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The Magician's House Quartet #2
The Door in the Tree
Thirteen-year-old William Constant and his two younger sisters, Mary and Alice, have come to ancient, mysterious Golden House in Wales for the holidays. Their lives will never be the same once they enter the Magician's House — and discover their destiny.
The Secret of Magic
It's vacation again — time for William, Mary, and Alice to return to Golden House. They've made a solemn vow not to speak of anything that happened on their last visit to Uncle Jack's home. Was the magic real? It seems like a dream to William and Mary. Only Alice knows the secret of magic: believing. It is Alice who discovers the Dark and Dreadful Path, Alice who is irresistibly drawn to the ancient yew tree. And it is Alice who finds the door in the tree — leading to the secret hiding place of the Magician. It wasn't a dream!
Soon they've become the Magician's students, led by the kestrel, the badgers, and the dog into the most perilous assignment of all....
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
4 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
William Corlett
39 books33 followersWilliam Corlett (8 October 1938 - 16 August 2005), was an English children's writer, best known for his quartet of novels, The Magician's House, published between 1990 and 1992.
Corlett was born in Darlington, County Durham. He was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, then trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He worked as an actor while embarking on a literary career during the 1960s, and wrote plays and adult novels as well as the children's novels for which he is particularly remembered. Several of his works were adapted for the screen.
Later in life he came out as gay, and it was from his partner, Bryn Ellis, that he gained some of his inspiration for The Magician's House. Corlett died of cancer at Sarlat in France.
Corlett was born in Darlington, County Durham. He was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, then trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He worked as an actor while embarking on a literary career during the 1960s, and wrote plays and adult novels as well as the children's novels for which he is particularly remembered. Several of his works were adapted for the screen.
Later in life he came out as gay, and it was from his partner, Bryn Ellis, that he gained some of his inspiration for The Magician's House. Corlett died of cancer at Sarlat in France.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 5, 2010
In the door in the tree Alice,, Mary and Williamthe go to stay with their uncle Jack and his patner Phoebe in The Golden House. While there the children come across a door in a large yew tree with a room looking out onto the whole valley. Here the children first meet Meg Lewis a local woman who is trying to protect the badgers. They soon learn more about how the badgers are being hunted for sport by the badger baiters and their vicious dogs and become very interested in what they can do to help them. But when the magician refuses to help with magic they find themselves left with a terrible choice to make. I really enjoyed reading this book but at times it was dragged out a bit too much. I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series so if you're someone that likes reading books about magic you'll really enjoy this one.
July 26, 2018
Trigger warnings: animal cruelty, violence, animal death.
3.5 stars.
I read and loved this series as a kid, so when we got it at work I figured it was about time for a reread. This...was far more violent than I remembered it being. Like, a huge part of the plot involved badger baiting, and the kids having to convince the adults in their lives that the badgers are in danger. There's a scene from the perspective of a badger in the baiting ring. It's pretty effed up, to be honest.
And yet despite that, I sped through this. Partly because it's a children's book and partly because I want to spend my days traipsing about the woods, having conversations with animals, and discovering hidden rooms in trees. 10/10, would choose over adulthood.
3.5 stars.
I read and loved this series as a kid, so when we got it at work I figured it was about time for a reread. This...was far more violent than I remembered it being. Like, a huge part of the plot involved badger baiting, and the kids having to convince the adults in their lives that the badgers are in danger. There's a scene from the perspective of a badger in the baiting ring. It's pretty effed up, to be honest.
And yet despite that, I sped through this. Partly because it's a children's book and partly because I want to spend my days traipsing about the woods, having conversations with animals, and discovering hidden rooms in trees. 10/10, would choose over adulthood.
June 27, 2017
Siblings William, Mary, and Alice team up during their holiday at the Golden House to fight the evil doings of local badger baiters and defy the black magic of the Dark and Dreadful Path, where death is inevitable to the animals who are forced down its trail. Corlett's style is more typical of urban fantasy, as he tackles social and political issues becoming in vogue at the time of his writing, ~1970s era. I think those children today who are contemporary fantasy lovers might be skeptical and dare I say turned off by a more antiquated style, but the magical tropes of belief preceding sight, a mystical setting, plus the stereotypical zany alchemist character are all charming and intriguing. I would have enjoyed more flowery language to enhance the indicated beauty of the pastoral Wales setting, but was easily distracted by the consistently paced storyline.
August 2, 2020
The second book of the series and I found it a more interesting read because we started learning more about Stephen Tyler, the Golden House and a history of the area. When William found the door in the tree I almost felt like we'd wandered into Enid Blyton territory (Faraway Tree) but did enjoy meeting Meg Lewis. The whole discussion as to why anyone would consider badger baiting a 'sport' was well written and the dramatic build up towards the 'fight' and the scramble to stop it was a page turning read.
August 15, 2021
Revisiting my childhood with one of my old favourites. I adored this series as a kid and it still holds up. Mystery, magic, animals, character strengthening arcs. It also addresses the issues of man v nature in a really interesting way. All in all a fun read. They really don't write kids books like they used to.
June 28, 2021
If you are looking for a book you can listen with as a family in the car, this would be a good one. You will find just about everything here from thrills, chills, excitement, danger and so much more. I can hardly wait for the next one to come out in audio.
March 21, 2020
Großartige Fortsetzung, verliert nichts an seinem Zauber.
January 29, 2025
Already sad that this series won’t last forever
November 21, 2014
I took a day off of work today and, of course, couldn't manage to sleep in nearly as much as I planned, so I took the opportunity to read the last 60 or so pages of The Door in the Tree, the second book of "The Magician's House Quartet" by William Corlett. The first book in the series, The Steps Up the Chimney, took place during Christmas and now we follow the adventures of the same three school children, William, Mary, and the youngest, Alice, during their spring vacation. They return to their Uncle Jack's Golden House at the edge of the forest, intent upon further discoveries involving the mysterious magician.
I found this book to be a step up from the first one. The children this time are much more tolerable, less whiney, and frankly, a bit smarter with how they deal with the unexplained. They meet an old woman who lives in the forest, Meg, who is a self-appointed guardian of nature. The major plot line involves her badger friends' plight at the hands of "badger baiters", a group of men who operate a nasty dog fighting ring where the viscious dogs fight the badgers. As in the first book, the children, after putting aside their propensity to disbelieve, are able to inhabit the bodies of certain animals of the forest, allowing them to further their adventures.
I thought the story itself was more compelling than the first volume in the series, especially the build up of the suspense, the mystery of the origins of the magician, and the central messages and themes the author brought out in the novel. There were still a few jarring scenes which seemed odd to be included; i.e. I'm not sure what the point was of the scene where Phoebe, Uncle Jack's girlfriend, breast feeds her baby in full view, an act that completely offends the children. There is no follow-on nor any sort of enlightenment or character growth there. But to his credit, the author does do a good job at dealing with anger and loss of temper among the characters. This seems to be an on-going theme of the series and should be helpful to parents who have to deal with that issue. He also delves into the idea that you can't rely on magic (or grownups) to solve your problems but must find courage within yourself to tackle life's difficult choices. He manages to involve these issues in the narrative without sounding preachy or talking down in any way to his target audience, the young readers.
I look forward to the final two volumes of this series as I hope to discover the secrets of the history behind the Golden House, the full nature of the magician, as well as the other animal friends that we've come to know.
I found this book to be a step up from the first one. The children this time are much more tolerable, less whiney, and frankly, a bit smarter with how they deal with the unexplained. They meet an old woman who lives in the forest, Meg, who is a self-appointed guardian of nature. The major plot line involves her badger friends' plight at the hands of "badger baiters", a group of men who operate a nasty dog fighting ring where the viscious dogs fight the badgers. As in the first book, the children, after putting aside their propensity to disbelieve, are able to inhabit the bodies of certain animals of the forest, allowing them to further their adventures.
I thought the story itself was more compelling than the first volume in the series, especially the build up of the suspense, the mystery of the origins of the magician, and the central messages and themes the author brought out in the novel. There were still a few jarring scenes which seemed odd to be included; i.e. I'm not sure what the point was of the scene where Phoebe, Uncle Jack's girlfriend, breast feeds her baby in full view, an act that completely offends the children. There is no follow-on nor any sort of enlightenment or character growth there. But to his credit, the author does do a good job at dealing with anger and loss of temper among the characters. This seems to be an on-going theme of the series and should be helpful to parents who have to deal with that issue. He also delves into the idea that you can't rely on magic (or grownups) to solve your problems but must find courage within yourself to tackle life's difficult choices. He manages to involve these issues in the narrative without sounding preachy or talking down in any way to his target audience, the young readers.
I look forward to the final two volumes of this series as I hope to discover the secrets of the history behind the Golden House, the full nature of the magician, as well as the other animal friends that we've come to know.
February 2, 2010
This is the 2nd book of "The Magician's House Quartet", and I got lost/confused a couple of times because I didn't read the first one, but the author cleverly worked in most of the previous action as this story went along, so I was able to enjoy the action in this one. It's definitely a "teaching-but-not-preaching" type of story, and his approach here is that it's OK to believe in something that hasn't been scientifically proven.
Here are just a few of the ideas/statements he puts forth:
We should each discover our true self, discover our place in the order of things, and then do our duty.
"The difference between magic and science is that magic can't be put to the test."
"The secret of magic is believing, but in order to believe...you have to stop not believing." (If you've read or seen The Polar Express this makes absolute sense!)
"The problem with science is that relying on proof can cloud one's perception of the magic that is ever present."
And I think this one is my favorite line: "You were so busy not believing that you didn't even believe what you already knew you believed."
In case you still didn't realize it, this book is about magic - but it's also about getting along without magic, which is what most of us have to do (or do we??)
Here are just a few of the ideas/statements he puts forth:
We should each discover our true self, discover our place in the order of things, and then do our duty.
"The difference between magic and science is that magic can't be put to the test."
"The secret of magic is believing, but in order to believe...you have to stop not believing." (If you've read or seen The Polar Express this makes absolute sense!)
"The problem with science is that relying on proof can cloud one's perception of the magic that is ever present."
And I think this one is my favorite line: "You were so busy not believing that you didn't even believe what you already knew you believed."
In case you still didn't realize it, this book is about magic - but it's also about getting along without magic, which is what most of us have to do (or do we??)
June 14, 2008
I didn't think this book really advanced the story that far. We found out a little more about Golden Valley, of course, and about what the Magician wants from them, but... there are still questions in my mind about what the conclusion of it all could possibly be -- a showdown, perhaps, with the Magician's apprentice, Morden? But it seems strange that we haven't met him yet and that he's hardly mentioned in this book, if that's the case.
I enjoyed it, anyway. It still feels a little rushed, and the characters are more like quick sketches than complete watercolours, but they still react realistically and have both good things about them and flaws. Phoebe, in particular, seems to me quite a well-drawn character, with her concern for them manifesting in anger.
I enjoyed it, anyway. It still feels a little rushed, and the characters are more like quick sketches than complete watercolours, but they still react realistically and have both good things about them and flaws. Phoebe, in particular, seems to me quite a well-drawn character, with her concern for them manifesting in anger.
July 22, 2015
It was allright. It was intresting, but it made me sick to read about what they did to the badgers and the dog. And yes, I know it's just fiction and ment for children, but things like that happen constantly in real life. But like I said it was intresting. I wouldn't recomend it though for young or very sensitive children, it might scare them, though abit older children might like it. It teaches that we should respect nature and be one with it instead of trying to exploit it for our own amusements and benefits.
October 8, 2009
Kind of.. boring in the end. *shrugs*
October 31, 2012
Again, really good read. Lots of fun and a bit of mystery added in to the mix. Can't wait to read the third book.
January 27, 2018
Still just as magical as when I first read this book as a child.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews