“It was not Miss Penelope Lumley‘s first journey on a train, but it was the first one she had taken alone.”

From Maryrose Wood’s The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling.

After graduating from the Swanburn Academy for Poor Bright Females at fifteen, young Penelope Lumley is sent to Ashton Place place to apply for the job of governess. It was Penelope’s love of animals that prompted her head mistress to encourage her to apply for the ad for the three “lively” children. The wealthy Lord Frederick and his new bride Lady Constance found three wild children (two boys and a girl) in the woods on the property, and they decided to raise them. While the Ashtons and their entire staff had been unable to control the feral children, Penelope’s gentle nature and solid education allows her to make a genuine connection with the children. Lord Ashton names the children Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia, but Lady Ashton refers to them as the Incorrigibles so the wild children don’t need to take the last name of Ashton. While Penelope is able to make impressive strides with the children’s manners, education, communication skills, and self-control around squirrels, she feels completely unprepared for a big Christmas party that Lady Ashton has scheduled for Christmas… an event that she expects the children to behave perfectly for. The children and Penelope are able to hold their own at the party, but Lord Ashton’s refusal to attend is only the first straw in the disaster that becomes the sabotaged party, and Penelope must figure out what is going on before the children are injured or sent away.

This enchanting series by Wood kicks off with a sweet, funny, and mysterious adventure. The writing style is vaguely similar at times to Lemony Snicket, which helps makes the characters and setting appealing. The Mysterious Howling will leave readers, young and old, waiting expectantly to read the next book in the series.