About the Author
Melissa Albert is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of the Hazel Wood series and Our Crooked Hearts, and a former bookseller and founder of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times’ list of Notable Children’s Books. She enjoys swimming pool tourism, genre mashups, and living in Brooklyn with her hilarious husband and magnificently goofy son.
About the book
Their childhood was yours. They want it back . . .
Guinevere's late mother, Edith Sharpe, needs little introduction. Bestselling author of the unendingly successful Ninth Cityseries, her books brought so much joy and inspired the imagination of countless children the world over. Guin's childhood with her mother, brother Ennis and her actor father was a blissful, bohemian affair, filled with continuous laughter and surrounded by artistic types in their Vermont barnhouse. At least, this is the story Guin presents as she prepares for the press tour for her upcoming memoir about life in the Sharpe family.
Now estranged from her brother and her parents long dead after a devastating fire, strange events threaten the veneer of serenity and familial harmony Guin is keen to project. Ennis, now a notorious artist with a troubled past, announces a new installation – his first since a disastrous last show one year prior – simply entitled Mother. And Guin can't help but worry that the truth behind their idyllic childhood is about to blow her world apart.
Told in alternating narratives between 1990s Vermont and present-day New York, The Children is a twisting narrative of family secrets and long-held resentments, which asks whether we can ever really exorcise the ghosts of a childhood forsaken in favour of a parent's artistic vision.
Review
I wonder if the author realises that after this book the expectation is a set of the Ninth City books - written retrospectively, which can be read as readers navigate their way through the story of the Sharpe children. We also demand (okay I demand) not only the aforementioned, but also a sequel (maybe more) to this fascinating venture into magical realism with a smorgasbord of fantasy and speculative fiction woven into the story.
Guin and Ennis appear to live a life of freedom in the midst of the creatives of the world. They explore their surroundings, whilst their parents are consumed by their own egocentrical meanderings. Father, the talented actor who despises being drawn away from the limelight. Mother, the writer who will draw power, steal ideas and sacrifice anything to continue her written exploration into her beloved world of the Ninth City.
The childhood of Guin and Ennis is indicative of the time and era, children were a side-piece and an afterthought, often left to their own devices. I think that is especially the case for the Sharpe children who are seen as the physical representations of their parents creativity. The muses for their mother. It creates a breeding ground for pain. neglect, dangerous situations and eventually a division that can't be mended.
I adored the way this book sets up the illusion of a coming-of-age meets literary extravaganza and then evolves into an intriguing combination of fantasy and occasional magical realism. It's delivers so many elements to a variety of readers. The complex relationship between Guin, Ennis and their parents. The co-dependency of the siblings relationship. The way the world, the media and the fandom interacts with the Sharpe legacy. The depth of darkness bouncing back and forth between Guin and Ennis, which culminates in the most fascinating of twists.
It's a great read. I need more. And did I mention that we the readers need the Ninth City books too!
Buy The Children at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus; pub date 4th June 2026. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Bookshop org.
