The River Spirit

LoveReading4Kids Says

Interest Age 9+ Reading Age 8

Perhaps not many young people today read Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies, which inspired Lucy Strange to write this book, but whether they are familiar with it or not, they’ll be moved and beguiled by this haunting, tragic story.

Forced to work as a chimney sweep for his greedy, callous master, young Tom Waterman is determined not to forget his real name or his early life as the ferryman’s son. Splashing with the other sweeps in the river for their weekly wash, Tom first sees what he decides is a river spirit. Who is the strange gold-green girl who emerges from the river and so terrifies his master?

Elle, as they name her, follows the sweeps from that day and is there when Tom, taking the place of a new sweep not even eight years old, gets stuck in a chimney, escaping at last to live as a water spirit too, but always keeping an eye on his old friends.

The story is tragic, eerie and mystical, but also filled with a fury Kingsley would have understood at the lives forced on those Victorian chimney sweeps. It will alert today’s readers to the terrible inequalities and oppression of the past and make them think about the importance of standing up for those who need help today. Written for Barrington Stoke, Lucy Strange’s prose is spare but powerful and will be accessible to readers of all abilities.

Reviewed by Andrea Reece
Andrea Reece has spent almost her entire working life in children’s books, first as publisher, latterly as consultant, project manager and critic.
More reviews by Andrea Reece

About The River Spirit

Trapped within the oppresive warrens of the city’s chimneys, young sweeper Tom longs for fresh air and freedom in this atmospheric and ghostly tale from Lucy Strange.

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