Cornelia Funke's much-hyped and award-winning novel The Thief Lord has taken Europe by storm and is now riding high in the American bestseller lists. When it first appeared in the UK, it sold out within ten days. Of course, all this success does not mean that it is necessarily a good book. There is always a lot of forgettable stuff in any bestseller list and, when a book gets as much publicity as The Thief Lord , discerning readers might see lights flashing, warning them to avoid the book at all costs. But, for once, here is a wonderful, original, well-written novel that does deserve all the hype that has been piled on it.
The Thief Lord is a stylish story, rich in suspense, with clever plot twists and interesting characters, all played out against the enchanting setting of the Italian city of Venice. It is a novel with the magic, originality and mystery that could turn it quickly into a modern classic. We are still only at the beginning of the year, but The Thief Lord is one of the classiest books you are likely to come across in 2004.
Funke is a writer who knows how to grab her readers right from the beginning. There is no messing around as the first chapter drops us right in the middle of a mystery that we want to follow through to the end. The story begins in the office of a bungling detective called Victor. Funke fills out this appealing character with just a few clever strokes. He is obsessed with disguises that never work. He frets over the health of his pet tortoises. We know from the start that we are going to like Victor.
An unpleasant German couple call on Victor to offer him a job. They want the detective to find two boys, Prosper and Bo, the sons of the woman's sister. Teenaged Prosper and his young brother Bo have run away after the death of their mother because their aunt has said that she is willing to adopt little Bo but not Prosper who would have to go into a children's home. Refusing to be separated, the two boys have run away to Venice.
Prosper and Bo are in Venice and they have made friends with a gang of street children who live in an abandoned cinema. The gang gets money to live on by stealing. They are led by the elusive Thief Lord, a young boy who robs wealthy Venetian houses and then sells the stuff he has stolen to a local crook. The Thief Lord runs a well-oiled operation and Prosper and Bo are only too eager to fit in with the new life they have found. But Victor is on their tails. What will happen when he eventually tracks them down?
As the plot hots up, the storyline wanders all through the twisted streets and canals of Venice. Funke makes Venice an important character in the book, not just a lifeless setting for the other characters to act out their story. The Thief Lord is a gripping book with a story and characters that linger in the imagination long after the story ends.
