Heap House written and illustrated by Edward Carey

Iremonger trilogy, book 1. Hot Key Books, 2014. ISBN: 9781471401572
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended. All those escaped objects were rushing pell-mell in the same direction. They were skittering, thumping, crashing along the cellar walls, all speeding the same way. All hurrying to the same meeting. To the Gathering itself. But some of them did not make it, some of them tumbling forward suddenly grew larger, changed shape. A kettle skittering along, rolling, rolling, stopped being a kettle at each turn grew bigger and greyer and became all of a sudden an old woman in a filthy floral print dress, thick legs, she sat there upon the ground and screamed and screamed.
Clod Is an Iremonger. He lives in Heap House, a mixture of other houses, buildings, castles and mysteries all squashed together.
The Iremongers are a cruel and hard family in charge of the heaps. But Clod is different. He can hear objects talking. All they ever say is a name. Clod's bath plug says 'James Henry Hayward'; Cousin Tummis' tap squeaks 'Hilary Evelyn Ward-Jackson' and something in the attic angrily shouts 'Robert Burrington'.
Then Lucy Pennant arrives at Heap House. The Iremongers start growing restless. The objects whispering is getting louder, more gatherings are occurring and the objects are starting to change . . . and move.
Something is about to be revealed that could rip Clod's world apart and threaten the safety of everything he's ever known.
I would recommend this novel to male children 13 and over, as some scenes are quite gruesome and descriptive. This novel's storyline is original and the way Edward Carey describes and illustrates the novel is splendid.
Jazmin H. (Student, Year 7)