He also has an exquisite command of characterization. Not for Pullman the weak, wishy-washy characters. His positively jump off the page at you and drag you into their world of Victorian London. There's something of Dickens in Pullman's stuff. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad. But that makes it sound trite and cliched - which it isn't. It's much more complex than that, which probably explains why Philip Pullman is one of the few authors from this side of The Big Pond, who succeeds on that side of The Big Pond.

The Sally Lockhart trilogy is on my list of 'Books you MUST read before you die'. And since I'm no longer a Young Adult, I've made sure to read them quickly!


Pullman at best   August 1, 1999
 12 out of 16 found this review helpful

After reading the Golden Compass and Subtle Knife I knew I would have to read more by him while waiting for the end of His Dark Materials trilogy. Once I got past the first three chapters of The Ruby in the Smoke I was hooked, and although The Shadow in the North broke my heart and made no one seem indivisable, the Tiger in the Well tied almost* everything up. I'd like to say that I never put the book down, but I can't. I was just a little too enraged at the beginning ( you understand if you read the series ), but once you get to chapter 20 ( the second book ) you better have time cause there is simply no place to put it down. The ultimate climax though was in the last ten chapters ( the third book ) and you get the feeling that the other books ( meaning Ruby in the Smoke and Shadow of the North ) were just an intro, and this is the only real story. I highly suggest this and I must say that the coversation between Con, Tony, and the Officer in I think the last chapter ( Rabbits ) is the absolute funniest I've ever read. Funny, exciting, with, romance, and drama the absolute best.

*The Tin Princess


Satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy   November 24, 2000
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

We start the story with Sally living happily in the country, with her friends and her daughter, and everything is wonderful. Then she falls into a nightmare - someone, claiming to be her husband, wants custody of her daughter. Who hates Sally so much that he wants to destroy her utterly, and steal her daughter?

This is a really gripping story with no loose ends. Sally goes on a journey through the underside of Victorian London, ending up in Spitalfields. I used to live in this area, and loved reading the way that Pullman brought its history to life. The baddies are very bad, and get their comeuppance. The finale is worthy of a Hollywood action movie.

I came to these books after reading The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. The Sally Lockhart trilogy has none of the fantasy aspects of these books - it's set firmly in gritty, dirty Victorian England. The stories are simpler, so the books would be easier for a younger reader. Sally is a real role model heroine for a young girl - she never gives up, and is very smart and brave.

For the older reader, the attractions are the quality of the stories (except perhaps for the middle book), and the excellent descriptions of life in Victorian England. These stories rattle along at a fast pace, with plot twists coming from the baddies trying to outwit Sally and her friends. Sally ends up in the Victorian underworld, and the portrayal of street gangs, and the lives they lead, is very believable. A nice piece of social history. Highly recommended.


"You Don't Know Her, She'll Fight..."   October 20, 2004
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

"The Tiger in the Well" is the third of the Sally Lockhart books, and definitely my favourite. Despite the prolonged absence of Jim Taylor, it is the darkest of the books, where the stakes are at their highest. Whilst Jim Taylor and Webster Garland are away on holiday, Sally receives a letter from a man named Mr Parrish, who claims that she is his wife and her baby daughter Harriet is his own. Making it worse, it accuses her of being an unfit mother, and that custody of Harriet should be given to Parrish. Sally is horrified - not only has she never heard of this man before, but the law is not on her side. Somehow there exists a marriage certificate for the two of them, and a birth certificate that testifies Parrish is Harriet's daughter. Despite help from her financial consultant Margaret Haddow and the servants of the house, Sally's case in a court of law seems hopeless - her lawyer didn't even know that Harriet was a girl! There seems only one thing to do, and that's take Harriet and disappear.

And so Sally and her daughter become fugitives, sinking from hotel rooms to poor houses to the street, whilst the law steadily closes in on her. How can she investigate the mystery surrounding her when she must also look after a baby? Soon however, she comes into the path of a man named Daniel Goldberg, a Jewish political writer who claims that they can help one another - he can give Sally a safe place for Harriet, and she can help him uncover the identity of the Tzaddik. This man is one who few have seen, but is feared by almost all, especially the Jewish community. They say he has a `dybbuk' for a servant, a little imp from hell that waits on him, and that he controls almost all the underworld dealings. More importantly however, Goldberg believes that he is behind Sally's dilemma.

"The Tiger in the Well" is definitely my favourite Sally Lockhart book, where Pullman excels himself in his writing skills. The predicament that Sally finds herself in is truly frightening - just think, at any moment your life could be pulled out from under your feet because of spiteful unknown powers. Her gradual decline is realistic and unsettling, and is made especially difficult with the presence of a young child (one who isn't potty trained and is slightly feverish to boot). Often she seems to be hanging at the end of a thread, and it's scary to see this capable woman put in such a position. In such cases, Pullman often gives us the most poignant scenes, such as a waiter advising Sally to change her give-away accent, or of Sally turning in shock, certain that Fred Garland (Harriet's father) is behind her.

For those who missed them in "The Shadow in the North", Rosa and Trembler make appearances, and although Jim Taylor is away for most of the book, he does return in time to make a splash with the invaders who take over his house. But this is mostly Sally's book, especially since we see her both at her strongest, and her most vulnerable.

Pullman also uses Daniel Goldberg has a device to highlight the exploitation of Jews and other immigrants coming into England, and the prejudice held against them - two realities that are sadly going on even today. Perhaps what comes across most vividly in the stories is the readiness with which people are prepared to turn on unknown foreigners, and eagerly foster their hate for those who seem to have more then them. Likewise is the truly appalling plan that the Tzaddik had organised for Harriet - I won't give it away, but it's just horrible, almost unthinkable. One thing that I didn't like however was the huge `deux ex machina' that Pullman instigates in order to resolve the story - for someone who presents himself as an atheist, he certainly heavily relies on the Hand of God in order to save Sally. Some fans of Fred may also not like the new love interest for Sally, and I myself thought it was a bit unnecessary (especially considering that Sally has always been presented as an independent young woman), but it certainly doesn't overshadow the more important aspects of the book.

"The Tiger in the Well" is also the book that has quite a bit of foreshadowing for Pullman's more famous works, the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, including a nasty little monkey, the power of stories, and even a glass of Tokay. It's always interesting linking up stories by the same author, and there are other little thematic touches that appear both here, and in the "Materials" trilogy. The Sally Lockhart books can be read out of order, but if you want to get the best out of this one, I definitely suggest reading "The Ruby in the Smoke" first - the Tzaddik's true identity won't have the same resonance if you don't.

One last note: the Amazon editorial review is from an entirely different book, and must have been posted on the wrong web page. If you're ordering this book, double-check to make sure you're getting the one you want.



The final book in the Sally Lockheart trilogy   August 26, 2002
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

After two years Sally Lockheart is finally recovering from the death of the father of her child, Harriet, and has created a successful business for herself and her partner Margaret. Life is going along rather nicely for out heroine until she receives a letter which claims that she was once married to a man she's never met, Mr. Parrish. The letter also claims that Mr. Parrish is the father of Harriet and he is asking for full custody of Sally's daughter because Sally is not a suitable mother. Sally is furious of course and will do anything to protect her daughter from this strange man. Unfortunately when she tries to investigate she finds herself drawn into a tangled web of events. Mr. Parrish isn't working alone, he's working for someone that hates Sally from the very depth's of his soul. And that can only be one person. Meanwhile London is receiving a very large amount of unwelcome Jewish immigrants. Among them is a Mr. Goldman, a socialist journalist who is wanted dead in more than one country. A journalist who also happens to have a rocky relationship with the same Mr. Parrish but for two very different reasons. What will happen when the two meet?

The Tiger in the Well is another impressive edition to the Sally Lockheart trilogy. It's interesting to see that with each novel Sally matures and turns into a really strong woman. Although the Tiger in the Well is not as good as the 2nd novel in the trilogy, the Shadow in the North, it is definitely worth reading. I'm just still surprised that these novels have been put into the YA section when the only real YA book would probably be The Ruby in the Smoke, and even that can be considered an adult novel. The sequel novel to the trilogy, The Tin Princess, is on my shelf and ready to be read.