The Turnkey by Allison Rushby

Title: The Turnkey

Author: Allison Rushby

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 1^st March 2017

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: History and mystery wrapped in a thrilling supernatural plot, The Turnkey is perfect for kids aged 9+.

Flossie Birdwhistle is the Turnkey at London’s Highgate Cemetery. As Turnkey, Flossie must ensure all the souls in the cemetery stay at rest. This is a difficult job at the best of times for a twelve-year-old ghost, but it is World War II and each night enemy bombers hammer London. Even the dead are unsettled. When Flossie encounters the ghost of a German soldier carrying a mysterious object, she becomes suspicious. What is he up to? Before long, Flossie uncovers a sinister plot that could result in the destruction of not only her cemetery, but also her beloved country. Can Flossie stop him before it is too late?

~*~

It’s World War II and the dead are restless, just like the living. As London is pummelled by bombs in air raids from the Germans, Flossie Birdwhistle, the Turnkey of Highgate Cemetery is trying to keep her interred calm and at rest. She’s only twelve, though, and it’s hard enough to keep them at rest during times of peace, let alone as enemy bombs are hammering London. Yet when a German soldier with a crystal skull filled with voices appears, Flossie knows she has to follow him and uncover the sinister plot at hand before he destroys the world of the living and the world of the dead.

The Turnkey is a unique take on a World War II story. Usually, we see the war through the eyes of a character directly affected by it, who are living through it in one of the many theatres of war, or on the home front, or in the concentration camps the Nazis ran. Here, we also have a ghost story mixed in with the war, which makes it a little spookier than usual. But not as scary as I thought it might be, and I know some kids like a scary story. Some kids might find this scary and confronting because at its heart, the story is about war and death, yet it can help children understand war, trauma, and death and how these things can affect us all differently, as well as allowing readers to explore another story with World War II at its centre. Any war stories can help children process their feelings and understandings about war, and perhaps exploring a historical war lets them understand contemporary wars or what might happen in a war.

Flossie’s story – who she is and how she died – is clear from the beginning but it is her journey to save her cemetery and country that makes the story powerful and inviting, and it has a decent pace – not too fast, and not to slow. Ghosts can’t rush things after all, and we need to have all the clues delivered to us at the right time – which happens really well, and I liked the side story of Flossie helping a young girl caught between life and death after being caught in a bombing. This gave the story a lot more heart – everything within it did, and the slow-building tension allowed the characters to evolve and show us who they were. I’m usually not one for ghost stories, but I love Allison Rushby’s ones – I think this is because they’re not overly scary – or not as scary as some ghost stories can be, and they have a gentleness to them at times that is reassuring.

Flossie is the kind of guide, or guardian that we should all get to have. She’s sensitive, kind, and caring, and the ghosts she takes care of are very lucky to have her. I know she is a fictional character, but I am wondering what she has been doing since the war, and if she is still the Turnkey of the Highgate Cemetery – she seems like the sort of person who would continue that job as long as she could. I am going to embark on reading the sequel soon and will get that review up as soon as I can.

What a lovely book!