{"title":"Joan Aiken","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoan Aiken’s stories invite readers into enchanting worlds where imagination blends with suspense and charm. From whimsical children’s tales like \u003cem\u003eArabel and Mortimer Stories\u003c\/em\u003e to atmospheric narratives such as \u003cem\u003eThe Winter Sleepwalker And Other Stories\u003c\/em\u003e, her work spans warm humour and eerie supernatural elements with a distinctive voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer books often combine elements of romance, mystery, and gothic intrigue, as seen in titles like \u003cem\u003eThe Wolves of Willoughby Chase\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCastle Barebane\u003c\/em\u003e. Aiken’s storytelling delights those who appreciate richly crafted adventures that linger long after the final page.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"emma-watson-by-joan-aiken-9781529093032","title":"Emma Watson","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmma Watson\u003c\/em\u003e has been brought up by her aunt in a wealthy and refined household, an educated lifestyle far removed from her widowed father and five siblings. So when her aunt enters into an imprudent second marriage, nineteen-year-old Emma is sent back home and must join her sisters in their pursuit of a husband.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAiken takes on the fate of Austen's characters with confidence and skill, flawlessly entwining themes of loss and love together in this stunning regency pastiche.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJoan Aiken's invention seemed inexhaustible, her high spirits a blessing, her sheer storytelling zest a phenomenon. She was a literary treasure, and her books will continue to delight for many years to come\u003c\/em\u003e - Philip Pullman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46486304817388,"sku":"9781529093032","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11352043482732.jpg?v=1748306249"},{"product_id":"the-wolves-of-willoughby-chase-by-joan-aiken-9780099572879","title":"The Wolves of Willoughby Chase","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo children stand up to a network of criminals in a snowy England where the wolves still prey...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCan you go a little faster? Can you run?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLong ago, at a time in history that never happened, England was overrun with wolves. But as Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia discover, real danger often lies closer to home. Their new governess, Miss Slighcarp, doesn't seem at all nice. She shuts Bonnie in a cupboard, fires the faithful servants and sends the cousins far away from Willoughby Chase to a place they will never be found. Can Bonnie and Sylvia outwit the wicked Miss Slighcarp and her network of criminals, forgers and snitches?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wolves of Willoughby Chase\u003c\/em\u003e offers thrilling adventures and gripping suspense as two brave girls face overwhelming odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBackstory: Find out a few things you didn't know about wolves and learn all about the wonderful world of the author.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46505322053868,"sku":"9780099572879","price":19.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11817623482223.jpg?v=1748669770"},{"product_id":"castle-barebane-by-joan-aiken-9781035057580","title":"Castle Barebane","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoan Aiken writes superbly, with a force, a colour and strength of imagination that one encounters all too rarely today\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStrong and independent Valhalla Montgomery, a heroine straight out of a Henry James novel, abandons her New York career as a journalist to search for her half-brother in Joan Aiken’s gothic novel, \u003ci\u003eCastle Barebane\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWishing to escape from her pretentious New York fiancé, Valla is happy to have an excuse to travel to England, only to discover that her half-brother and his wife have disappeared from their London home – leaving their young two children all alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFinding Victorian London a gloomy and sinister place, haunted by a series of Ripper style murders, Valla takes the children up to Scotland to a bleak family property known as Castle Barebane. In this Gothic ruin, perched on the edge of a cliff, the mystery surrounding her missing brother only gets darker, and more terrifying...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCastle Barebane\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable tale of love, loss, and human nature, brought to life by Joan Aiken’s vivid storytelling and gripping plot. Perfect for fans of gothic mystery and readers of Virginia Andrews or Nicola Cornick.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46760209187052,"sku":"9781035057580","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14096563482556.jpg?v=1756168695"},{"product_id":"the-winter-sleepwalker-and-other-stories-by-joan-aiken-9780241730928","title":"The Winter Sleepwalker And Other Stories","description":"Eight wonderfully imaginative modern fairy tales from the mind of Joan Aiken, now back in print after 30 years\n\nJoin master storyteller Joan Aiken and illustrator extraordinaire Quentin Blake for eight original and wildly imaginative modern fairy tales.\n \nFrom eight-legged horses and Martian dinosaurs to a girl cursed to turn into a pink snake, these weird and wonderful short stories weave folktale and fantasy into something entirely unexpected.\n \nTold with Joan Aiken's wit and creativity, and illustrated with Quentin Blake's distinctive style, these surreal, sublime and endlessly enjoyable stories are perfect for young readers and fairy tale fans to share.","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46996548485356,"sku":"9780241730928","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241730928.jpg?v=1763129595"},{"product_id":"the-wolves-of-willoughby-chase-by-joan-aiken-9780141362663","title":"The Wolves of Willoughby Chase","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA beautiful new paperback edition, with a new introduction and extra content by the author's daughter, Lizza Aiken, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of this wild, evocative and timeless fantasy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a period of English history that never happened, when Good King James III is on the throne, and the whole country is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel. When orphans Bonnie and Sylvia fall into the hands of evil Miss Slighcarp, they need all their wits—and the help of Simon the goose-boy—to escape unscathed, for the governess is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFilled with brilliantly-drawn Dickensian characters, \u003cem\u003eThe Wolves of Willoughby Chase\u003c\/em\u003e would make an excellent choice for strong preteen readers who like an old-fashioned story with a strong plot and good characterisation. This book often appears on lists of best-loved children's books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47537303093484,"sku":"9780141362663","price":21.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780141362663-the-wolves-of-willoughby-chase.jpg?v=1776395553"},{"product_id":"the-new-flesh-by-roald-dahl-9780712369152","title":"The New Flesh","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt had taken, at most, three seconds for the elevator to pass downwards from the sixteenth to the twelfth... Mr Meldrum had ceased to be, and something hideously different took his place.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA man convinced that he has developed a phantom beak edges towards a terrible metamorphosis. Interlopers dismissing the superstitions of hare-women in the countryside pay for their scepticism with blood. The cruel jokes of a girl at the village festival of the Green Man lead her to a crueller transfiguring in the woods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTracing the quintessential horror concept of the strange transformation from the Victorian era through to the modern day, horror writer, expert, and enthusiast Mark Morris presents a thrilling selection of metamorphic tales. Including stories of bestial shapeshifters such as the tiger-men, fox spirits, and werewolves of world folklore, this collection also presents some of the weirder shifts of the horror genre, where a flatworm masquerades as a boy, a girl becomes one with a bridge, and a babe-in-arms and her beekeeper father come to reflect the creatures of the hives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47933326196972,"sku":"9780712369152","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780712369152-the-new-flesh.jpg?v=1783866711"},{"product_id":"a-necklace-of-raindrops-by-joan-aiken-9780224083805","title":"A Necklace Of Raindrops","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA beautiful new edition of Joan Aiken's captivating collection of much-loved modern fairytales, now reissued with Jan Pienkowski's original and iconic silhouette illustrations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is how it all began...\u003c\/em\u003e From \u003cem\u003eA Necklace Of Raindrops\u003c\/em\u003e to 'The Patchwork Quilt', here are eight classic stories to treasure and enjoy. Beginning and ending with a birthday, this spell-binding collection conjures up a world filled with magic, where wishes can come true.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA necklace of raindrops that keeps its owner dry in the heaviest rainstorm; a tiger that runs faster than the wind; a huge floating apple pie with a piece of sky in it; a baker's cat who swells to the size of a whale when his mistress feeds him yeast; a house that stands on one leg - these are just some of the objects and characters that figure in these delightful stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47995348812012,"sku":"9780224083805","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780224083805-a-necklace-of-raindrops.jpg?v=1784894592"},{"product_id":"arabel-and-mortimer-stories-by-joan-aiken-9780241386576","title":"Arabel and Mortimer Stories","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePuffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRediscover the A Puffin Book series and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation – including this treasured edition of \u003cem\u003eArabel and Mortimer Stories\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLate one night, as Mr Jones drove his taxi home through a storm, he spotted a large black bird with a hairy fringe around its beak sprawled out in the road.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMr Jones decides to take the bird home to Number Six, Rainwater Crescent, London, NW 3, to meet his daughter, Arabel, she’ll know what to do – she loves animals!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘His name’s Mortimer,’ she said.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut it doesn’t take long until the mischievous Mortimer causes chaos in the Jones household…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48010452926700,"sku":"9780241386576","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241386576-arabel-and-mortimer-stories.jpg?v=1785151003"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/joan-aiken.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}