Cuckoo Song

By Frances Hardinge

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, is a fantastically eerie and beautifully written novel, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak.

'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.'

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out.

Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family – before it's too late . . .

'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: May 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9780230766365

Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge spent a large part of her childhood in a huge old house that inspired her to write strange stories from an early age. She read English at Oxford University, then got a job at a software company. However, a few years later a persistent friend finally managed to bully Frances into sending a few chapters of Fly By Night, her first children's novel, to a publisher. Macmillan made her an immediate offer. The book went on to publish to huge critical acclaim and win the Branford Boase First Novel Award. She has since written many highly acclaimed children's novels including, Fly By Night's sequel, Twilight Robbery, as well as the Carnegie shortlisted Cuckoo Song and the Costa Book of the Year winner, The Lie Tree.

Reviews for Cuckoo Song

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An elegantly written, richly imagined, creepy and chilling tale.

[ladycato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is currently an Andre Norton Award finalist, and I read it as part of my Nebula packet.This 1920s-set young adult book is gothic in atmosphere and at times it's disturbingly creepy. Triss awakens from a terrible fever to find holes in her memory and a disturbing sort of hunger. The writing is excellent and the family drama is especially well-drawn, especially as Triss discovers that she is not who she believes herself to be.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Every Hardinge book has the same basic skeleton: a girl (once a boy) just on the cusp of puberty discovers that the world as she thought she knew it, as difficult as that was to live in, is actually much more disturbing and dangerous; she has to use her wits and particularly her ability to make friends/allies to survive. This is not to say that the books are in any way the “same” story. On that skeleton, Hardinge puts a variety of different, compelling magical worlds, described with terrible beauty. This one involves Triss, who wakes one day having nearly drowned in the river the day before. Her little sister Pen is angrier and more defiant than ever, and her parents more agitated—even more than they’ve been ever since her older brother Sebastian died in the Great War. Triss realizes that something is very wrong with her, and that she only has a few days to fix it. The story is about the transformation of magic in a rapidly changing world, but also about Triss finding herself.

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lovely, quiet fairy tale, with terrifying monsters, some of whom are human, and some of whom are kinder than the humans they know. It's about family and finding a home. Nothing was wasted in this book, every little thing had meaning later on, and that made it so satisfying to read.

[atreic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It has been much too long since I read Frances Hardinge. Her fantastical worlds, sympathetic characters and tightly woven plots are fabulous and unputdownable. There are many stories told about good children stolen away and replaced by changlings, but what if you were the changling and no-one had told you? With strong themes of identity and working out your own morality, and a powerful sense of the 1920s and the grief after the War, this book touches on a huge range of topics from sibling rivalry, middle class families with their repressed brokeness, and what happens to the people who don't fit in as the world gets tidier.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My daughter picked up this book at her school book fair. She told me that a lot of the kids were excited about this book. I thought it looked creepy and interesting, so I decided to read it too.

This was definitely a weird book. So much is going on it becomes a little overwhelming at times. The introduction of the Besiders was really fantastic. It was not at all what I expected from reading the blurb on the book. There is some great imagery in this book and a wonderful world emerges in parallel to the "real" England. I hope that my daughter enjoys it as much as I did.

[passion4reading_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Triss wakes up one morning after an accident while on holiday, but without a memory of what happened; all her other memories, such as those of her parents and younger sister, or even of her life before the accident, appear strangely vague and incomplete. As Triss regains her strength, she starts to behave in a way that bewilders those around her, and that's even before she discovers that her doll can now talk to her. When they go back home, events begin to escalate as it dawns on everyone that Triss is not really Triss at all.I thought this was a very intriguing take on the changeling story, with an unexpectedly sympathetic protagonist at its core. This is not a mindless monster made from twigs, leaves and paper (the pages of the real Triss's diaries) but someone who feels and thinks, and who has opinions of her own. I wasn't quite sure at first why the author had set the novel at the beginning of the 1920s, but it became clear quite quickly that this is, apart from describing a wild magic that finds itself backed into a corner by the modern world and with claws raised in defence, also a sensitively written lament for a generation of boys and men lost (in one way or another) during the First World War, and the consequences in society that came with women demanding more rights and liberties as a result. The plot is mainly character-driven and at times quite slow, especially the beginning, but once the dynamic between the main protagonists and the vivid atmosphere, along with some superb writing, have got their claws into you, the tension never lets up and everything fits together perfectly, though there were one or two questions that I would have liked to see the author answer. The author's use of a countdown device is very effective, but the ending was a little too neat in my opinion. Those are minor complaints, and it is principally the wonderful imagery conjured up by the author and Not-Triss's humanity (set against the inhumanity displayed by some human adults) in spite of everything that will stay with me for a long time.This is an intelligent and psychologically mature book, but because of the central relationship between the two "sisters", I think this book will appeal more to girls than boys, from about the age of 12+.

[shellypya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In post-World War I England, Triss nearly drowns in a millpond known as "The Grimmer" and emerges with memory gaps, aware that something's terribly wrong, and to try to set things right, she must meet a twisted architect who has designs on her family.

[cheriereads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cuckoo Song is an atmospheric and creepy fairy tale with exquisite writing and complex relationships. Triss wakes up unaware of who or where she is. As her memory slowly returns, she continues to feel like something isn’t right, although she’s not sure what. Her parents treat her as if she’s ill and her sister treats her like she’s a monster. It’s best to read this book without knowing much more than that. The first part of the book reads like a creepy mystery. I didn’t understand what was going on with Triss any more than she did and that made the story very compelling. The more we find out, the more questions there are. It’s not long, though, before the truth about Triss is revealed and once it is, the story evolves into a dark fairy tale with sinister villain and ominous situations.The relationships between the characters are worth a whole post of their own. Triss’s family has never fully recovered from the loss of her older brother during WWI. They deal with their grief in unhealthy ways and try to pretend that things are normal. Triss suffers because her parents constantly treat her as if she’s ill as a way to protect her from the dangers of the world. Meanwhile, younger sister Pen is always on the outside. Her parents ignore her and her sister dislikes her. As the story develops, so does the relationship between Triss and Pen. I didn’t grow up with a sister near in age so I’ve never experienced that type of relationship, but the bond between the sisters was so well written, I feel like I understand. The author perfectly captures how you can love your sibling but still sometimes not like them very much – how you can be jealous of them or say horrible things to each other, yet you still love them and fear for them and ultimately want them to love you back. There were some really painful moments between the two, but also some really sweet and poignant moments.The pace is rather slow but steady. There are a couple of exciting, faster-paced scenes toward the end of the book, though. This is definitely not a book that you’ll race through. Instead, it’s one that will immerse you in an atmospheric tale. The writing itself is exquisite. It’s charming and sometimes a little ethereal and is overall superb.In terms of age, this book has some definite crossover appeal. Though it’s creepy, there’s nothing graphic. I wouldn’t hesitate to let my 8 year old read it, though I don’t think he would completely appreciate all of it and it’s above his reading level. It’s also sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by teens and even adults who like a good fairy tale.Overall, I really enjoyed Cuckoo Song. I would have liked it to move a little bit faster in a couple of places, thus the 4 star rating, but the superb writing style, complex relationships and interesting take on fairy lore make this a book that I highly recommend.

[epweil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating dark new imaging of the changeling child fairy tale, one that stays with you long after the story ends.

[karen813 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully written book, I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good spooky story.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Be warned: This is a dark book. And I love dark books...but there's a reality to the horror experienced by the children in this book which goes somewhat beyond the page, and there were times when reading it simply became too much for me. As a child, I'm honestly not sure whether I would have loved the book or felt tortured by it. As an adult reading it, the gravity of how traumatic these experiences would be for a child--and the way even the fantastical horrors could be seen as translating into real life trauma--added an extra layer of horror to the story, which was already fairly dark.But, all that said, Hardinge is an extraordinary writer. Her ability to bring life to historical characters and settings for middle grade readers of adventurous horror is unmatched as far as I'm concerned, and although I had to take my time in reading this book, I'm so glad I did. It's difficult to talk about without giving away some of the power of the book, but if you like creepy reads about children and want a dark read, I'd absolutely recommend it.