The House on Hummingbird Island by Sam Angus

Published: June 2016

Pages: 389

Synopsis: "'We're going to a fine place,' Idie told Homer to console him, 'with gullies and monkeys and hummingbirds.'Idie Grace is twelve when she inherits a grand old house on a Caribbean island, and is sent away from grey old England to a place where hummingbirds hover and monkeys clamber from tree to tree.As a lady of property Idie can do as she pleases, so she fills the house with exotic animals, keeps her beloved horse in the hallway, and carries a grumpy, talking cockatoo called Homer on her shoulder. But the island house holds as many secrets as it does animals, and the truth behind Idie's inheritance is the biggest secret of all . . ."

Rating: ****

The House on Hummingbird Island by Sam Angus features on the 2017 Carnegie Award longlist.

It's 1912 and young Idie Grace is sent away from the only home she has ever known in England to the West Indies.

Beautiful descriptions and a headstrong young protagonist who I am sure would be inspirational to younger readers.

The main storyline was Idie discovering why she had been sent away from England, why her mother had given her away to English relatives in the first place and what happened to her mother. The suspense and clues were frustratingly well paced and I found it very difficult to put the book down as I was deaperate to know about Idie's family.

I really liked and admired Grancat who seemed to be related to Idie and raised her as his granddaughter but she wasn't actually. It later came to light that all was not well on Grancat's English estate and I imagined he sent Idie away to get ancestral home to protect her from the fallout to come.

I was a little disappointed by the ending, especially after all the build up. But the ending did tie everything up nicely.