BookRank

Reading order

The Wolves Chronicles reading order

Joan Aiken

  1. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase1962
  2. Black Hearts in Battersea1964
  3. Nightbirds on Nantucket1966
  4. The Stolen Lake1981
  5. Limbo Lodge1998
  6. The Cuckoo Tree1971
  7. Dido and Pa1986
  8. Is Underground1992
  9. Cold Shoulder Road1995
  10. Midwinter Nightingale2003
  11. The Witch of Clatteringshaws2005
7.97.9 / 10
52 ratings
Score
11 volumes
Volumes
1962–2005
Published
about 50 h
Reading time
Completed
Status
Children’s books
Genre

Quick answer

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Start withThe Wolves of Willoughby Chase1962 · Volume 1 of 11
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

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Publication order

11 volumes1962–2005Completed

  • Joan Aiken’s children’s adventures set in an invented nineteenth century where the Stuarts still rule England, Hanoverian plotters scheme to overthrow them and wolves have come through a tunnel under the Channel.
  • The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, the first and the one with enough ratings, is a gothic romp: two girls left with a wicked governess escape to London.
  • From Black Hearts in Battersea on, the heroine is Dido Twite, a sharp-tongued Cockney urchin.
  • Listed here in story order; most books stand alone.

A plan for the whole series

11 volumes, 2,636 pages, about 50 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 9 weeks.

Stages

3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around January 15, 2027, 13 days later than in one go.

  1. Stage 117 habout 3 weeksby November 21, 2026
  2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 25, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 219 habout 4 weeksby December 20, 2026
    • 5. Limbo Lodge1998 · 240 pages · 4 h
    • 6. The Cuckoo Tree1971 · 304 pages · 6 h
    • 7. Dido and Pa1986 · 259 pages · 5 h
    • 8. Is Underground1992 · 242 pages · 4 h
  4. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 29, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  5. Stage 312 h16 daysby January 15, 2027
    • 9. Cold Shoulder Road1995 · 240 pages · 4 h
    • 10. Midwinter Nightingale2003 · 272 pages · 5 h
    • 11. The Witch of Clatteringshaws2005 · 149 pages · 3 h
  6. The end of the series
    January 15, 2027
In one goJanuary 1, 2027about 9 weeks
In stages, with breaksJanuary 15, 2027about 3 months · +8 h of other books

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

How this plan is calculated

The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →

Every volume in order

Read: 0 of 11
  1. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
    The Wolves of Willoughby Chase1962 · 52 ratingsStart here
    7.97.9 / 10
  2. Black Hearts in Battersea
    Black Hearts in Battersea1964 · 9 ratings · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  3. Nightbirds on Nantucket
    Nightbirds on Nantucket1966 · 7 ratings · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  4. The Stolen Lake
    The Stolen Lake1981 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  5. Limbo Lodge
    Limbo Lodge1998 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  6. The Cuckoo Tree
    The Cuckoo Tree1971 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  7. Dido and Pa
    Dido and Pa1986 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  8. Is Underground
    Is Underground1992 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  9. Cold Shoulder Road
    Cold Shoulder Road1995 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  10. Midwinter Nightingale
    Midwinter Nightingale2003 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  11. The Witch of Clatteringshaws
    The Witch of Clatteringshaws2005 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which The Wolves Chronicles book is the longest?

“The Cuckoo Tree” is the longest at 304 pages; the shortest is “The Witch of Clatteringshaws” with 149 pages.