Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is the debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The book tells the tale of a boy who, following a horrific family tragedy, follows clues that take him to an abandoned orphanage on a Welsh island. The story is told through a combination of narrative and vernacular photographs from the personal archives of collectors listed by the author.
Summary
When Jacob Portman was young, his grandfather, Abraham, told him that he had lived in a special orphanage for peculiar children run by Miss Peregrine. As Jacob grew older, he doubted the stories until he visits dying grandfather and sees a strange, humanoid creature only he can see. Abraham tells Jacob to "... find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave on September 1940, and tell them what happened." No one believes Jacob's account of the invisible monster, describing it as having tentacle-like tongues. His parents take him to Dr. Golan, a psychiatrist, who suggests that Jacob go to Wales, the location of his grandfather's orphanage. Jacob finds the orphanage deserted, so he seeks information from the local people, including workers at the Cairnholm Museum.
During another search of the orphanage, he encounters a mysterious girl whom he follows and questions. They reach the bogs before Jacob realizes that the inn and people are now different. The drunken patrons at the pub are suspicious and chase Jacob. The girl, Emma Bloom, and an invisible boy named Millard Nillings, rescue Jacob and escape to Miss Peregrine's orphanage. There Jacob is introduced to other children with peculiarities. Bronwyn has amazing strength and Claire Densmore has a mouth at the back of her head. Emma and Millard tell Jacob they exist in a time loop, reliving the same day forever because of Miss Peregrine. Miss Peregrine says she is a Ymbrynes who can create time loops. She also explains that hollowgasts — humanoid, tentacle-mouthed creature like the one that killed Jacob's grandfather — are a threat to all Ymbryne-run orphanages. Miss Peregrine explains that Jacob, like his grandfather, has the ability to see and stop the hollowgasts.
Jacob notices that the peculiar children use their powers to entertain crowds. He meets Enoch, who uses hearts from other creatures to temporarily prolong someone's life. Jacob and Enoch discover Victor dead in his bed, killed by a hollowgast. The wights, who have evolved from hollowgasts, hunger for power from the peculiars. Jacob, Emma, Bronwyn, Enoch, and Millard go into an ice house where a deceased man, Martin, lies inside a lidless ice coffin. Enoch uses a sheep heart to briefly bring Martin back to life. Martin tells them that a wight killed him. A wight then turns up behind them and reveals that he is Dr. Golan. Jacob decides to stay in the time loop so that he and his companions can escape from Dr. Golan. They make their way back to the orphanage, but discover that Dr. Golan has kidnapped Miss Peregrine.
Dr. Golan warns that they should not try to rescue Miss Peregrine. Jacob and his friend believe he is bluffing and follow him. When they find Dr. Golan near a lighthouse, he shoots Millard. They see Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet, who are in their bird forms, in a cage. Jacob and Emma follow Dr. Golan and, when they corner him, he throws the cage into the sea. Jacob shoots him, and Golan falls into the darkness. Jacob and Emma follow the bird cage underwater and see a U-boat. They recover the cage and bring Miss Peregrine back to shore, but Miss Avocet is captured by the wights and taken away on the U-boat. Jacob and his companions realize that Miss Peregrine cannot change back to human form. Returning to the orphanage, they find it destroyed, leaving them having to track down the wights and discover how to help Miss Peregrine. Jacob travels back to the present to say goodbye to his father, but promises to return when his mission is finished. Jacob and his companions set sail to track down the wights.
Film
A film adaptation of the book was released in the United States on September 30, 2016. It is directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Jane Goldman. Eva Green was cast as Miss Peregrine in the film, along with Asa Butterfield as Jacob, and Ella Purnell as Emma Bloom.
