LitPick Review
Everything in Amy's life is perfect: her food, her home, her people, her English country atmosphere&perfect, that is, until her beloved master abandons her for some sort of silly human project in far-off Hollywood. Distraught, Amy becomes a target for "dognappers" who lock her up in a horrible kennel with a bunch of other dogs. Despairing at first, Amy's hopes rise when she and some others succeed in escaping from the kennel. Their escape leads to a series of wild adventures throughout London, Amy and her friends always barely one step ahead of the outraged dognappers.
Opinion:
Beginning in a whimsical fashion reminiscent of 'The Incredible Journey', 'Far from Burden Dell' progresses rapidly to the fantastic, with a post-climax not dissimilar to something out of 'The One Hundred and One Dalmatians'. Amy, the central character and an indubitable leader, was superbly characterized, and Coppel's description of her conversion from a shallow, frivolous house- pet to an intelligent, street-wise adult was very well done, but during her transformation other characters suffered from lack of attention and became mere traits. Coppel's style in this novel was simple but entertaining.
