Jack and Jill were seventeen when they returned from the Moors and were packed of by their oh so disturbed parents to the Eleanor West Home for Wayward Children. This is more a companion than a prequel to 'Every Heart a Doorway' given that it does not mention the place where children ejected from their Portal Worlds are sent for rehabilitation and refuge.
But it is a detailed study of just how children might attract a door to another reality, and how the roles that are forced on children might not turn out quite as expected. The story is told in an omnicient third person, which I found rather distanced me from the travails of the protagonists.
It is though a finely drawn Portal World, with an oppressive and sinister atmosphere. It is pretty clear from the beginning that no good will come of the experience. When the ending does come though, it seems abrupt and strangely rushed, in comparison to the leisurely description of the twin girls upbringing which makes up the first third of the book.
But it is a detailed study of just how children might attract a door to another reality, and how the roles that are forced on children might not turn out quite as expected. The story is told in an omnicient third person, which I found rather distanced me from the travails of the protagonists.
It is though a finely drawn Portal World, with an oppressive and sinister atmosphere. It is pretty clear from the beginning that no good will come of the experience. When the ending does come though, it seems abrupt and strangely rushed, in comparison to the leisurely description of the twin girls upbringing which makes up the first third of the book.