2003) with his controversial ‘litter’ poem ‘CONTRITE CAN CANNOT’. The paranormal genre features in much of his prose work. Alan enjoys wildlife photography in the Welsh countryside, painting and scraperboard engraving. He lives in a Victorian (1873) house below the Cambrian Mountains of Mid-Wales.

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