The Iron Woman - Softcover

Hughes, Ted

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571314783 ISBN 13: 9780571314782

Publisher: Faber & Faber Children’s, 2014

Synopsis

Mankind for has polluted the seas, lakes and rivers. The Iron Woman has come to take revenge.
Lucy understands the Iron Woman's rage and she too wants to save the water creatures from their painful deaths. But she also wants to save her town from total destruction.
She needs help. Who better to call on but Hogarth and the Iron Man . . .?

A sequel and companion volume to Ted Hughes' The Iron Man, this new, child-friendly setting will be treasured by a new generation of readers.

About this title

About the Author

Ted Hughes (1930–1998) was born in Yorkshire. His first book, The Hawk in the Rain, was published in 1957 by Faber & Faber and was followed by many volumes of poetry and prose for adults and children. He received the Whitbread Book of the Year for two consecutive years for his last published collections of poetry, Tales from Ovid (1997) and Birthday Letters (1998). He was Poet Laureate from 1984, and in 1998 he was appointed to the Order of Merit.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7?A strange cry and quaking earth alert Lucy (age 10?) to a Presence in the marsh. Next day at dawn, snowdrops and foxgloves at her bedroom window signal the arrival of a huge woman of iron. Benevolent toward Lucy, she rages implacably against the factory where Lucy's father works: it is polluting the waters and their wildlife, as Lucy learns in an apocalyptic vision, accompanied by the terrifying screams of the tortured creatures (including a human baby). Lucy enlists Hogarth, who enlists the Iron Man (both from The Iron Giant [HarperCollins, 1988]). Lucy and Hogarth confront the factory manager, but in the end it is the magic of the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon that saves the Iron Woman from having to "DESTROY THE POISONERS." All-too-obviously politically correct on the surface, this novel is riddled with problems. The centrality of the female figures is a mere nod to feminism: Hogarth has all the ideas, and the Iron Man has all the power. The wicked factory is, confusingly, in the business of recycling. The predictable triumph of right is achieved by a blatant deus ex machina, and pollution is banished by entirely magical means (with some mumbling about "change within" the human agents). Even the critique of greed is undercut when Hughes assures readers that the post-miracle factory makes greater profits than before. The language has occasional brilliance, but for the most part it is as feeble as the plot. The integrity of Tales of the Early World (Farrar, 1991) is nowhere to be found. Hughes's name, and Moser's powerful illustrations, are likely to attract browsers; but keeping readers is another story.?Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber Children’s
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0571314783
• ISBN 13: 9780571314782
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144