This month, I read Withering-by-Sea, written by Judith Rossell. In this novel, an orphan named Stella lives with her three aunts in Hotel Majestic, a grand hotel, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. Though the three aunts have strict rules, she finds ways against these. When she spies a new guest at the hotel suspiciously trying to hide an unknown object, she is intrigued. Stella longs to dig deeper and find out what is happening, but her relatives make this extremely difficult. One night, she is awoken and creeps out of her tiny bedroom to observe her surroundings. She runs, remembering a book she must retrieve before it is too late. She soon finds herself hiding from a mysterious mob of people, including two guests from the hotel. The Professor, a very unlikable man, searches for that item that Mr. Filbert had hidden. When he cannot find it, he becomes angry leaves. Stella slinks away with the item, intending to awaken security, but finds that everyone is asleep and cannot be woken. When she discovers the cause of everyone’s slumber, she tries to put it out but hurts her foot. The blood makes the candle sizzle and go out, and commotion starts as the hotel residents begin to wake. Hidden in the large crowd, Stella manages to sneak away unnoticed. All changes when she meets the Professor’s helper boy under a pier on an outing. They chat, and when she returns to the hotel, everything in her area has been destructed. Taking matters in her own hands, Stella is caught up in deep trouble with the Professor. He intends to take her and the object, but once again, she gets away at the last moment. She hides in a performer’s home, and he becomes her friend. Along her journey, she becomes acquainted with a few other people that she must rely on to help defeat the Professor.

I loved this book because it was easy to follow, and gives a feeling of slight mystery and suspense, as well as friendship and trust. The book also seemed slightly old-fashioned, which made it more interesting to read as they are less common to come by now.

My favorite character was Mr. Capelli, her Italian performer friend. He was quite interesting and humorous, and had many cats that performed with him. Overall, Mr. Capelli was a quirky man with different ideas, and he saves Stella more than once.

My favorite quote from the novel is on page 16, where Stella must show her aunts what she had been learning from her French book. However, because her mind had been in a different place during the lesson, her words became jumbled and she muttered out in French, “I am delighted to see you in such dreadful health, Aunt Deliverance. You are exceedingly vulgar. Permit me to offer you some carpet.” I find this line quote funny and relatable, because if I tried to learn a new language that I didn’t want to learn, my words would also become scrambled.