Inez Ross

If you ever take your small children with you to visit historical Curwood Castle, nestled in the heart of downtown Owosso, Michigan, then THE BEAR AND THE CASTLE would make a fine gift for the kids to read first, or afterwards, for that matter. Author Inez Ross grew up in the Owosso area and still holds many fond memories of those times, and of reading the books of James Oliver Curwood as a kid. The text here is simple enough for a new reader, and the photos, which feature Curwood Castle museum docent, Lois Whalen (Ross's sister), along with her grandson, both in period costume, add a sense of the era of Curwood's books - the late 19th century and early 20th. The story features vignettes from Curwood's life both as a child and an adult and offers a thumbnail sketch of his career as a conservationist, outdoorsman and of course as a prolific writer. Older children will also be directed to two of Curwood's most famous books for children: Kazan: Father of Baree and its sequel Baree: The Story of a Wolf-Dog. Inez Ross is an avid reader and member of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and has authored several modern novels written in the manner of Austen. Her newest is Sotherton Abbey.… (más)

I've never read any of Jane Austen's books, although I once tried to read EMMA. I think I only got about 50 pages into it before putting it aside. Since Inez Ross is obviously a huge Austen fan, and maybe even a Jane Austen wannabee, I didn't expect to get too far in SOTHERTON ABBEY either.I thought I'd just take a peek and sample it, ya know? Well this book kinda grabs your attention whether you want it to or not. It has this very sweet likeable heroine, an old-fashioned kinda girl (as in the old Teresa Brewer hit, wherein she sings, "Wouldn't anybody like to kiss a sweet old-fashioned girl?"), in the person of Michigan high school senior Christina Dashwood. And Christina has this very nice family complete with sensible, hard-working parents and even a pesky younger sister.

Christina is assigned a Jane Austen novel to read by her HS English teacher and becomes hooked, reading the whole Austen oeuvre, then, by virtue of an excellent essay she writes on Austen, gets to travel west to New Mexico by train to attend a pre-college summer seminar on Austen and Regency England, and while she's there she stays in a kind of haunted house and meets this wealthy ranch family and befriends the daughter and is smitten by both her dreamy older brothers who vie for her attention, but then there are a couple of dastardly villains and a dark family secret and dancing and parties and horseback rides and ... Whew! "And lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Well, almost, but you get the idea, I think.

The whole story is told in the most delightfully formal language, which is all very Austen-ian, I assume. I figured out the secret and solved the mystery a little in advance, but I don't think that really matters. While the story may be somewhat predictable and even Nancy Drew-ish, it retains a certain special charm that compels you to keep on reading, just 'cause you wanna know what will happen to sweet Christina next. Which man will she choose? Will the evil villain kidnap her - or her friend Jane - and tie her to the railroad tracks and demand the deed to the ranch? And what about that kindly English prof who mysteriously disappeared during the train journey west? Once again, whew!

This is a small book, both in length and in size, so it wasn't much of a chore to read; and the truth is I found it just plain charming. It took me back to my Hardy Boys days. What it will do for younger readers (and it is eminently suitable for readers twelve and up), I am sure the author hopes, is give them a very accessible entry to the real works of Jane Austen, which are referenced repeatedly throughout the novel. In fact, I may have to give EMMA another go myself.… (más)