The Willoughbys

The four Willoughby children live with their neglectful and horrible parents in a tall and skinny house. Their lives are uneventful, if not a bit boring, until one fateful day their parents go off adventuring and leave them in the care of an odious nanny. Nanny turns out to be a blessing and for the first time ever the children have wonderful food and proper care. Meanwhile, an abandoned baby is left at the doorstep of a wealthy, yet heavily grieving, man. His wife and son were lost years ago in the Alps and since then he has given up on life. The baby, named Ruth, changes the man’s life and gives him something to live for. The horrible and missing parents decide to sell off the house and hoard the money, leaving the children and Nanny in a pickle. Luckily, they become acquainted with the millionaire and move in with him, forming a de-facto family. Unexpectedly, the story picks up in a small town in the Alps, where a mother and boy find themselves after a devastating avalanche. Could this be the millionaire’s lost family? How will this new development affect the Willoughby’s? And what becomes of their parents? All of these questions are answered in this new take with old tropes delivered by a modern-classic author.

Even though Lois Lowery is one of the best in children’s literature, I never read this book, thinking it seemed “boring”. A young patron raved about it as her favorite, so I felt that it was time. At first the book startled and surprised me. It is quite a departure from anything else by this author, though she has a broad body of work, and my initial reaction was jarring. Once I understood what it was about and settled in, I found it delightful. The Willoughbys is a parody of old fashioned children’s books (a list of the books referenced is offered in the back) and the children themselves consider themselves “old fashioned”. The story is very funny, though dark, and is reminiscent of Lemony Snicket or Roald Dahl. Certainly not for literal kids, readers who enjoy nuanced and clever books will enjoy being in on the joke. The plot is ridiculous, yet rollicking, and plot lines overlap and come together, which I always love. Lowery challenges readers with complex vocabulary and thoughtfully includes a glossary in the back. Having grown up in a small town with a pokey library that contained very old and dusty children’s books, I greatly enjoyed the references of this parody. Will modern readers get all references? Probably not, but who cares? It’s still tongue-in-cheek fun and respects the intelligence of the reader. It just needs to find it’s audience. A sequel, The Willoughbys Return was released in 2020.