The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney

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Summary Chilling, memorable and full of wonderful characters.

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before him. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the Country, the horror begins…

The Spook’s Apprentice is part ghost story; part coming of age story. We are introduced to Thomas J. Ward, the apprentice of the book’s title, at a time when he has reached the age where he must leave his family and make his own way in the world. Being the seventh son of a seventh son he is eligible to be apprenticed to the local Spook (a man who deals with ghosts, boggarts and witches). The story covers approximately a year in the life of Thomas J. Ward as we follow him through his often hair-raising training. The story opened superbly, as the reader I was instantly drawn into the tale and the setting. The story itself is linear – we follow Thomas from the time he leaves home, through his apprenticeship and his encounters with witches, boggarts and ghouls. Each of the fifteen chapters follows on from its predecessor, forming a coherent and immensely enjoyable tale.

The main characters are Thomas (the apprentice), his family, the Spook, and Alice. The characterisation is excellent, Delaney has a gift for describing things that many omit. I thought the vivid description of the Spook’s long nostril hair was brilliant, I can’t think of any other books that have marked this phenomenon that is more common than you would think among men who have little care for outward appearances. It was very easy to relate to all the major characters and the major relationships are between the Spook and his apprentice and Thomas and his family. As the Spook and Thomas become closer, Thomas’ family distances themselves from him; his job fills them with fear and superstitions make them believe him dangerous and a bringer of bad luck. Although he is still welcome to visit his home, he finds that everything has changed and will never be the same again.

The Spook’s Apprentice is genuinely scary; the night that Thomas spends in a haunted house made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Delaney does not shy away from adult themes; the bodies of hanged soldiers and the nefarious tastes of witches will shock and delight young-adults in equal measures. The author treats the young adult as they deserve, he does not speak down to them or decide that there are issues that they may not be old enough to deal with, he has written a book that gives them exactly what they are looking for – excitement, danger, adventure, love and courage.

The Spook’s Apprentice is told in the first person, a perspective that is much harder than the third as all events need to be shown through the eyes and thoughts of a single character. Robin Hobb is the master of this style of narrative but Delaney comes close. We are able to get to know Thomas and his thoughts and feelings whilst we also have the bleak yet stirring countryside described in his words. The setting is Lancashire and as I have already mentioned, it can often be bleak but has the ability to completely take one’s breath away – this is something that Delaney gets across to perfection – as the book begins so does the rain – something that Lancashire is renowned for. It was a wonderful story; everything was ideal for the young-adult age group for which it is aimed. My favourite moments of the story were found in the kitchen of the Spook’s home where food magically appears when needed and you are only allowed to go down there when the bell rings, never before or after that time. The house itself stood out as a really magical place, the housekeeper unique and strangely loveable, a real place of warmth and safety in a dangerous world. I was instantly engrossed in the book and its characters – you could say that if Ursula Le Guin and The Sixth Sense merged then the outcome may be as good as The Spook’s Apprentice. I would heavily recommend The Spook’s Apprentice to young adults looking for a fantastic series. Chilling, memorable, full of wonderful characters and written in a fluid style that makes the narrative accessible to all ages.

"Teenage readers looking instead for total fantasy should hasten to Joseph Delaney's The Spook's Apprentice" Independent