The Secret of Platform 13

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson is a children’s fantasy story.  Always fun to dream a bit and enter the secret passageway from one place to another, add in a mixed-up identity and some interesting unique characters and you have an engaging kid’s story. There exists a “Platform 13” of King's Cross Train Station that has been closed for years within the London common area and hides an opening that opens once every nine years for nine days that leads to a mystical island.  The Queen of the island has just given birth to her son, the Prince, and her nurses bring the baby prince to London when the secret passage opens during the nine day interval.  Guess what happens during the nurses’ visit, on the ninth day the prince is kidnapped by a woman who is unable to get pregnant and she takes the child. When the nurses return to the island, the King and Queen are horrified and plan on returning to London nine years later, when the opening is next able to be entered.  The Queen assembles an interesting cast of characters to help with bringing her prince back home.  The group finds the home of the missing child, whom they believed to be named “Raymond” – who nine years later has grown to be an overweight, lazy brat.  The group of “misfits” from the island are assisted in the search for Raymond by a young boy of the same age, Ben, a wonderfully helpful servant of the household whom Mrs. Throttle (the woman who took the child) verbally abuses.  Ben does what he can to help the group.  Raymond is talked into traveling through the passageway but spills the plan to his mother before he is to leave back to the island.  Mrs. Throttle hears of the plan and escapes with Raymond.  The passageway is about to close!  But alas, a twist of fate… we learn that Ben is really the son of the Queen as it is revealed on the deathbed of Mrs. Throttle’s children’s nanny, Mrs. Brown.  All ends well that didn’t begin well when they take Ben home and lazy Raymond gets to stay with his real mother, Mrs. Throttle, who actually got pregnant soon after Ben came into her life.  Ahhh, what a nice way to end this fairy tale!  A cute fantasy story.  Fun characters, evil nasty mother and son, and the good “guys” win in the end.