Review of The Wind In The Wall by Sally Gardner

'I have no idea how long I have been incarcerated in these ancient walls . . . Let me explain how I find myself in this predicament . . .'

Set in the hot houses of a stately home in eighteenth century England, a gardener falls from grace when the Duke sets him the impossible task of growing prize pineapples fit to show off in high society.The gardener's star falls further when he is replaced by Mr Amicus, a pineapple 'specialist', whom he believes to be a charlatan and a trickster - but nevertheless miraculously produces fruit to delight the Duke. 

Determined to uncover Mr Amicus's tricks, the gardener sneaks into the pineapple house to uncover the mysterious shrouded birdcage Mr Amicus carries with him. And what he finds changes his life for ever...

A cautionary tale with echoes of myth and fairy tale, this bewitching fable will make you careful what you wish for.

I found this one at the library and seeing how short it was, decided to plonk myself down on a bean bag and read the whole thing. Growing up on Grimm and Andersen, I'm a sucker for stories like these, the creepier and more melancholic the better. The Wind In The Wall has that old feel of those stories, while creating something entirely new.

The story lends itself to surrealism with it's slightly bizarre tale of pineapple growing, a mysterious birdcage and an unhappy marriage. What I did take from this story was that men are stupid, and should not be left to their own devices because they can and will do stupid things.

I did rate this down a little due to major unanswered questions about pineapples, something which has never happened to me before. When our gardener cannot produce decent pineapples, someone finds someone else that does it better and the gardener can't understand how. Sneaking into the... pineapple keeping place... he discovers a big secret that doesn't help us understand the pineapple dilemma at all.