Barnaby Figg is a boy who lives with his mother and Granny Hogsflesh in an enormous mansion, in the middle of the town. Granny is the boss of the Hogsflesh Pickle Company. She pronounces her name Ho-flay and she likes purple (because it is a royal color). Barnaby doesn’t like Granny very much and he doesn’t want to live with her. But he has no choice. His father has disappeared recently. Mrs. Hogsflesh hates Barnaby’s dad because he is a pea picker. Nobody in her family cares about her pickles... Granny has only one wish; she wants to see Barnaby as a pickling boss: “One day, if you work hard and impress me, you could be the boss of all this,” she said, waving a wobbly arm at the enormous factory.” (page 8)
Barnaby doesn’t want to be a pickling boss. His grandmother is involved in the dark side of pickling. The dark pickles are made for international clients, whose identities must be kept top secret. Granny Hogsflesh sells pickled toenails, pickled mucus and earwax, pickled verrucas and so on. Barnaby is totally disgusted. He thinks that Granny has pickled his dad. Mrs. Hogsflesh keeps saying that Mr. Figg will never come back. Barnaby has to find out what has happened to his father. A new adventure begins... Granny Hogsflesh is innocent. There are other bad creatures, which kidnapped Mr. Figg...
After a few researches, Barnaby discovers something strange... Granny Hogsflesh is a bogle! Barnaby finds some information about bogles on the internet: “The term bogle comes from the word goblin. Bogles have fierce tempers and can sometimes be dangerous. They love to annoy human beings. They can make humans hear voices round corners when no one is there. They enter houses and make a mess or cause things to happen at the wrong time.” (page 132)
Belchetta Ballybog is Granny’s second cousin. She is also a bogle. Belchetta is jealous of Granny because she has everything: “My cousin left me behind in the bog,” she said, “while she married a human and lived above ground in a huge mansion. Well, now it’s my turn.” (page 244) Belchetta is the one who kidnapped Mr. Figg and cursed him with the bogle’s beard. She wants to marry him: “You and I shall eat from the same beetroot, and fall in love,” she said. “You will leave your present wife and child and marry me.” (page 244) Just like Barnaby says, “Beetroot is powerful stuff.”
The two cousins start to fight. Belchetta kills Granny with a wrinkled yellow toenail (which is very dangerous). But, after a while, the evil bogle fells into a huge vat of vinegar (there are also some dark ingredients in it): “Pickled bogle,” Granny said, weakly. “Now that is dark.” (page 263) Barnaby rescues his grandmother, using a universal antidote (a present from a very powerful medicine man). Mr. Figg gets back to normal after his wife kisses him. No more hairy chins or uncontrollable rudeness!
The story has a happy ending: Barnaby gets a puppy (“He’s a cross between a boxer and a beagle – a bogle.”) and Granny and Mr. Figg start to work together (they want to invent something new: pickled peas).
The book is suitable for young kids between seven and twelve years old. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t get easily disgusted by pickled earwax or toenails. The book contains dangerous amounts of stinks and burps, believe me! I give the story 3 ½ stars.
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