''Set in Stone'' is a children's

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

written by

Linda Newbery Linda Iris Newbery (born 12 August 1952) is a British writer known best for young adult fiction—where she entered the market, although she has broadened her range to encompass all ages. She published her first novel ''Run with the Hare'' in 1 ...

. It won the Costa Children's Book of the Year Prize for 2006, and was nominated for the 2007 Carnegie Medal.

Plot summary

Samuel Godwin, an aspiring artist, is forced to drop out of art school following his father's death. Without any qualifications, he contemplates what to do for work. Wealthy businessman Ernest Farrow advertises for an art tutor for his two daughters, and Godwin successfully applies for the position. He moves into Farrow's mansion, Fourwinds, with adequate time to pursue his own art. Godwin becomes infatuated with Farrow's youngest daughter, Marianne, but questions remain unanswered. Marianne wanders the grounds at night, while her sister, Juliana, is always quiet and sad. Godwin discovers the previous art tutor, a talented sculptor, was sent away from Fourwinds before he finished his masterpiece.

Major themes

Although written as a children's book and nominated in awards categories for eight- to fourteen-year-olds, critics have said that it should not be read by under fourteen-year-olds due to the themes of

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adopti ...

in the book. The author, Linda Newbery, considers the book to be

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

rather than specifically for children. The novel is set in 19th-century England, influenced by

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

and

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

, with hints of

Victorian gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. The book alternates between the point of view of two different characters, in alternating chapters.

Reception

Norah Piehl reviewed the book for TeenReads.com. She described the plot as "sensational" which "will keep readers wide awake and shivering late into the night". Two children who read the book on behalf of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's Newsround Press Pack whilst on the

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, the ...

panel did not like the book compared to others on the shortlist. One did not think it was his type of book, while the other preferred a different shortlisted book, ''

The Diamond of Drury Lane ''The Diamond of Drury Lane'' is a children's historical novel by Julia Golding which won the Nestle Children's Book Prize Gold Award and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize in 2006. The book is set on 1 January 1790. Plot An orphaned 1 ...

''.

Awards and nominations

''Set in Stone'' won the

2006 Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

prize for Best Children's Book. The other shortlisted books were David Almond's ''Clay'',

Julia Golding Julia Golding (born 1969), pen names Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards, is a British novelist best known for her ''Cat Royal'' series and '' The Companions Quartet''. Biography Born in London, 1969, she grew up on the edge of Epping Forest. She orig ...

's ''The Diamond of Drury Lane'' and

Meg Rosoff Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel '' How I Live Now'' (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, Printz Award, and Branford Boase Award and made the ...

's ''

Just in Case Just-in-case manufacturing (JIC) is a term sometimes applied to traditional manufacturing systems used before the influence of modern technologies and newer transportation infrastructures. It is the contrary in many ways to the recently evolve ...

''. Following that win, the book was placed on the shortlist for Book of the Year, but that ultimately went to Stef Penney's '' The Tenderness of Wolves'' which had qualified for the list by winning the First Novel award. The novel was also nominated for the 2007 Carnegie Medal.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Linda Newbery official website
British children's novels 2006 British novels 2006 children's books Novels about artists David Fickling Books books