The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby

This was a difficult review to write without giving too much away. I really enjoyed the book and it was far more complex than it appeared to be. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed it, and cared about the characters and what would happen to them, and had to read right to the end. However I did work out one of the main hidden premises in the book very early on, although this didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Romily Kemp lives with her father, who adores her. He moves them out to Braër House, a remote country house when she is 9. She lives a very solitary life, especially when she ends up leaving school to be home schooled, and becomes friends with Stacey who lives with her single mum, but occasionally goes to stay with her Grandmother so Romily doesn't see her then.

Romily's father Tobias is an artist, and paints pictures - mainly of Romily and her kitten Monty. Then Tobias decides to write a series of books about Romily and Monty, and illustrate them himself.  It becomes obvious that the books are a treasure hunt, which fires the imagination of the readers and the books become best sellers, and Romily and Tobias' life is never the same. Treasure Hunters fnnd out where Braër House is located and come to dig to find the 'treasure'.

Tobias explains to Romily that not all treasure is money or gold, and that the treasure hunt is mainly for Romily. Will Romily be able to solve the treasure hunt with the help of some clues given to her each birthday? Will it be too late?

A very interesting, very clever story with a few twists in the tail, and one worth reading.