Devilskein and Dearlove

Just as Neil Gaimans The Graveyard Book reworked Kiplings The Jungle Book for a modern audience with a liking for the supernatural, Devilskein & Dearlove is a darker, more edgy, contemporary reworking of Frances Hodgson Burnetts classic The Secret Garden. An orphaned teenager is taken in by a reluctant distant relative, and in her new home makes an unexpected friend and finds a secret realm. It has shades of the quirky fantastical in the style of Miyazakis (Studio Ghibli) animated films like Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle (originally a novel by Diana Wynne Jones). Alex says As a child The Secret Garden was one of my first favourite novels - one of the first I relished reading by myself. Although Devilskein & Dearlove is very different, it was inspired by that novel and its themes. Alex Smiths quirky imagination knows no bounds. - Andr Brink