Community Profile

"The action of this book is set in a period of English history that never happened..."(Joan Aiken)

This is (as far as I can see) the only LJ community dedicated to the late, great British children's writer, Joan Aiken and all her works.

Joan Aiken was also a writer of many adult novels, but is best known for her inventive, colourful 'Wolves' sequence for children & young adults, following the adventures of Dido Twite and others in an alternative 19th Century where the Stuarts stayed on the throne and had to fend off terrible Hanoverian plots, wolves roamed England, tapestries save lives, legends are alive and well (and hiding in South America) and sea captains chase pink whales. The sequence started with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase in 1962, and the last book she wrote before her death was the concluding installment, The Witch of Clatteringshaws (2005).

She is also well known for her other YA/children's novels (for all ages) including Midnight Is A Place, the Felix trilogy, Arabel's Raven and many short fantasy/suspense stories. Her adult novels include modern stories, 19th C historicals and several Jane Austen sequels/prequels. Her sister is the author Jane Aiken Hodge.

You can find out more on the Official Website (which includes a complete bibliography).

This comm is for all things related to Aiken and her works (especially the Wolves sequence) - discussion, reviews, news, fanfic, icons etc, including posts about her main illustrators (Pat Marriott, Quentin Blake and Jan Pienkowski) & the TV/Film dramatisations of her books (e.g. ITV's 1977/78 13 part serial of Midnight Is A Place, BBC's Arabel's Raven, BBC TV's 1995 adaptation of Black Hearts in Battersea, and the 1989 film of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase).