Katharine Hull (1921–1977)

Four cousins playing hide and seek at a Christmas party find themselves transported to a storybook kingdom where they are kings and queens. Siblings Rob and Eliza follow fairly conventional routes, he taking on the responsibilities and gravitas of a king, while she prefers more feminine pursuits, eventually discovering talents for nurturing and nursing care. The other children's trajectories are quite extraordinary, the bossy, dominant Charlotte emerging as an intrepid hunter, explorer and wartime leader, while introspective Andrew explores the wilderness as a hermit. When the game ends, the dream ends, forcing the children to return to comfortable and privileged but also stuffy and overprotected lives, having gained a measure of self-knowledge and hope for a future in which each will have the freedom to chart a course in life. The desperation of the two outsiders is well-expressed and the authors do not hold back from describing the dangers and losses experienced by those who would break away from the known path. Disturbing portraits of cannibals, with heavy emphasis on ethnic stereotypes date an otherwise engaging story.… (meer)

I've not read this book yet, but on the basis of picking at it while filling in the LT Common Knowledge, it feels as good as the prequel, 'The far-distant Oxus'. The title and many (if not all) of the epigrams come from Matthew Arnold's narrative poem 'Sohrab and Rustum : an episode' (1853). Like Katharine Hull and Pamela Whitlock in the 1930s, my generation was still studying this poem for GCE O-level English Literature in the 1970s. I bet it's disappeared without trace by now. It's a charming juvenile quirk of the authors that they felt every chapter had to have its own epigram.… (meer)

As a kid, this was one of my very favorite books. I read and re-read it. I don't think I was aware how old it was at the time. It was published in 1937. It was written by two girls, ages 14 and 15, who submitted their manuscript to their favorite author, Arthur Ransome.

I've just finished reading his 'Swallows and Amazons,' which made me think of this book. Having now read both, it's very very clear how blatantly influenced by that book Hull and Whitlock were. This story is an homage to Ransome: a version of his story with their own ideal vacation, drawing on their own summer experiences.

Here, the young people are spending their holiday on the moors - with ponies for them to ride and explore. Inspired by the poetry they're read, they transpose an exotic imaginary landscape onto the English countryside, imbuing everything they see with magic.

Unlike in Ransome's book, there's a hint of innocent romance here (involving a tall, dark stranger, of course) - which, yes, I appreciated as a girl. But mostly it's memorable for its perfect description of how the love of reading can add richness to everything one experiences on a daily basis. And of course, there're the ponies.

There are two sequels to this book, which I've never had the opportunity to read. I'll give interlibrary loan a shot...… (meer)