The impossible secret of Lillian Velvet by Jaclyn Moriarty

Jaclyn Moriarty is a multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling Australian author. Australian children have probably discovered or had their teachers and librarians introduce them to the Kingdoms and Empires books back in 2021 when The stolen prince of Cloudburst was an Honour book of the Children's Book of the Year Awards: Younger Readers. Readers of The impossible secret of Lillian Velvet will recognise some of the characters from other books in the series.

Moriarty is certainly able to spin and weave a story. The reader is taken (with Lillian) backwards and forwards in time. In today's world she lives with her extremely cold grandmother and is homeschooled. She knows no one and has never met other children. Her grandmother just calls her "Child" - never by her name. Grandmother sets her tasks. No matter how commanding she is, Velvet always responds with unending kindness, thoughtfulness and helpfulness. Everything changes when Velvet is given a jar of coins on her tenth birthday.

At the beginning of the book is a map of fantasy kindoms. With the aid of the coins, Velvet is "shoved" to these kingdoms where she meets and tries to help troubled people. It is unusual for characters to be "shoved" into other worlds in literature. Usually they go through portals. Velvet has little control over when or where or for how long she will be shoved into other worlds. As the story progresses, she learns a little more about herself and starts to make connections about the people she meets in these fantasy worlds.

Narrated in the first person by the delightful and courageous Lillian Velvet, the story follows her challenging adventures across time and different enchanting and dangerous worlds. She deals with Shadow Mages who make trouble, true Mages who make joy and Spellbinders who deal with trouble by taking it up in their nets.  The question is - "Who is Lillian Velvet - the baby who was left on the doorstep in a basket."

Moriarty's writing is sensory. She evokes settings powerfully eg.  "... the scent of fresh pine needles filled the air, murmers and laughter drifted on the breeze...the soft plashing of the lake...seemed to be making shy contributions to the conversation." With constant time travel to different places, the reader could become confused but Moriarty has Velvet summarise her experiences from time to time so that the reader doesn't lose the plot.

An exciting, fantasy novel for advanced readers.

Themes: Magic, Time travel, Helpfulness, Family.

Wendy Jeffrey