The Box of Delights

Download or read book The Box of Delights written by John Masefield and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2013-11-13 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A children’s time travel adventure of a boy, a wizard, a witch, and a magic box—a beloved Christmas novel in England for generations and adapted into a classic BBC holiday series A “plum pudding of strange adventures, English legend, and spiritual feeling”–The Washington Post "A wintry fantasy classic." —Michael Dirda, List of 66 Favorite Books The English countryside, 1930s: Strange things begin to happen the minute young Kay Harker boards the train to go home for Christmas and finds himself under observation by 2 very shifty-looking characters. Arriving at his destination, the boy is immediately accosted by a bright-eyed old man with a mysterious message: “The wolves are running.” Soon danger is everywhere, as a gang of criminals headed by the notorious wizard Abner Brown and his witch wife, Sylvia Daisy Pouncer, pursue Kay. What does Abner Brown want? The magic box that the old man has entrusted to Kay, which allows him to shrink in size, to shapeshift, and to travel in time. The gang will stop at nothing to carry out their plan, even kidnapping Kay’s friend, the tough little Maria Jones, and threatening to cancel Christmas celebrations altogether. But with the help of his allies, including an intrepid mouse, a squadron of Roman soldiers, the legendary Herne the Hunter, and the inventor of the Box of Delights himself, Kay just may be able rescue his friend, foil Abner Brown’s plot, and save Christmas, too. At once a thriller, a romp, and a spellbinding fantasy, The Box of Delights is a great English children’s book and a perfect Christmas treat.