A Fine Debut Novel
By Sharon Cameron
Scholastic, $17.99, 318 pages
When Katharine Tulman is sent to have her eccentric uncle committed to an asylum in order to protect the family inheritance, she expects the task to be unpleasant but brief. What she finds when she arrives, however, is an entire village, created when her uncle released hundreds from the workhouse to help him build his automatons, on the family estate. Katharine is soon faced with the choice to either put her uncle away to preserve her family’s wealth or to aid him in his vision and keep the villagers free.
The Dark Unwinding is a wonderfully Gothic tale and a fine debut novel by author Sharon Cameron. The character of Katharine is superbly written; she has a complexity and depth that is unusual in young adult novels. The supporting characters are equally well-written, and they add to the overall mood and feel of the setting. The story moves at a brisk pace and keeps the reader interested in the story throughout the book. Fans of young adult fantasy or Gothic fiction will definitely enjoy this novel.
Reviewed by Barbara Cothern
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