I have no idea how to begin reviewing
The brilliant and beautiful
My Friend The Octopus
There is so much I want to say
But I do not want to give too much away
My Friend The Octopus
Is a Victorian Mystery Story
Told in three parts
By the wonderful Lindsay Galvin
As an octopus has three hearts
The tale begins in London
Where Vinnie, Lavinia, lives with her mother
A milliner for high society
Vinnie works alongside her mother
And has little life experience outside of her own home
And her work
Vinne’s mother leaves London for Paris in a hurry
But she does not take her daughter with her
She takes her to Brighton and leaves her there
With the wonderfully warm and practical Aunt Bets
Aunt Bets runs a tea shop
At Brighton Aquarium
Just as Vinnie moves to Brighton
So too does a new aquarium inhabitant
An octopus
A devil fish
Vinnie is fascinated by the creature
And spends a lot of time
Observing and drawing it
Vinnie has a talent for art
She struggles with reading
The letters dance on the page
My dyslexic daughter immediately recognised dyslexia
And felt an instant connection to Vinnie
As she too struggles with letters and words
But has a talent and passion for drawing
And a love for living things
Vinnie adapts quickly to life in Brighton
With love and nurturing from Aunt Bets
And the company of two new friends
Charlie, an aspiring journalist
And Temitayo, who loves writing in her diary
I love the friendships that build between the three children
How the dynamics between them all change and grow
There is a lovely scene with Vinnie and Charlie
Where the octopus soaks Charlie with water
But holds hands with Vinnie
It did make us chuckle
One of the most delicious scenes
Is when Aunt Bets takes VInnie swimming in the sea
For the first time
We loved the descriptions of the bathing machine in action
The Victorian bathing suits
And the sheer joy and exhilaration felt by Vinnie
Once in the water
We loved the bond between the pair
Sharing a special moment together
I thought this was incredibly well researched and written
As Vinnie spends more time with Aunt Bets
And her new friends at the aquarium
She also gets to know herself
As she adopts her aunt’s ‘get doing’ attitude
We follow Vinnie as she begins
Finding her own way in the world
Discovering her own likes and dislikes
Finding her voice
Her feet
Becoming a strong independent young woman
As well as this journey of self discovery
Vinnie is also dealing with a menacing villain
Trying to find out what has happened to her mother
And uncovering the identity of an unknown writer of newspaper articles
That use Vinnie’s sketches
This historical mystery story is filled with twists and turns
At the centre of the story is Vinnie
And her bond with the octopus, Ghost
The children and I loved how this beautiful
Fascination and friendship grew
While reading the book
We watched the documentary
My Friend Octopus
To understand more the special bond that can form
Between humans and octopuses
We also took part in a Theatre of Science lesson
That showed us the amazing anatomy
And intelligence of these amazing creatures of the deep
We also read about Victorian fashion, leisure activiteis and lifestyles
And conditions for workers in Victorian factories
In a brilliantly written scene
We learn, through Vinnie and Charlie, about child labour
And the horrific working conditions that endangered peoples health and lives
“The brickworks with the killer dust, the cotton mills with their lung-rotting damp … the grim phossy jaw…”
This story has so many twists and turns
Highlights so many historical issues
It is a brilliant brilliant read
That I just could not put down
And that I could not review until I had read it all
With my soon to be 12 year old twins
Who loved everything about this book
Just as much as I did
We laughed, we gasped with fear
We felt sad and shocked
We felt empathy and compassion
Awe and wonder
We savoured every page
And we really did not want this story to end
We would love to know what happens next for Temitayo
As a mother I loved how this story explored different parenting styles
Vinnie’s mother who was controlling and manipulative
Aunt Bets with her affectionate “get doing” attitude
This is a story of family and friendship
Of love and loss
Courage and betrayal
This book is a joy to read and a gift for educators. There are so many topics to unlock and subjects to explore in this brilliant and beautiful work of historical fiction. I urge you to read it and I know that you will not regret it.
I am now planning to take the children to Brighton for the day
We have loved looking online at old and new pictures of the seafront
And the aquarium
We cannot wait to go and make the comparisons for real
We will also be seeking out a teashop like Aunt Bets’
Walking along the promenade and out on to the pier
Oh, and having a dip in the sea
We will remember with fondness Ghost
And Vinnie
And the beautiful bond they shared
We will talk about Temitayo and Charlie
Aunt Bets and Uncle Henry
For a long time to come
A tale we are sad to leave behind
A story that will stay in our hearts for always
Esther’s Octopus
My Pre Review Thoughts