PRW: The Children Who Lived in a Barn

First I will begin by saying that the endpapers for this book is one of my favorites. Then I will tell you how much I adore this little book by Eleanor Graham. Graham tells the story of the five Dunnet children who are left to care for themselves when their parents leave to be with Mrs. Dunnet's dying mother. What should be a short trip turns into an extended absence as the parents' plane goes missing. The children are soon turned out of their home and take up residence in a kind farmer's unused barn. The oldest girl and boy assume parental roles as they try to provide for the most basic necessities of life. The children face further challenges as 'well-meaning' neighbors seek to split them up for proper placement and search for any justification to make this happen.

I still read quite a bit of children's literature for my own pleasure (especially the classics I didn't get to while growing up) but I am always aware that no matter how much I enjoy it, I am judging the work from an adult perspective. But while reading Graham's book, I felt like a kid again reading with that giddiness that comes from finding a really good adventure. It reminded me of when I was young and I would come up with all these 'what if' scenarios. A recurring one was what would I do if for some reason I was left alone. Would I be able to cope and take care of myself? How would I do it? The Dunnets did it. Although it was harder than imaginable and just as frightening as a child would think it could be, they created a makeshift home in this barn. Graham's story constantly reminded me what it was like to be a kid and I think that is what allowed me to read the story with so much childlike wonder.

I am grateful to Persephone for publishing this book as it really should be included in the canon of classic children's literature...not only because it is a good read but because there just seems something right about the founding editor of Puffin having this book in print.

April in Review & Persephone Reading Week

April was a bit abysmal as far as my reading went. I finished four books, one of which I began in March. I was literarily restless and couldn't commit to the majority of the books I started. I also whiled away a week waiting for Excellent Women to arrive in the mail because I was in the mood to read that book and none other.

So last month I wrote about my starting to read Farther Afield by Miss Read. Miss Read and Amy set off for a Greek island vacation as Amy works through a rough patch in her marriage. Miss Read begins to struggle with her choice of spinsterhood, questioning the practicality of growing older on her own and wondering about warding off any episodes of acute loneliness. Since I haven't met a Miss Read I haven't loved, I was not about to begin with this one...it was, as usual, perfection between two covers. I had only one complaint which came up a few days after finishing the book...I must have developed a case of sympathy pains, for just like Miss Read, I took a tumble down a flight of our stairs. Luckily, I came away from it with just a bruise on my right arm while Miss Read suffered far more significant damage. I thought the majority of the damage for me was to my ego as there were a couple of witnesses to my folly but, within the hour, we were having a good laugh over it all.

I had been thinking about joining the Folio Society but kept putting it off because I couldn't stomach the expense. In the meantime, I kept checking amazon and ebay to see if any of the books on my Folio wishlist turned up for sale and two did...Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. The Gibbons was a little expensive but still way under the original Folio price and the Pym felt like a steal for it was less than the cost of any given hardback. Once I received Excellent Women, I started reading, stealing away any spare moment I could to follow Mildred Lathbury as her usually quiet life is jarred by her new neighbors and the shocking engagement of her vicar who is also a close friend. This experience of reading Pym closely matches last year's reading of Quartet in Autumn but this time I did feel an emotional connection to the characters which ultimately made Excellent Women a more satisfying read. The downside to reading Pym: I wanted to pack a bag and set off for London immediately but contented myself with the much more afforable alternative of ordering more of her books (No Fond Return of Love, An Unsuitable Attachment, Jane and Prudence, and Crampton Hodnet).

Against my better judgment, I watched the recently released on dvd Sherlock Holmes. I rebelled against this film because it did not in any way resemble my interpretation of Holmes and Watson but curiosity got the better of me (as well as a long-standing Downey crush) and I have to admit that I loved it. It was good fun but still somewhat foreign to my experience of Doyle's writing, so that the movie is like a fantastic forgery while the literary Holmes is the real deal. This impression had me sitting up until 2am reading A Study in Scarlet and finishing the short work up on Sunday (just in time to be free for Persephone reading week). Doyle wrote this book while his fledgling medical establishment was somewhat slow. Just reading the genius opening chapters, I couldn't believe this work had been rejected several times before finally being accepted for publication in the Beeton Christmas annual. Meeting Holmes for the first time was adventure enough but what ensues as Watson witnesses Sherlock's solving of a double murder is pure literary perfection.

So now the path is clear for my participation in Verity and Claire's Persephone Reading Week. I will be starting off with Eleanor Graham's The Children Who Lived in a Barn with The Home-maker arriving in the mail soon. If not there is a copy of Mariana on a shelf at Barnes and Noble waiting to find a nice home...