Title: Fablehouse
Written by: E. L. Norry
Chapter Illustrations by: Lola Idowu
Maps by: Thy Bui
Published by: Bloomsbury
Fablehouse is the first in a trilogy of another high quality Storymix innovation, beautifully written by Emma Norry. Set in 1954, it is full of Arthurian legend, folktales and Fae magic set at fictional Fable House foster home for ‘Britain’s brown babies’. That is the babies born to the British women during WWII who were left alone after the black American soldiers were recalled and shipped back to America. Many of these ‘white’ mothers were shamed into giving up their babies and the children were taken into foster homes.
Heather has been sent to several of the homes but keeps running away. She arrives at Fablehouse, which is run by Miss Isolde and finally feel she has found where she belongs. There is a great cast of characters – Lloyd who is reliable and likes to follow the rules, Arlene who loves to sing and excitable Nat who prides himself as being a magician and of course Heather who enjoys reading. Together they call themselves the Roamers as they like to explore the grounds of Fablehouse. Each of them feel as if something is missing from their lives.
The way these four friends treat it as their duty to protect and help each other really resonated with me. They go on one of their picnics to the mystical stones where they meet Palamedes, the Black Knight. He does not know who he is or where he came from. Slowly his memory returns and he warns them a great danger has escaped from the stones. When the staff and other children are replaced with changelings, Palamedes explains how they must enter the Fae underworld to find their friends and save everyone at Fablehouse, as well as the neighbouring village and ultimately the save the world.
Not only did I love the historical background of this novel but the links to the Arthurian legends captured my imagination. I have had a long fascination with the Arthurian legends so forgive me if I digress slightly to explain that in the Arthurian legend outlined in Thomas Malory’s le Morte D’arthur and also in the Post Vulgate Cycle and the Prose Tristan, Palamedes was a Saracen from the Middle East, known as the hunter of the questing beast – a fearsome creature with the head and neck of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion and the feet of a hart. He was in love with Lady Isolde who was married to King Mark of Ireland. Sir Tristram was also in love with Isolde and so declared Palamedes his arch-enemy.
Emma Norry has masterfully weaved this feud and emotional triangle into Fable House to produce a totally immersive middle grade adventure, encompassing the themes of friendship, truth and identity. Fable House champions the importance of not judging people by their appearances, being true to yourself and doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
I found myself totally immersed in Fable House and its surroundings. Emma’s lovely descriptions gave me a vivid picture of the fae underworld and how the fae had been manipulated. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
You can buy copies of Fablehouse by E.L. Norry from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.