PHILIP PULLMAN

THE TIGER IN THE WELL

SCHOLASTIC 1999

OPRAWA MIĘKKA, STRON 392

KSIĄZKA RAZ CZYTANA.

This sequel to The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North combines heart-thumping suspense, a thorough-going examination of Victorian London's underclass, a lively gang of heroes and villains and a mystery sinister enough to leave readers filled with anxiety. An unknown evildoer has made elaborate plans to steal Sally Lockhart's life away from her--by usurping her home, her business, her daughter Harriet and, finally, her sanity. Elsewhere in London, Jewish immigrants who have fled the Russian pogroms are being systematically fleeced. Daniel Goldberg, a socialist journalist, believes that the evil genius behind these brutal acts is a shadowy figure known as the Tzaddik. Rendered homeless and hounded through London's slums, Sally endures a plight that in many ways mirrors the mistreatment of the Jews. Aided by Goldberg and a handful of the city's toughest gangsters, the dauntless heroine triumphs over this malevolence. Astute readers are likely to figure out the Tzaddik's identity long before Sally does--a bit of predictability that is at odds with Pullman's otherwise tight plotting. On the whole, however, this thought-provoking romp is as rich and captivating as a modern-day Dickens novel.