Thursday 5 February 2009

The Haunting of Cassie Palmer by Vivien Alcock


The Haunting of Cassie Palmer by Vivien Alcock
Pages 155
Challenges - Young Adult, 100+, New Author and Author A to Z.
I have been wanting to read this book for years as it was a programme I remember watching when I was younger. It has been impossible to find as it went out of print years ago. My friend Yvette was lucky enough to get a copy of this book, after searching for many months and she kindly let me read it. As I understand this book is on our local secondary school's reading list for teenagers, which must be difficult for them as it is very difficult to get hold of.
The book about a teenager called Cassie Palmer who is the seventh child of the seventh child. This means that one day she will become a powerful clairvoyant, unlike her mother who fakes being a clairvoyant. Cassie has no wish to be a medium and is absolutely petrified of ghosts. Her siblings are fed up with all the special treatment she gets and don't believe that she will ever be able to conjure any ghosts, so they dare her to call up the spirits.
Cassie enters the cemetery at full moon and tries to call up the spirit of a young girl. Instead she conjures up a fearsome and angry spirit called Deverill, who will not leave her alone. The story follows her quest to rid herself of this nasty spirit.
The book is very quick to read and is not scary at all. I love reading scary books, but I am no good at watching scary films. I think that is because I can downplay the scariness in my head. This is definitely not scary though.
You have to feel sorry for Cassie, as she definitely doesn't want anything to do with the spirit world and fears ghosts just as any normal teenager would. Through the story, she learns how to deal with spirits and her opinion of them changes.
I really enjoyed and will be looking out for more Vivien Alcock books.
Vivien Alcock wrote over 25 books and did not start writing until she was 56. She was born in Worthing, West Sussex and moved to London as an adult. She passed away in 2003.
The Haunting of Cassie Palmer was made in a television drama in 1981. I have looked on YouTube but I cannot find any footage of the programme.
There is a series of books by Karen Chance which tell the story of a grown up Cassie Palmer who is a clairvoyant. I don't think they are connected, but it seems funny that the same name was used.
If you are looking for a quick read and are not frightened of ghosts, then I would suggest reading this book.
Thanks for stopping by.

2 comments:

Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.