April 2010

Author/s: Julie Hearn
Publisher: Oxford University Press UK
Reviewed by: Esta Burger Age: 15 years
ISBN 13: 9780192754318

Ivy is five years old. Her parents died and she lives with her cousins Cynthia, Mad, Hor, Jared and Orlando. They’re a poor family living off very little. Ivy always gets the raw end of the deal as she’s young and not family. To her, life seems pretty unfair and cruel. But her whole life changes as two ladies come into their house and declare that their school will give her, Ivy and her cousin Orlando, a free education. Ivy doesn’t know what that is and she hopes it would be fairer than being at home.

She soon discovers it was in fact, also unfair. She was made fun off and scolded at the very first day. So when she’s forced to eat meat, which is against her principles, she makes a run for it. Soon she gets lost in the town until a woman with the same extraordinary red hair as Ivy, flashes an inviting smile to her. And that was exactly what Carroty Kate does, did and was going to do for a living: inviting children in and then skinning them of all they clothes. But Ivy had no clothes to skin and when Kate asked her why she doesn’t go home, Ivy declared she had no family, which was actually true at that moment of her life. What Ivy didn’t know, was that she was walking straight into more trouble.

So at the age of five, Ivy and Carroty Kate became a team of skinners. After the first day and her realisation of what that actually means, Ivy cries herself awake that night. Kate is angry and scolds her, telling her she was in no place that will deal with such drama. From that night onwards, Ivy is put to sleep with a droplet of laudanum in her water so that she would have a peaceful sleep.

Ten years later, Ivy is back with her family and she’s selling flowers on the streets. No-one knows of her history with the thieves or what happened at the end and Ivy doesn’t whish to remember. Then by some miracle, an artist, Oscar Aretino Frosdick, lays eyes upon the beautiful Ivy with long, red hair and pale skin. The painter offers her a job as his model and her greedy family quickly accepts the offer for her. But the painter’s mother, his former model, is outraged with this beautiful girl enlightening her son. Mrs Frosdick soon finds out about Ivy’s laudanum usage and tries in several ways to get rid of Ivy.

One day when Ivy and Oscar are at the market, she meets Fing Nolan, one of the thieves. She is terrified and depressed when he smiles at her and call her on her name. Against all odds, Ivy meets a friend, Rosa. She lives at the new Dogs’ Home. Ivy is a vegetarian and has a way with animals and there with the animals is the only place where she feels happy. But her cousins won’t let her leave her job as a model, because they get the money she makes. Fing Nolan hears Oscar’s neighbour’s address and they break in. Mrs Frosdick locks Ivy in a room in the neighbour’s house with no air and only a glass of laudanum on the table. Ivy struggle in the biggest battle of her life and just before her life was about to end, a much unexpected visitor finds her unconscious in the room.

Ivy’s life just doesn’t seem to solve itself, everything just comes back and her past doesn’t let her go. Rosa turns up and offers her a job at the Home, but Ivy’s cousins find her and send her back to Oscar. In the end, Ivy doesn’t solve her life or her circumstances, but she solves herself.

I really liked the book. Ivy has a very extraordinary and tragic life. She is always haunted by her past and those ghosts don’t leave until Ivy deals with them. She discovers herself in a deadly way, but at least she does. I would definitely recommend this book, but not to teenagers under 16, because the book is really sad and upsetting. The language and vocabulary is also a bit difficult. The book isn’t predictable, and not unreal either. It is a shocking and thrilling book. I lost myself in Ivy’s world because the backgrounds and characters are so well described. It also didn’t have a predictable happy ending; it makes you think for yourself about what happened to Ivy. I loved it!

Link to online catalogue
Ivy