DORCHESTER TERRACE revolves around the protagonist of the story Thomas Pitt who helms the mighty rank of Britain's special branch at the apprehension of several dilemmas about his abilities.
            Anne Perry, besides many feathers in her hat is the best selling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England : the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Midnight at Marble Arch and Dorchester Terrace.
       With the backdrop of Victorian England, the story opens with Pitt being promoted as head of Special Branch,replacing Victor Narraway after the fiasco in Ireland at the end of 1895. Pitt has been characterized as a decent, disciplined and responsible man ,whose passion towards his work is raising several brows about its credibility. His own self- doubt is fuelled by rumours of a plot to blow up connections on the  Dover- London rail line, on which Austrian duke Alois Habsburg is soon to travel. Stoker, another official of the special branch is carrying out the operation of unveiling the truth until assistance ensues from Narraway too who applauds Pitt for his high-headed position. But why destroy an entire train to kill one obscure Austrian royal ? Meanwhile, in a London sickroom , an old Italian woman is terrified that as she sinks into dementia, she may divulge secrets from her career as a revolutionary spy. Serafina Monsterat is the character who occupies a marginal space of the book but plays a pivotal role in the development of the plot. An adulterous affair, unmasking of relationships and treason involved the characters of Serafina and Tregarron's father several decades preceeding Pitt's era. And behind the doors of a stately manor, was the avenue to several mysteries.
     Thomas Pitt's character has often been compared to Jack, who is the husband of  Emily just as the two sisters , Charlotte and Emily have been contrasted in matter of their looks,dress, lifestyles and husbands. An eerie air of  status conscience and  differences seem to enshroud the relationships of the two sisters . The strained relationship continues until the end of the story, where Jack and Pitt join hands to straighten the affairs that involve the main culprit of the story, Lord Tregarron.
        The characters of  Thomas Pitt and Charlotte are well- portrayed, coloured with various nuances and dealt emphatically to depict enough love and understanding in their togetherness.Anne Perry writes : " For more than fourteen years they had been friends, as well as husband and wife. He kept all manner of secrets from the government, the police and the general population, but he kept only the most specific, confidential details from her."

       The plot of the story is entwined with soft, light motion at the beginning doling out significant twists with the characters of Serafina Monsterrat, Lord  Tregarron, Vespasia  and  the Duke. There are few minor characters whose portrayal lack justice. They are related to the main events but are not provided the different shades. Through the continuous unwrapping of events, truth is finally revealed before Pitt who succeeds in foiling Tregaron's  relentless attempt to murder the Duke by trading a deal. On the whole , the book is a good read.

MATILDA---A BOOK REVIEW

Books can be your best friend...truly said,as this  hard bound materials wrought together with innumerable letters and infinite thoughts are meant to impart only knowledge.The ritual of reading books when Time allows me that privilege have become more of a habit now,more so when  it goes out reading with my little one.She too is fond of reading,given the time,can read on hours after hours.
               Such activity of reading has become quite regular as we pick some good books from the library and start our journey with it.One such rendezvous, prepared my chance meeting with Matilda.Oh...Oh...you all must be wondering about any graceful lady whom I suddenly met after long time.Actually no such things really happened. I'm referring to the book  MATILDA written by Roald Dahl.

 The childhood memory of reading this book got refreshed as I resumed this session with my child.Children of a coming age enjoy reading books alone as well as with parent,a medium to enhance closer ties.
          The focal point of the book is Matilda,a precocious child who learns to read books on her own,as early as when she is three years old.The child protagonist shows brilliance in reading,mathematics and every other subjects which tickle her curious brain and delights her interests.Born to a family of detestable and ignorant parents,Matilda's calibre is recognized only by her teacher Miss Honey, once she starts going to school.
        The history of Matilda's creation is quite fascinating. Roald Dahl was amazed by the 18th C prodigy Mozart. This was one of the things which made him realize that adults often underestimate children. So he created Matilda , who taught herself to read when she was just very young.
          The book is strewn with several characters, some of them well-formed while others loosely held as electrons of a particle.Matilda's family comprises of three characters---Mr. Wormwood, Mrs. Wormwood and Michael.Mr.Wormwood is Matilda's father and the crooked Great Car Dealer who sells old cars by repainting them and amasses enough wealth in his automotive business.Claimed as intelligent and clever in his own way,his moronic and bashful character have been downgraded several times by Matilda who doesn't support her father's idea that " customers are there to be diddled".The episodic narration of the Hat and the Superglue and the colouring of Mr.wormwood's hair with Paltinum blonde Hair-Dye  are two very important chapters which depict how clever but impudent Matilda plays pranks to punish her father for his wrong- doing.Unlike her father,Matilda's mother,Mrs.Wormwood is projected as a woman with unfortunate figure,though she considers herself beautiful and seductive. She spends most of her time in watching television and playing bingo to the point of addiction,that she travels five afternoons a week in a town 8 miles away from her home.The usual parents of  a bright child tend to be proud of their child's success.The unusual behaviourisms of the Wormwoods cross this line,their pride edges on rebuke towards education,giving greater importance to television which to them unveils a greater store of knowledge than any books.
         The characters in the book are nuanced with varying shades,where few of them like Michael( Matilda's brother who was 5 years older to her),Mrs. Phelps, Hortensia , Lavender along with few others are described as minor characters, others like Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull are considered as few of the major characters,encompassing a large portion of the storyline.
          Matilda encounters these characters after she is enrolled in the Cruchem Hall Primary School,where Miss Jenny becomes her teacher and Ms. Truchbull ,the Headmistress or the horrendous figure who is a depicted as a devil in human form.
        Miss Jennifer Honey is a mild,pious and quiet young woman who never raises her voice and seldom seen to smile but is always adored by the children. She is the object of respect and love,the effects of which reach to a point that Matilda even composes an entire limerick on her :
                                     ' The thing we all ask  about Jenny
                                        Is," surely there cannot be many
                                       Young girls in the place
                                        With so lovely a face?"
                                         The answer to that is,"Not any!" '
The relationship between a teacher and student matures and blossoms throughout the book,until Miss Honey adopts Matilda in compliance with the unusual but acceptable decision of her parents.The first recognition of   Matilda's brillance  is done by this dedicated teacher,whose attention and understanding are duly rewarded as the little girl rescues her teacher from the disdainful clutches of Miss Trunchbull.
      Miss Trunchbull ,the head of an academy,supposed to be a virtuous lady with significant character traits,has in actuality been portrayed as a negative and sinful personality.She is a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightens the life out of the pupils and teachers alike. On one ocassion, the student of the school Hortensia describes this aweful situation of the students as follows: " We are the crusaders,the gallant army fighting for our lives with hardly any weapons at all and the Trunchbull is the Prince of the Darkness,the Foul Serpent, the Fiery Dragon with all the weapons at her command.".She is the only antagonist in the book.Her school disciplines are so weird and idiosyncratic,that even minor misdeeds are punished at the behest of extreme physical injuries. The children often dare to rebell in minor acts as seen in the book that Bruce Bogtrotter delights in the slice of  cake made for Trunchbull or when lavender slips in a newt in glass of water intended of the teacher.However, the real punishment for this bullying teacher is entrusted by Matilda .She comes know from Miss Honey that Trunchbull is her aunt,who was in- charge of her upbringing and rearing,after the death of Miss Honey's father,Magnus and her torturous childhood by the demonic character has paralysed Miss Honey into an insignificant being.
Matilda's revenge is rightly denegrated when she uses her telekinetic abilities to scare Trunchbull as Magnus' spirit and scrawl a few messages on the board when she is in the class.As a result the headmistress is finally outsted from the house and school, with Miss Honey's reunion with her long-lost home and memories.
     
Roald Dahl hated bullies.So, when his daughter Lucy and her friends were being bullied on the school bus by a girl called Lizzy,he came up with plan.He wrote a rhyme and told Lucy to teach it to everyone except the bully.They learned the verse and when Lizzy, next picked on  a girl on the bus,everyone sang:
                           Why is Lizzy in a tizzy
                              On the way to school?
                             She makes a fuss upon the bus,
                              And acts just like a fool!
Everyone on the bus,except Lizzy cheered and clapped.Lizzy didn't pick on them again.
            In Roald's books,bullies get their just desserts,the way Miss Trunchbull receives her perfect ending in MATILDA.