A Vicarage Family by Noel Streatfeild

Yay, the writing bug is back! :-) It feels like ages since I last reviewed anything, so last night I sat down and wrote this, and I'm sooooo glad I did. The sun is shining, I'm excited about reviewing books again, all is right with the world. So, this is the latest update on my Noel Streatfeild Challenge. I'm having a lot of fun with this so far, and really enjoying starting to read some of her books that I haven't before! The copy of A Vicarage Family which I got from the library was a mega old one, first borrowed in the 1970s. Interestingly, it was borrowed consistently throughout the '70s and '80s, but then only three times between 1993 and 2011. I guess it's representative of the decline in Streatfeild's popularity... and it's a shame. Anyway, on to the review!

A Vicarage Family is the first part of Noel Streafeild's autobiography. She says that she has changed the names, because it is only the truth as she remembers it, and acknowledges that it may not be the truth as it actually was. It follows the Strangeway family - the father is a vicar, and the novel documents the childhood of the Strangeway children, Isabel, Victoria (Noel), Louise, Dick, and their cousin, John.

I really enjoyed the novel. I've enjoyed all of Streatfeild's work, so far, but I liked this on a different level. Victoria is instantly recognisable as the awkward middle child, who just doesn't seem to be able to get anything right, and whose attitude and problems with authority are constantly causing her to get into trouble. In her, I can see where Streatfeild got the ability to create such characters as Jane Winter (one of my favourites..) in The Painted Garden : children who feel untalented and unloved, and so become products of an environment where their siblings are constantly favoured and prioritised above them. 

The book had all of her usual charm and comfortable feeling about it, but it was much more gritty than I'm used to - for the first time, the First World War actually left its mark on the book, rather than just passing over or around it. Even books like When the Siren Wailed, which is ostensibly about the war, didn't really feel like they engaged with it as much as this novel did, and for me, that took it to a completely different level.

Having read this, I'm starting to see similarities to different parts of all her other novels, and maybe it's the authentic touch of reality which is what I love about Streatfeild. Her books often feel like my own childhood. The book was published in 1963, well after the success of Ballet Shoes, etc, so in some ways I suppose it can be seen as a kind of explanation of her children's books.

I'm starting to think the first book I read when embarking on this challenge, should have been a biography of Streafeild. When I was at university,a  few professors used to tell us that for every new author we read, we should read a biography, as understanding the author's life experiences and their historical period, often helps to better understand their work. I really wish I had enough hours in the day to be able to fit in reading a biography of every author I read, especially the ones I love, but realisitically, given my huuuuuuuge TBR pile, plus the fact that I do have a job, and a life outside of reading a blogging (ish, anyway!), a house to clean, and friends who expect me to at least vaguely keep in touch with them, it's not going to happen. So, for the moment at least, I'm stuck with reading author bio's on Goodreads and Wikipedia, and from the introductions in books. Reading A Vicarage Family helped give me at least a little bit of insight into Noel Streatfeild, and what caused her to write in the way that she did. I am planning to read the other 2 installments of her autobiography, as and when the library get them in for me, and I'm also planning to read a biography, just to see if somebody else's view of her life even slightly tallies up with her own!

Rating: ****

(I've decided I give out too many 5 star ratings, so I'm stopping. Unless they actually are earth-stoppingly good. This was great, but the earth kept turning....)

Review: Apple Bough & When the Siren Wailed

Apple Bough  was my absolute favourite book for a while, when I was around 8. I used to borrow it from my school library over and over again, until they made me let somebody else have a turn. It is the most comforting, reassuring book I can think of, and rereading it didn't disappoint me.

Apple Bough is a big, old house, with an overgrown garden. The kind of house that's a bit dilapidated, a bit the worse for wear, kind of like the threadbare teddy you've had forever, whose ear is falling off because you cuddled him too much. It is home to the Forum children: Myra, Sebastian, Wolfgang, and Ethel, and their parents. When Sebastian is eight, he gets noticed as a child prodigy violinist, and all of the children have to go on tour with him. Apple Bough is sold, and the children become 'world citizens'.

Basically, the book is about children who want a home. The obstacle to this is that all of the younger children are extraordinarily talented: Sebastian a violinist, Wolfgang an actor and wannabe writer of pop songs, and Ethel a dancer. What Streatfeild does so well here, as in so much of her work, is to present the plight of the child who believes herself to be completely untalented and worthless.

There's a huge wish fulfilment quality in Streatfeild's work, and the endings are almost always happy. Of the novels that I've read so far, the ones that I adore the most are the ones with the most fantastically impossible happy endings; the kind of endings you always want in reality, and only ever get in books. This is still one of my absolute favourite books, ever.

Rating: *****

When the Siren Wailed

I thought that I hadn't read this book, but when I got about half way through, I realised that I had. And there's a reason why I didn't remember it. It's the first Noel Streatfeild book I've read that was only OK. It's set in the Second World War, and if I'm honest, the central characters, Laura, Andy and Tim Clarke, reminded me a lot of the children from Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I do want to just point out that I totally love Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but the children in it, as they do here, feel a bit like caricatures. There was no central character to immediately fall in love with, and for me that was a huge loss to the story.

This book had none of the comfort and charm of Apple Bough, and, reading it directly after the other, that bothered me. For me, the major charm of Streatfeild's work is the satisfaction of children who have big dreams, managing to find a way to make them come true, and that was missing here. I've read a lot of literature, both now and as a kid, about the war, and while it's always been a subject that's interested me, and I do feel it's particularly important for kids to learn about the things that happened then, 8 year old me wishes that Noel Streatfeild, for me the queen of safe, comforting, uplifting and inspiring books which make children feel they can do anything, hadn't ventured into this kind of subject.

Rating: ***



White Boots and Dancing Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild

For a while, I've wondered why it is that Noel Streatfeild writes so much about 'shoes', and about children in the showbusiness and entertainment worlds, and then I discovered that she was an actress herself, before becoming a writer. For me, the worlds conjured up by her books were always hugely vivid, and on re-reading them, I was not disappointed. As an adult (supposedly, anyway!) reading Streatfeild's work is as delicious and comforting as it was when I was eight, and I think that this is a product of her consistency and attention to detail, coupled with her ability to create characters who resonate with her readers.

My copy of 'White Boots' is absolutely ancient! It may well have belonged to my mother in her youth, and I certainly remember first having this copy read to me as a bedtime story, many years ago. In comparison, the copy of 'Dancing Shoes that I have is one of the re-released ones, with the very girly pink covers, which makes it look like an Angelina Ballerina book! Subject-wise, though, the books are very similar, probably unsurprisingly, given their respective publication dates of 1951 and 1957.

'White Boots' is about Hilary Johnson, a girl from a poor family, whose doctor prescribes that she go skating as a way to build up her strength after a long illness. At the rink, she meets Lalla Moore, a girl whose father was a skating world champion, and since his death, her aunt has convinced her, and everyone around her, that she will follow in his footsteps. The book follows the story of their friendship, and not only the differences between being rich and poor, but the advantages money can bring as well as highlighting the emptiness it can cause in the life of an only child.

'Dancing Shoes' also highlights social inequality, as well as sharing the sort of morals present in lots of Streatfeild's books; that people who are nice usually get good things happening to them. It has similarites to 'Ballet Shoes', which is a book I love!

It is about orphaned Rachel Lennox, and her adopted sister Hilary. After their mother's death, they are brought to live with their aunt and uncle, and spoiled cousin, Dulcie. Simply put, Dulcie is the star of her mother's dancing school, and really doesn't like it when Hilary turns out to be as good as her. Again, this is basically the story of the relationship between Rachel and Hilary, and about people getting their just deserts.

Streatfeild has a way of describing things exactly as you can imagine a child of the time might, and this, as well as the wish-fulfillment quality of her storylines, where her characters always end up getting the thing they have worked and hoped for, is what makes me love her books. I could keep reading them forever, but I feel that I need to stretch my brain a bit after three of her books in a row, so I'll take a break for now, but there's a pile of her books in the corner which will be calling out to me before long!!

Rating: both *****