Our latest family read-aloud has been Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones. I’ll let Mig Laker, the narrator, introduce Aunt Maria:

We have had Aunt Maria ever since Dad died. If that sounds as if we have the plague, that is what I mean. You have to call this plague Ma-rye-ah. Aunt Maria insists you say her name like that. Chris says it is more like that card game, where the one who wins the queen of spades loses the game. “Black Maria,” it is called. Maybe he is right.

During the Easter holidays, Mig, her older brother Chris, and her mother all go to visit Mig’s father’s Aunt Maria in the little English seacoast town of Cranbury. Aunt Maria is getting on in years, and they are her only relations; and though they don’t like her much, going to check up on her is simply the right thing to do. Mig’s mother is big on doing the right thing.

At first, Aunt Maria just seems like a stuffy, old invalid who likes to have things just so, the sort of woman you have to humor or you feel bad about your self. Then they discover that Aunt Maria’s companion and housekeeper Lavinia has gone on vacation, and Mig’s family has to take up the slack. Aunt Maria seems ever more manipulative…and the ladies of the town back her up. Aunt Maria must not be distressed. Then they discover that Lavinia left some of her things behind. Then they discover a cat who looks unpleasantly like Lavinia….and Aunt Maria begins to seem like more than just a tiresome old lady.

My kids all enjoyed it. Me, I thought it was subpar. Not bad, not bad at all, but not Jones’ best (which is very, very good). It’s rather slow paced, and the subtext (the battle of the sexes) is a little too obvious. But it has its moments of humor, and there were a few scenes where everyone in our family were rolling on the floor. So…good, but not great.