Winterhouse is a middle-grade fantasy novel written by Ben Guterson. It has two sequels, The Secrets of Winterhouse and The Winterhouse Mysteries.
In it, eleven-year-old orphan Elizabeth Somers suddenly finds herself spirited from her home in Drere to Winterhouse, a magical hotel, for three weeks. She makes friends with Freddy, a boy who loves anagrams and word puzzles as much as she does, and works with him to find the decades-old secrets of Winterhouse, including lost family members, a mysterious Book, and the magic that lies beneath it all.
This book provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Elizabeth's Aunt Purdy and Uncle Burlap constantly make her life miserable.
- Chekhov's Gun: The blue necklace, which is Elizabeth's last remaining piece of her parents.
- Chekhov's Skill: Elizabeth learns to control the feeling, which helps her against Gracella at the end of the book.
- Didn't Think This Through: Elizabeth constantly does this, such as shouting Gracella's name three times in the library at midnight. However, it's later mentioned that Gracella might have influenced her.
- Happily Adopted: Norbridge adopts Elizabeth after it's found out that she's his granddaughter.
