June 2017 Debut of the Month | In a nutshell: danger and mystery and magic!
One minute Rose Muddle is a lowly housemaid to the wealthy Miss Templeforth of Hove, the next minute she’s the guardian of a strange, and magical amber pendant. So begins a thrilling magical mystery story, one that will grip young readers from beginning to end. ‘Some people believe amber can preserve strange things. Dark things,’ warns Miss Lee, who first shows Rose the pendant, and she certainly has some scary enemies to face. On the plus side, Rose has some loyal supporters too, including Rui, the nephew of a Maharajah, and his monkey, the mischievous Bahula. Both worlds, the magic one and the real life 1907, are vividly described, and Rose and co are the liveliest young heroes. ~ Andrea Reece
When twelve-year-old Rose Muddle is taken from the workhouse by a mysterious woman, she finds herself working as a maid in a grand house. But it soon becomes clear that her new mistress, Miss Templeforth, has much bigger plans for Rose. She is the keeper of a strange amber pendant – a pendant which holds extraordinary things; shadows, spirits, which were trapped inside long ago… And Rose is to inherit it.
But with the pendant comes huge responsibility and danger, for there is a second pendant held by those who wish to wreak havoc on the world and turn it to a place of shadow… With the help of her friend Rui, and Bahula the monkey, Rose is flung into a treacherous adventure, pitting herself against the treacherous Brotherhood of the Black Sun.
The Amber Pendant was inspired by the real-life discovery of a relic known as the Hove Amber Cup. When Imogen moved to Hove, East Sussex, she discovered a little spoken-about Bronze Age cup made of amber, tucked away in the local museum. Found beneath an enormous 'Beowulf-style' burial mound which once stook in the centre of Hove (Hove comes from the Danish word 'Hof' meaning burial ground) - it's something few people know about.
Imogen comments: " I found myself imagining who this forgotten hero was, why they owned this cup crafted from amber, and what they might have done to be buried in such a grand way. Magical stories exist wherever you live, even in our towns and cities. If you just take a closer look, there are whispers in the landscape of incredible places and forgotten people from our past - clues to be found in our local folklore and legends."
Imogen White won her place in the Undiscovered Voices 2014 Anthology with the opening to The Rose Muddle Mysteries. Imogen loves local history, and children’s stories that aren’t limited to beautiful countryside locations or secluded seaside coves. Imogen lives in Hove with her husband, children and belligerent ginger-tomcat. The Amber Pendant is her debut novel.
