Cora Ravenwing

By Gina Wilson

Book Overview

'The school where I first met Cora Ravenwing was called Okington School, and I was just beginning to have real ideas and opinions of my own when I first went there...'

With Cora Ravenwing (1980) Gina Wilson began her acclaimed career as a novelist for young adults. As she describes in a new preface to this reissue, the idea for the novel 'took a grip' on her such that she wrote without 'planning', inspired by the theme of a child's growing sense of intuition.

'A sensitive, mystery-tinged portrayal of social tensions... Cora Ravenwing, village scapegoat, is the first child whom narrator Becky Stokes meets when her family moves outside London in the mid-1950s; and her reflections deftly pick up the undercurrents of gossip, hostility, and social pretension that power the story of their year's troubled friendship.' Kirkus Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571299962
• ISBN13: 9780571299966
• Release Date: June 2013
• Publisher: Faber Finds
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Haunting

I found this book interesting, but I give it only four stars because at times it drags on and does not hold the reader's interest. This story is about a girl named Becky who meets Cora Ravenwing, a strange little girl whom everyone hates. She must choose between Cora and 'more conventionally attractive friends'. I like it because I like the character of Cora. She is spirited and satisfied with her own character although she knows she will never have any friends. The story's climax is not as interesting as it could be, but it is still a good book. I enjoyed reading about the girls' secret escapades. However, I found it hard to believe that everyone could hate a small child so much. Anyway, I found this book memorable and rather haunting. I love the ending of the book.