GOODY HALL
illustrated by Natalie Babbitt
A distinguished children's author has concocted a juvenile Gothic that is less a take-off than an affectionate dalliance with the convention. All the traditional ingredients are here: a young hero hired as tutor in an isolated, imposing house; servants from the village who provide a gossipy commentary on the goings-on; an empty tomb, a seance, and a hollow statue filled with stolen jewels; a double glimpsed in a night garden; and a bang-up Victorian happy ending replete with laughter, tears, reunited family and neat resolutions. The preposterous coincidences of the plot occur here in the ludicrous parallels between the adventures of Hercules and those of the hero, an unimpressive, "baggy" young man who misquotes Shakespeare and wryly endures the name of Hercules Feltwright. Another Delicious blend of style, wit and adventure.