Rooftoppers

I was attracted to this by the delightful cover art when it appeared as a Kindle book of the day. And I have to say that the contents were just as much fun as the cover. This is very much “Neverwhere” for young adults, being the story of an orphan girl brought up in London by a wonderful eccentric named Charles Maxim and her subsequent adventures amongst the rooftops of Paris on the run from the national childcare agency.

Katherine has a great turn of phrase and there were some laugh-out-loud lines, amongst my favourites being the description of the down-at-heel Parisian hotel room containing “two rugs, on which a good deal of expense had been spared”.

The story moves a lot into a good pace, and the author never talks down to her audience, the reader is treated as an adult, able to understand difficult and painful situations, both physically and emotionally. The sudden ending left me wanting to know more about Sophie and where she and Charles went from here, I was expecting and wanting more but perhaps that in itself is the sign of a good story.

Highly recommended for adults, young and old.