Tag Archives: D. E. Stevenson

Review: Mrs. Tim Carries On

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Mrs. Tim Carries On by D. E. Stevenson

Mrs. Tim Carries On is a sequel to Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. Like the first book, this is written in a diary format and based on author D. E. Stevenson’s own experiences.

Major Tim left for France during early 1940, leaving Mrs. Tim—Hester—home in a small English village with their daughter, Betty. Their son, Bryan, is away at preparatory school but comes home on holidays.

Hester writes that she decided to use her diary as an escape from war news and not mention it unless it affects her directly. So, at first she writes of old friends mentioned in the first book, amusing anecdotes of Betty, squabbles among servants, and such. She heads up the “Comfort Depot,” which involves collecting things for the soldiers and setting them out for the men to choose from.

The only mention of the war in the first part of the book has to do with shortages and an increasing number of Polish soldiers who have escaped from Hitler’s advances there. The community seems to receive them generously. Some of them can speak English or French, so they can usually find someone to communicate with.

The daughter of a friend, Pinkie, comes to stay with Hester indefinitely. Pinkie was a little girl the last time she was seen, but now is a beautiful seventeen-year-old, and several of the men fall in love with her. But she sees them only as friends.

Things turn a little somber in Part 3 when several more countries have fallen to Hitler and Hester has not heard from Tim for several months. Then in Part 4, she visits her brother in London and experiences bombs dropping in the streets and constant airplanes buzzing overhead.

There’s one odd new character, a Miss Brown Winters, who thinks she has lived several other lifetimes, mainly in ancient Egypt. Hester doesn’t believe her but finds her “interesting.”

Once again, there’s not much of an overall plot arc–the story is more just reflecting everyday life during that time.

Some of my favorite quotes:

[I] repair to the kitchen in a cheerful frame of mind. Cheerful feelings are soon dissipated. The kitchen is extremely warm, but the moral atmosphere is at zero. Mrs. Fraser, my large and terrifying cook, is waiting for me with a grim smile. I enquire in trembling tones whether anything has gone wrong. Mrs. Fraser replies that that depends. Having long and bitter experience of domestic catastrophes I am prepared for the worst (p. 5, Kindle version).

Her eyes are full of tears and I realise that she must be comforted, so I proceed to explain my own particular method of “carrying on”. None of us could bear the war if we allowed ourselves to brood upon the wickedness of it and the misery it has entailed, so the only thing to do is not to allow oneself to think about it seriously, but just to skitter about on the surface of life like a water beetle. In this way one can carry on and do one’s bit and remain moderately cheerful (p. 12).

“All war is awful,” says Guthrie. “It’s a wrong and horrible thing, war is, but we don’t need to worry about the rights and wrongs of war. We tried our best for peace. We tried for peace to the absolute limit of honour . . . but you can’t have peace when a pack of ravening wolves gets loose” (p. 37).

A day like this is a gift from God—or so it seems to me—and it seems all the more precious when it comes at the end of a long dark dreary winter (p. 52).

The daffodils have come in and are blowing like the bugles of Spring in the flower-shop window (p. 58).

I have the feeling that everyone in the world is asleep—but I know that it is not so. All over Europe there are people—men and women—keeping watch. There are aeroplanes, laden with death, speeding across the sky; there are sailors on the lookout; there are thousands of women like me who cannot sleep because their hearts are torn with anxiety . . . all over Europe the shadow of suffering lies. I sit and think about it, and in some strange way it is a relief to give way to misery. It does nobody any harm, for there is nobody to see. Just for a few moments I can take off the mask of cheerfulness. Just for a few moments I can allow myself to think (pp. 113-114).

I sit down on the window seat and prepare to listen, for if there is one thing I enjoy more than another it is a heart-to-heart talk with my son (p. 140).

[On visiting her childhood home] The dressing-table mirror is spotted with damp, and I am not sorry to see its degeneration, for it was never a kindly friend. It was like the friend who is in the habit of saying, “I feel it is my duty to tell you . . .” and it did its duty well. It was always candid about spots or blemishes or untidy hair. I glance into it as I pass to the window and find that its nature is not ameliorated by the passing years (pp. 215-216).

There’s a lovely poem called “Dunkirk 1940” which Stevenson shows as coming from one of the men. It’s too long to include (but I found a copy here). It tells of the Israelites’ miracle of the Red Sea parting, and the men at Dunkirk wishing for a similar miracle, to escape on dry land. But God provided a different miracle for them: “A double miracle to set us free –
Lion-hearted men, calm sea,” and hundreds of boats of all sizes.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one. I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe because the characters were familiar to me, or maybe because the story had more touching moments mixed in with the lighter fare..

Review: Mrs. Tim of the Regiment

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Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D. E. Stevenson

In the foreword of the reprinting of Mrs. Tim of the Regiment, author D. E. Stevenson says the book came about in the 1930s when a friend’s daughter was about to marry an officer in the Highland Regiment. The family wondered what military life would be like. Stevenson lent them her diary from her days as a young military wife. The friend returned it, saying her family had laughed heartily over it, and if she “pepped it up a bit,” she could publish it as a novel.

So Stevenson did expand and “pep up” the story. Two volumes that were originally published were combined as one in Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. Three more volumes followed over the next few years.

The book is written in a journal format, Mrs. Tim, or Hester, having received a new diary for Christmas. Her husband is an officer and they have two children, Brian and Betty. Although they have a cook, a governess, and a few servants, they talk all the time about how financially strapped they are.

The first part of the book doesn’t actually have a plot per se. It’s more a recording of Hester’s encounters with friends, run-ins with servants, and happenings with her children. In the second half (which was originally a separate book), Hester and her daughter, Betty, spend two weeks with a friend on holiday in Scotland.

At the center of it all is Hester’s wry observations and likeable personality. As a senior officer’s wife, she visits the other wives and children to encourage them. She’s not timid, but has a hard time standing up to her cook and others.

On interviewing a headmistress of a school for her daughter, and saying that Betty’s governess found her very quick, Hester is told, “Quickness is more often than not a sign of of a superficial brain.” Hester writes, “I relapse into a species of jelly but still have sufficient strength to say that I think she will find Betty is a good child and very reasonable.”

One of my favorite sentences in the book: “The oldest antiquity whose beard is quite white–or was, previous to the tomato soup–pricks up his ears.”

Sometimes Stevenson waxes poetic, especially when describing scenery:

The rolling hills give place to mountains which stand back in sullen splendor and allow us pass. The cattle become sheep, snowy lambs with black wobbly legs and cheeky little  black faces interrupt their breakfast to stare at the train. Streams leap down the hillsides among the rocks and dive beneath the wheels to emerge on the other side in beds of gravel and yellow stones.

Of course, I don’t expect secular authors to have Christian values, but I still like to see how they think and write about spiritual things. There’s mention of an occasional prayer and going to church, with comments like, “The singing was good but the sermon was dull.” One “hellfire” type of sermon seems to have shaken Hester, but is brushed off by the other church members.

There are a few “damns” and occasionally a gossipy, negative attitude towards some people. One family friend seems to fall in love with Hester, though she is too “hedged with innocence” to realize it. (One thing I found odd about those times was that it was thought wrong for a woman to go around by herself, but no one had a problem with a married woman and single man going off to have picnics or visits sites alone together.) 

I found the book mildly amusing. I didn’t like it quite as well as I did the Barbara Buncle books and Amberwell and it sequel, Summerhills. Those earlier books had a homey feel about them, somewhat in tone like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables (though written in a different style and era). I didn’t get quite that same feeling until near the end of this book.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Christine Rendel. I’ll listen to the next book in the series, since I have it free via Audible‘s “Plus catalog,” then decide whether to read the other Mrs. Tim books.

The Four Graces

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The Four Graces are daughters of the vicar of Chevis Green, England, during WWII. This book is sometimes listed as the fourth Barbara Buncle book, but Barbara only appears in one scene at the beginning at a wedding. The setting and some of the characters from the previous book carry on, however.

The vicar has been a widower for some time, and his grown daughters all help around the house and village–or at least they did, until one went into the service during WWII.

Liz works on the neighboring farm of Archie Chevis-Cobb, the local squire. She’s always up for adventure and is unconventional and outspoken.

Sal takes care of most of the home chores. She was sickly as a child and therefore did not attend school. She has a quiet, steady disposition and helps her father smooth the ruffled feathers of his congregants.

Addie enlisted in the WAAF and lives in London but pops in and out.

Tilly is quiet and shy and plays the organ.

Amid the war shortages and rationing, the Graces live a quiet, pleasant life. But then William Single, a scholar interested in Rome, comes to stay with them and study what he thinks is an old buried Roman settlement nearby. William is a large but gentle, bumbling man and fits into the household nicely.

A young officer, a friend of Addie’s comes to visit–too often for Tilly’s tastes. She’s afraid he has designs on one of her sisters.

But the household is totally disrupted by the arrival of Aunt Rona, the girls’ late mother’s sister. Bombing shattered all her windows of her London house, so she came to stay with the Graces. But she takes over and tries to manage everything and everyone. And then the girls fear Aunt Rona might be trying to worm her way into their father’s affections.

This book reminded me a bit of Little Women, if it had been set during WWII. The girls here are older, though, all in their twenties.

Some of the quotes I loved:

Life was like that, thought Liz. You drifted on for years and years—then, suddenly, everything happened at once and all the things that had seemed so stable dissolved and disintegrated before your eyes…and life was new.

I have noticed that nowadays when people speak of being broad-minded they really mean muddleheaded, or lacking in principles—or possibly lacking the strength to stand up for any principles they may have.

“Books are people,″ smiled Miss Marks. ″In every book worth reading, the author is there to meet you, to establish contact with you. He takes you into his confidence and reveals his thoughts to you.

She talked less than some of the others and perhaps thought more.

I listened to the audiobook nicely read by Karen Cass.

This was a secular book, so I would not agree with every little thing–like brief mentions of astrology and a universal religion. But otherwise, this is a sweet English village story that I enjoyed very much.

In fact, I am a little disappointed to leave this setting and these characters behind. I’d love for  there to have been a sequel or at least a mention of the sisters in other books like Stevenson does with some of her characters. But we’ll just have to imagine the Graces continuing in in the ups and downs and pleasures and sorrows of life.

 

The Two Mrs. Abbotts

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The Two Mrs. Abbotts is the third Barbara Buncle book by D. E. Stevenson. By this time, Barbara Buncle is the first Mrs. Abbott, having married her publisher, Arthur.

In the previous book, Miss Buncle Married, Arthur’s nephew, Sam, worked with Arthur and came to stay with the Abbotts frequently. A neighbor of the Abbotts, a young woman called Jerry, had her own business boarding horses and teaching riding lessons. Over the course of the last book, Sam and Jerry fell in love despite some comical obstacles, and finally married. So Jerry is the second Mrs. Abbott.

In The Two Mrs. Abbotts, WWII has arrived. Sam is away fighting throughout the book, but we have one scene with him. Arthur is only seen at the beginning of the book, unfortunately.

Soldiers camp in huts near Jerry’s house, so Jerry and her longtime cook, maid, and friend, Markie, pull their living quarters to a smaller section of the house and give the soldiers access to their kitchen. All through the day they find soldiers making food, writing home, washing clothes, etc. Markie, a much older woman, becomes a mother figure to the men, helping them compose letters and listening to them talk.

Early in the book, Barbara agrees to host a woman from the Red Cross who has traveled to speak to local women about how they can help. The Red Cross woman turns out to be Susan, Barbara’s closest friend from the first book, and one of the few who was not offended by Barbara’s books about their village.

Barbara does not do much writing in this volume, her time being taken up with her two precocious children and helping in the community.

However, one of her husband’s firms best-selling authors comes to town to speak at a festival. Janetta Walters. Arthur doesn’t like her books much, but they’re popular. There’s nothing wrong with them–they’re just fluffy and unrealistic. But Jannetta is thrown for a loop when a young man assigned to take her around and provide for her needs while in town tells her her books are “rot” and she could “do better.” Jannetta knows not everyone will like her books. This young man has a right to his opinions. He doesn’t mean anything to her, so his views shouldn’t affect her. But they do. Suddenly she is no longer interested in writing, much to the chagrin of her sister, who is dependent on her income.

Jannetta disappears for a while, and just about the time I began to wonder about her, she shows up again in the most clever way.

Another prominent character in this book is Archie Chevis-Cobb, Jerry’s brother. In the last book, he was immature and reckless, assuming he was going to be his aunt’s heir. But she keeps changing her will. In the end, he does inherit. But instead of this making him more spoiled, it sobers him. He wants to fight for his country, but Arthur and others convince him that his farm, which he has brought up to great standards, is needed to support the community.

A number of other smaller plots occur: sullen, sloppy evacuees are a trial to Jerry; Barbara tries to help her young lovesick neighbor through a relationship that is obviously not good for him; a spy is reportedly lurking in the area; Jerry takes in a paying guest, Jane; a runaway girl wants to stay with Jerry and Markie. Markie has a marvelous adventure.

Though Barbara is not as prominent in this book, the stories are delightful. In fact, this might be my favorite of the three books, but that’s with having the background of the first two in mind.

A few of my favorite quotes:

Jane felt glad to have known Markie, for Markie’s example had shown her that you could do humble things splendidly, and be happy doing them—and make others happy.

Janetta sighed. She reminded herself that hundreds of thousands of people enjoyed her stories and showed their appreciation by borrowing her books from libraries—or, better still, buying them and keeping them in their bookcases. She reminded herself of the large “fan mail” that poured into Angleside from all over the world (not only letters, but parcels of food from admirers in America and Canada and South Africa who were anxious to sustain her so that she might continue to delight them with her books).

In time she would realize romance was a good thing in the right place. It was not the whole of life—as Janetta had made it—nor was it entirely foolish, as Jane seemed to think. It was like chocolate cream, thought Archie, a certain amount of it was good for you and extremely palatable; too much of it made you sick.

Mrs. Marvel looked slightly annoyed, for she hated having to use her brain.

I listened to the audiobook, nicely read, as the others were, by Patricia Gallimore. My only complaint is that the narrator changed the voice she used for Jerry from the last book and made her sound snooty, which she wasn’t.

There is one more book that is sometimes included as a Miss Buncle book, The Four Graces. Barbara only appears at the very beginning at a wedding. But some of the other characters from The Two Mrs. Abbotts continue on. I’m enjoying listening to the audiobook of it now.

Miss Buncle Married

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In D. E. Stevenson’s novel, Miss Buncle’s Book (linked to my review), Barbara Buncle is a quiet single lady in 1930s England who needs to make some money. So she writes a book about what she knows–her neighbors. She changes their names and some of their activities. Her book becomes a best-seller. But some of her neighbors recognize themselves and their town. And some of them are determined to find out who is behind the pseudonym “John Smith.”

At the end of that book (spoiler alert), Miss Buncle marries her publisher, Arthur Abbott. They move to Hampstead Heath, away from the heat caused by Barbara’s book.

Miss Buncle Married opens with the newlywed couple enjoying married life, but not the city. They’re expected to be out almost every night, playing bridge with friends and attending events. They long for a quieter home life. So Barbara starts looking at houses in the country.

Barbara finds the house of her dreams in Wandlebury. Arthur isn’t sure about the fixer-upper. But Barbara has everything redone nicely, and they love their new home.

It’s not long before they meet their new neighbors. The pastor’s wife who loves to gossip, thinking it gives her and “in” with her neighbors, when really they hold her at arm’s length because they don’t want to become her subjects. A large, temperamental artist, his languid wife, and their three children, two of whom have claimed Barbara’s back yard as their playground. Mrs. Chevis-Cobb, the society matron who changes her will when her relatives displease her. Jerry, a young woman who supports herself by caring for horses.

Arthur’s nephew, Sam, comes to visit the Abbotts regularly and begins to mature nicely.

Of course, the reader wonders, “Will Barbara write another book? And will it get her into as much trouble as last time?” I’ll leave that for you to discover.

Barbara is presented in both books as somewhat naive and innocent, yet with amazing insight in some ways. She doesn’t mean to meddle, but her attempts to help people present some quite funny episodes in the book.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

He . . . looked at his wife, and, as he looked at her, he smiled because she was nice to look at, and because he loved her, and because she amused and interested him enormously. They had been married for nine months now, and sometimes he thought he knew her through and through, and sometimes he thought he didn’t know the first thing about her—theirs was a most satisfactory marriage.

Jerry found Barbara very soothing and comforting during this difficult time. It was not necessary to confide in Barbara to gain her sympathy—you just talked to Barbara about odds and ends of things, and you came away feeling a different creature.

“It’s turned out all right after all,” she said contentedly. “Things usually do, somehow. You worry and fuss and try to make things go the way you think they should, and then you find that the other way was best. I’m going to try not to worry about things anymore.”

As with the first book, this is a secular work, and thus I wouldn’t agree with everything here, like many classics. It’s a clean story, but there are some oddities, especially with the strange family next door.

But all in all, this was a sweet, funny story. I listened to the audiobook superbly read by Patricia Gallimore. The picture above is from the audiobook cover as well, which I like much better than the book cover.

Miss Buncle’s Book

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D. E. Stevenson was a Scottish writer who lived from 1892-1973. Her books were best-sellers in their time and continue to be read widely today.

In Miss Buncle’s Book, Barbara Buncle is a single lady in her thirties. Due to a dwindling income, she decides to write a book to try to earn some extra money. She doesn’t have any imagination, she insists, so she writes what she knows–her neighbors in the town of Silverstream. She changes their names and has them interact in different ways. She sends the manuscript in under the pseudonym John Smith.

The publisher loves her novel, though he can’t quite decide whether it’s written satirically or straightforwardly. Either way, he feels the book will do well.

And he’s right: the book becomes a bestseller.

The only problem is, most of the inhabitants of Silverstream recognize themselves in the fictional town of Copperfield. Some think the book is great fun. Others are offended at the way they are portrayed or at their secrets coming out. Everyone agrees that “John Smith” must live among them—how else would he know them so well? So the hunt is on.

Meanwhile, the book has an effect on its readers. Some recognize their flaws and change. Colonel Weatherhead enjoys the novel but doesn’t see the parallels with his neighbors. He particularly enjoys the colonel in the book who dramatically proposes to his neighbor in the garden. But after finishing the book, Colonel Weatherhead finds himself restless. He’s never been discontent with his life before. But now he seems lonely. And somehow he never noticed before that his neighbor is both nice and attractive. Maybe he should call on her. . . Thus life for some begins to imitate art.

Barbara herself gets lost in her thoughts sometimes as to whether she’s in Silverstream or Copperfield. Her counterpart in the book, Elisabeth Wade, is much more confident. So Barbara begins to act as Elisabeth Wade.

But the discontented readers are worked up to a fever pitch in their search for John Smith and their desire to make him pay for what he has written about them.

Overall this was a fun book with a very satisfactory ending.

Having read much about writing and publishing the last few years, some of the comments on those subjects had me smiling.

Barbara’s publisher: “What fools the public were! They were exactly like sheep…thought Mr. Abbott sleepily…following each other’s lead, neglecting one book and buying another just because other people were buying it, although, for the life of you, you couldn’t see what the one lacked and the other possessed.”

Miss Buncle did impress him because she wasn’t trying to.

Mr. Abbott could have cheated Miss Buncle quite easily if he had wanted to. Fortunately for her, he didn’t want to. It was not his way. You make friends with the goose and treat it decently, and it continues to lay golden eggs.

Miss Buncle after signing her contract: “I’m an author. How very odd.”

Miss Buncle on receiving her first print copy of her book: “She had spent the whole morning reading her book, and marveling at the astounding fact that she had written every word of it, and here it was, actually in print.

“And why to me?” inquired Mr. Abbott with much interest. “I mean why did you send the book to me? Perhaps you had heard from somebody that our firm—­”

“Oh, no,” she exclaimed. “I knew nothing at all about publishers. You were the first on the list—­alphabetically—­that was all.” Mr. Abbott was somewhat taken aback—­on such trifles hang the fates of bestsellers!

Dorcas [the maid] was beginning to get used to living in the house with an author. It was not comfortable, she found, and it was distinctly trying to the temper.

­Authors! said Dorcas to herself with scornful emphasis—­Authors indeed!—­Well, I’ll never read a book again but what I’ll think of the people as has had to put up with the author, I know that.—­Preparing meals, and beating the gong, and going back ’alf an hour later to find nobody’s ever been near them, and the mutton fat frozen solid in the dish, and the soup stone cold—­and them ringing bells at all hours for coffee, “and make it strong Dorcas—­make it strong!” and them writing half the night, and lying in bed half the day with people toiling up to their bedrooms with trays.—­Authors—­poof! said Dorcas to herself.

“Dorcas, I could never give up writing now,” she said, incredulously (nor could she, the vice had got her firmly in its grip, as well ask a morphinomaniac to give up drugs). “You don’t know how exciting it is, Dorcas. It just sweeps you along and you’ve no idea of the time—­”

I listened to the audiobook wonderfully read by Patricia Gallimore. She portrayed all the characters so well, from the sly Mrs. Greensleeves to the morose Mr. Bulmer and the haughty Mrs. Featherstone Hogg and so many more.

This is not a Christian book, so of course I wouldn’t agree with everything the characters do.

This book is the first of three about Miss Buncle. I’m pretty sure I’ll read the next one some time in the future.

Book Review: Summerhills

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Summerhills is the sequel to Amberwell by D. E. Stevenson. This book focuses primarily on three of the adult Ayrton children.

Roger is the oldest and the heir since his father died. But he assured his four siblings that Amberwell would always be the family home and they would always be welcome. In the last book, his wife had died in the London bombings, leaving him with their infant son, who nearly died as well. Since Roger was in the military, he sent his son, Stephen, home to Amberwell to be taken care of by his sister, Nell. In this book, Stephen is approaching the age to go to boarding school. But Nell can’t stand the thought of Stephen being sent away. Roger had inherited his wife’s fortune and had been pondering the best way to use it. Now he decides perhaps opening a boarding school nearby would help others as well as himself and Stephen. Summerhills is the name of the new school, and almost all of Roger’s time on leave is spent preparing for the school: consulting with a builder, finding a headmaster, etc. Roger had no interest in other women. He felt his wife was the only woman he would ever love. But perhaps becoming reacquainted with a childhood friend will reawaken the part of his heart that he thought was closed.

Nell had kept Amberwell afloat all during the war. With the loss of most of the staff during the war, Nell continues all of the tasks involved in attending to Amberwell while also caring for her nephew and her confused mother. Nell had always been the shyest Ayrton, content to be at home. When her brother Tom’s friend, Dennis, comes to visit, he is drawn to her. But he knows he will have to win her slowly, through friendship, before he can share his heart.

Ann had been missing from a large part of the last book after her aunt more or less pushed her into marrying a man that her parents would not have approved of. In time, this man proved abusive and eventually died. Ann did her best to provide for her young daughter on her own until the rector of their village found her and urged her to come home. Now she keeps house for the rector. The new headmaster is an old friend, and Ann senses he would like for their relationship to develop into something more. But marriage has been ruined for her.

Tom, the other brother, is away at sea throughout the book but is mentioned. Connie, the oldest sister, had been married and had three children in the last book, and had gotten hold of a book advising against thwarting or correcting children. Consequently, her children are rude, uncontrolled little monsters.

There are comic scenes, often involving Connie’s children, a pretty young governess, and the banter between Nanny and Mrs. Duff, the cook. There’s not a great deal to the plot besides getting the school ready and the various romances. But it’s a sweet, cozy book with some touching moments.

A couple of characters’ fates were left up in the air. There is no other sequel, but, according the this site, some from Amberwell make an appearance in a later book, Still Glides the Stream.

Objectionable elements: a few “damns” and mentions of blacks and Chinese that would be considered racist today. Though I don’t condone such references, I wouldn’t avoid a book with them any more than I would avoid any book where the characters do something wrong in some way.

I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully read by the same reader who narrated Amberwell, Leslie Mackie.

(Sharing with Carole’s Books You Loved, Booknificent Thursday)

Book Review: Amberwell

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AmberwellI had not heard of D. E. Stevenson until a few years ago. I’ve seen her name mentioned favorably, but had never felt inclined to check our her books. But then Hope‘s mention of Amberwell led me to try it.

Amberwell is the name of the house owned by multiple descendants of the Ayrton family in Scotland. The residents in this book have five children, two boys from a previous marriage and three girls. The parents are aloof, authoritarian, and imperious. The children are kept in the nursery much longer than usual, and the parents don’t attempt to get to know them well.

But the children are allowed to roam free on the estate, and spend most of their time outdoors playing all sorts of imaginative games.

The next section of the story jumps ahead ten years. The two boys are in the service during WWII. One daughter has married, one’s whereabouts are unknown, and one is left to keep things together on the home front. Each faces their own struggles and heartaches.

Amberwell falls into disrepair due to shortages of supplies and manpower. But it draws each of the children back like a beacon.

My thoughts:

It took me two or three chapters to get into the story, but once I did, I loved it. The last third or so of the book, I wanted to set everything else aside and just read.

At first I wondered if this was a children’s book, not only because the children were the main characters, but also because the writing seemed simple. But by the next section, the writing and the plot shifted into a higher gear.

There was one odd place where one of the girls witnessed something untoward from their father, but nothing was ever said about it again.

I listened to the audiobook read exceptionally well by Leslie Mackie. She has a lovely, soft Scottish accent but could bring out the brogue with some characters. That’s one advantage to audiobooks: I don’t usually think in the accent of the characters when I’m reading, unless the dialect is written well. But hearing a whole book set in Scotland with a Scottish accent really added to the enjoyment.

I’m delighted to have discovered D. E. Stevenson, and now I have a whole list of her books to explore. In fact, I’ve already started on the sequel to Amberwell, Summerhills.

I’m counting this book for the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge under the Classic About a Family category.

(Sharing with Carole’s Books You Loved, Booknificent)