Book Review: “The Interrupted Tale”

“The Interrupted Tale (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #4)” by Maryrose Wood

Genre: Children’s/Middle Grade Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction

Other Incorrigible Children books

Source: Library

Summary from Goodreads:

In The Interrupted Tale, Miss Penelope Lumley receives an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. Optoomuchstic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar.

And when Penelope is asked by the Swanburne Academy board of trustees to demonstrate the academic progress of her three wolfish students so the board can judge the true worth of a Swanburne education, the future of her alma mater–and of her job as governess to the Incorrigibles–hangs in the balance.

I’m almost okay with the mysteries still not being solved simply because it gives me more time to spend with the Incorrigibles. They are still simply wonderful.  I can’t believe how much they’ve ‘grown up’ over the course of the series. Alexander and Beowulf are becoming quite the young men. They’re very put together and thoughtful.  Little Cassie has matured quite a bit as well. I love the idea of her teaching Lord Ahston how to control the howling. I love that the children weren’t the only ones who have developed. Lord Ashton has come to the point where he asks for help which is a huge leap for him. Lady Aston is even starting to act like a human!

I felt the developments in this book were more thrilling. We found out quite a bit. The howling is a curse of the Ashton family that goes back to a mysterious island. Miss Mortimer is Miss Swanburne’s granddaughter. Lord Ashton’s father isn’t dead. Old Timothy’s son is Dr. Westminster. Penelope needs to look into her background. All of these revelations are interesting but I’m still not sure how everything is tied together.

I loved that we took another field trip away from Ashton Place. It was great to finally see Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. It was fun to see the school. I just wish we could have seen the school as it was not what it was turned into.

The bottom line? Fun developments in a great series!

I read this as part of my Reading Outside the Box Challenge. This was for my Middle Grade square. See my progress here.