 | By: Penelope Lively Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Heinemann Educational Publishers ISBN: 0435122045 ISBN-13: 9780435122041 Released: 08 Sep 1975 RRP: Average Rating:  |
“The Ghost of Thomas Kempe” by Penelope Lively is a children’s ghost story. It involves a boy callled James who, with his mother, father & sister, moves to a quiet town, Ledsham, in the Oxford country side. James soon discovers a poltergeist, Thomas Kempe, in his bedroom that causes many problems. With the help of a local builder, though, James manages to overcome these problems & send the poltergeist back where he came from.
I thought Thomas Kempe was an arrogant ghost because if anyone did any of his old jobs he got cross with them & turned James’ house upside down – “…when the cup jolted, tipped, hung at an angle of forty-five degrees, & turned over. Tea flowed into the saucer, & then in a cascade onto the Vicar’s trousers.” Also he thinks he is the boss & threatens people when he doesn’t get his own way – “Goe & tell they that are diggynge for treasure in the Lammas Fields that they must give me one halfe of what they finde for it is I who tell where gold may be found in these partes. Doe this at once or it will be the worse for thee.”
I thought Thomas Kempe was a bit tedious because he always got cross in the same way – he slammed doors, broke bottles & his actions became guessable & childish – “There was a crash. The barometer had leapt off the walll & lay on the floor, the glass cracked.”
An incident in the book that moved me was when Thomas Kempe burned down Mrs Verity’s house. I think I was moved by this because I felt so sorry for Mrs Verity. She’s just a friendly old woman who liked to know the news & suddenly she doesn’t have a house any longer! I felt Thomas Kempe was very cruel to burn her house, & he clearly didn’t regret it in his note – “I have burned downe the wytches house.” He’s pleased with himself for having got rid of her! This made me feel annoyed with Thomas Kempe because it isn’t Mrs Verity’s fault he thinks she’s a witch.
A theme I thought was important in the novel was time & the past. I think this is so because James thinks about what it was like to be a young boy, Arnold, who lived in the 19th century. There is also a museum on at James’ school about 100 years of life in Ledsham. Thomas Kempe is a ghost, so he is from the past as well, & that is to do with time. It made me think about what it would be like to live when my mum was smalll, & when my gran was smalll. It made me think about how things have changed since Arnold’s time, for better & for worse.
All in alll I found this book a very enjoyable read. It gripped me on every page, & I found every character different, with a very specific personality; Thomas is tedious, James has a wild imagination & Mrs Verity is very inquisitive. I would recommend this book to people because it had a very well thought out plot & was a real page turner. It made me think about the last generation, as time is the key theme in the book. This is one of the most fabulous children’s books I have read, & I am now inspired to read more books by Penelope Lively!
Below are some of the current bestsellers - click them for a price comparison and find the cheapest place to buy!
