The Deptford Mice Almanack
Encyclopedia
The Deptford Mice Almanack is a book to accompany the Deptford Mice
and Histories Trilogies by Robin Jarvis
. It was first published in 1997.
. There are entries for all the days of the year, and every major event in the main novels is given a date. Also, much of the folk lore and elaborate traditions of the mice
, bat
s, squirrel
s and rat
s is recorded in the almanack.
Throughout the almanack, Gervase writes of his stay in Greenwich Park
during the tenth year of Audrey Scuttle's reign as Starwife. He also travels to Fennywolde and Holeborn to ask William 'Twit' Scuttle and Arthur Brown to tell their stories.
While in Fennywolde, Gervase encounters Alison Sedge, the field mouse
who was jealous of Audrey in The Crystal Prison
. Seemingly driven mad because of the death of her love, Jenkin Nettle, she solemnly warns that Audrey will not be the Starwife for much longer and will know great loss.
At the end of the year, the Great Oak (in which the rat god Hobb was imprisoned by Ysabelle in The Oaken Throne
) falls down because of heavy winds, and many of the grey squirrels in the park begin to whisper that it was Audrey's fault because she is not a squirrel but merely a mouse.
When the black squirrel
s Morella and her father Modequai arrive in Greenwich, they and the grey squirrels plot against Audrey, and finally storm into her chamber and oust her from office. Then they give the silver acorn to Morella and she takes the title of Starwife. Strangely enough, she bears a resemblance to Alison Sedge.
The almanack ends on this ominous note, opening up the possibility of a new Deptford Mice novel.
The Deptford Mice
The Deptford Mice is a trilogy of novels by Robin Jarvis. They follow the story of a group of mice living in Deptford, London as they fight an evil cat god named Jupiter.-The Dark Portal:...
and Histories Trilogies by Robin Jarvis
Robin Jarvis
Robin Jarvis is a British children's novelist, who writes fantasy novels, often about anthropomorphic rodents and small mammals – especially mice – and Tudor times...
. It was first published in 1997.
Synopsis
The almanack is presented as though it were written by Gervase Brightkin, a red squirrelRed Squirrel
The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...
. There are entries for all the days of the year, and every major event in the main novels is given a date. Also, much of the folk lore and elaborate traditions of the mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s and rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s is recorded in the almanack.
Throughout the almanack, Gervase writes of his stay in Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed , it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. It commands fine views over the River Thames, Isle of...
during the tenth year of Audrey Scuttle's reign as Starwife. He also travels to Fennywolde and Holeborn to ask William 'Twit' Scuttle and Arthur Brown to tell their stories.
While in Fennywolde, Gervase encounters Alison Sedge, the field mouse
Field mouse
Field mouse may refer to:*in Europe, Asia and north Africa, one of several species of mice in genus Apodemus*in North America, a small vole such as the Meadow Vole*in South America, one of several species of mice in genus Akodon...
who was jealous of Audrey in The Crystal Prison
The Crystal Prison
The Crystal Prison is the second novel in the Deptford Mice Trilogy by Robin Jarvis .-Plot:Oswald is ill and he's hours from death. While Twit and Piccadilly vow to return to their home, Thomas arrives, telling Audrey that she must join him on a journey to Greenwich to speak to the Starwife...
. Seemingly driven mad because of the death of her love, Jenkin Nettle, she solemnly warns that Audrey will not be the Starwife for much longer and will know great loss.
At the end of the year, the Great Oak (in which the rat god Hobb was imprisoned by Ysabelle in The Oaken Throne
The Oaken Throne
The Oaken Throne is the second novel in the Deptford Histories Trilogy by Robin Jarvis .-Plot summary:Set hundreds of years before the Deptford Mice Trilogy in the Middle Ages, the story tells the tale of the squirrel maiden Ysabelle, daughter of the ruler of the Hazel Realm, Lady Ninnia, and...
) falls down because of heavy winds, and many of the grey squirrels in the park begin to whisper that it was Audrey's fault because she is not a squirrel but merely a mouse.
When the black squirrel
Black squirrel
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. They are common in the Midwestern United States, Ontario, Quebec, and in parts of the Northeastern United States and Britain.-Habitat:...
s Morella and her father Modequai arrive in Greenwich, they and the grey squirrels plot against Audrey, and finally storm into her chamber and oust her from office. Then they give the silver acorn to Morella and she takes the title of Starwife. Strangely enough, she bears a resemblance to Alison Sedge.
The almanack ends on this ominous note, opening up the possibility of a new Deptford Mice novel.