Green Knowe series by Lucy M. Boston
Oct. 9th, 2019 06:08 pm
The real 12th-century house on which Green Knowe was based
Jason Ballard - Flickr: The Manor House at Hemingford Grey (Green Knowe)
Home of Lucy Boston, author of 'The Children of Green Knowe', until her death in 1990. This house was the model for 'Green Knowe'. Dating back to the early 12th century, it is reputed to be the oldest continually inhabited house in England.
The Children of Green Knowe (1954)
The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958)
The River at Green Knowe (1959)
A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961)
An Enemy at Green Knowe (1964)
The Stones of Green Knowe (1976)
The Children of Green Knowe, the first of Boston's six books about the fictional manor house, Green Knowe, was a commended runner up for the 1954 Carnegie Medal.[7][a] The novel concerns the visit of a young boy, Toseland, to the magical house, Green Knowe. The house is tremendously old, dating from the Norman Conquest, and has been continually inhabited by Toseland's ancestors, the d'Aulneaux family, later called Oldknowe or Oldknow. Toseland crosses floodwaters by night to reach the house, to spend the Christmas holidays with his great-grandmother, Linnet Oldknow, who addresses him as "Tolly".
Over the course of the novel, Tolly explores the rich history of his family, which pervades the house like magic. He begins to encounter what appear to be the spirits of three of his forebears—an earlier Toseland (nicknamed Toby), Alexander, and an earlier Linnet—who lived in the reign of Charles II. These meetings are for the most part not frightening to Tolly; they continually reinforce his sense of belonging that the house engenders. In the evenings, Mrs. Oldknow (whom Tolly calls "Granny") entertains Tolly with stories about the house and those who lived there. Surrounded by the rivers and the floodwater, sealed within its ancient walls, Green Knowe is a sanctuary of peace and stability in a world of unnerving change.
The Chimneys of Green Knowe was a commended runner up for the 1958 Carnegie Medal.[7][a] In the United States it was published within the calendar year by Harcourt, as The Treasure of Green Knowe.[2][3]
The Chimneys also features Tolly, who has returned to Green Knowe for the Easter holidays. As she mends a patchwork quilt, Mrs. Oldknow continues telling Tolly stories about the previous inhabitants of the house. This time, her stories concern Susan Oldknow, a blind girl who lived at Green Knowe during the English Regency, and the close bond of friendship that developed between her and a young black page, Jacob, brought back from the West Indies by Susan's father, Captain Oldknowe. The plot also concerns the whereabouts of Maria Oldknowe's jewels, which may or may not have been stolen by the unscrupulous butler Caxton.
Yew Hall Hardcover – 1954
by Lucy M. BOSTON
Unusual young adult novel by a famous children's author
Lucy M. Boston's adult novel "Yew Hall" is a disturbing story of rose gardening, an ancient, possibly malevolent house, adultery, murder and suicide -- hardly a children's book, which is Boston's usual audience.
But the young lovers in the story make the book interesting to Young Adult readers, and others who have read Boston's other (children's) stories of her house, which is, indeed, "Yew Hall".
John Gough (Australia) - jagough49@gmail.com