Home is the Sailor by Rumer Godden

Home is the Sailor by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Jean Primrose was first published in 1964. I counted just seven full page colour illustrations, but there are lots of black and white ones, all in a charming style.

This is the story of a doll’s house, its tiny doll inhabitants and the children who play with them. There are disasters and adventures, and a moaning character named Morello, supposedly the doll maid, she’s quite bitter about something, just like the cherry of her name. Mrs Lewis is another servant, she’s a Welsh doll, made of celluloid so when she heats up she crackles almost like she is laughing.

Mrs Raleigh is the mother doll, there’s her daughter Dora, twin girls called Opal and Pearl, a boy called Curly the sailor doll and Bundle the ‘long clothes’ baby. The disaster is that the doll husband Captain Raleigh has gone, no fault of his own. Miss Charlotte is the doll governess and the children were planning a wedding for her with the doll Thomas, but another disaster befell him, so Charlotte is distraught.

This is a lovely book with the lives of the dolls and the real children intertwining. When Bertrand a young French boy arrives to stay with the family he has a lot to learn. His own parents had sent him to England hoping that the experience would cure him of his know-it-all arrogance and surprisingly it does when he ends up having Curly the sailor doll as his mascot.

Rumer Godden wrote several children’s books featuring dolls and doll houses, she was very much in touch with the lives and thoughts of youngsters.  This was a lovely relaxing read, for children of all ages. Thank you for letting me know about it Wilhelmina.

 

Operation Sippacik by Rumer Godden

Operation Sippacik by Rumer Godden was published in 1969. The setting is Cyprus. Rumer Godden was on holiday there when she was told the story of a brave donkey and she decided to write it.

The men of the 27th Battery Royal Artillery were part of a United Nations force who were in Cyprus as part of a peace keeping force, trying to stop the Greek and Turkish Cypriots from killing each other.

Sippacik is a very small donkey which is owned by a small boy called Rifat, he had witnessed the donkey’s birth and had a strong bond with her, so when Rifat’s grandfather sold the donkey to the British Army Rifat was not happy, but money was scarce, particularly as Rifat’s father was not around to help on the family farm.  Rifat’s father has been a bit of a local hero, but he had been taken away by the Greek Cypriot police.

Rifat has been dodging school and when the soldiers realise that they can’t cope with the donkey’s awkward temperament it’s arranged for Rifat to live at the army camp and look after Sippacik. They get involved in a dangerous adventure.

This book was probably aimed at ten year olds, it’s entertaining and educational. I bought it just because it was written by Rumer Godden. She seems to have been inspired to write wherever she went on holiday, or moved to. In her old age she moved to Scotland to live to be close to her daughter, and I was impressed by the way that she obviously threw herself into the culture of Scotland and even managed to write in dialect in her book for children The Dragon of Og.

Little Plum by Rumer Godden

Little Plum cover

Little Plum by Rumer Godden was first published in 1963 but my copy is a 1975 reprint by Puffin books.

This is a lovely relaxing read, especially if you want to get away from the depressing TV news.

At just 135 pages long and aimed at readers aged seven and over (I’m very much over!!) the story features two Japanese dolls called Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. The dolls had been sent by Great-Aunt Lucy as a Christmas present to Nona who had lived in India until recently when she had been sent to live with her Fell cousins and their parents in England. The dolls had helped Nona settle into her new life, where she shared a bedroom with her cousin Belinda.

They were fascinated by the very large house next door which has been very grand but it had been empty and for sale for years so looks neglected and dirty. When a sold sign appears and builders arrive to renovate the house they’re agog.

Belinda is particularly fascinated by Gem, a girl about her own age. Gem is very different, mainy because she is being looked after by her very strict aunt while her mother is in hospital. Gem doesn’t know how to play – unless it’s her piano. When Belinda spies another Japanese doll in Gem’s bedroom she’s outraged that Gem doesn’t play with the doll or look after her. Belinda begins a campaign against Gem, really trying to get her attention. This involves mad escapades from Belinda which put her in real danger, not that at her age she really recognises that. She’s quite a wee girl!

The book is illustrated by Jean Primrose, just pencil drawings but they’re charming.

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden

Five for Sorrow Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden was first published in 1979 and it’s one of her three books centred around a Roman Catholic convent, not the most exciting of settings you would think, but this is a really good read.

Elizabeth is a young and rather naive army driver who is in Paris for the first time, just as the city has been liberated by the allies in World War 2. She’s allowed to join in the wild celebrations and is picked up by Patrice, an older man. He’s obviously well-off and influential, he manages to get Elizabeth who is now known as Lise released from the army and Lise throws caution to the wind and begins to live with Patrice in his luxurious flat. Too late Lise eventually realises that she’s actually living in a brothel and many of the ‘girls’ have been living with Patrice previously, it’s only a matter of time before Lise is also cast aside and put to work in the brothel.

I really enjoyed this one, I suppose it’s meant to be an eye-opener regarding convents and nuns, as in this book nuns who visit female prisoners sometimes inspire a vocation in women who have presumably led a sinful life, although in truth many have been more sinned against than anything else. They’re welcomed into that religious world to begin a long journey towards acceptance as a nun, if they continue to feel that need.

I am not sure how realistic that is because the one young woman that I knew who became a nun was accepted immediately. She had been the ‘naughty’ one of a large Catholic family, drinking smoking and partying wildly, and when her father died very suddenly she felt so conscience stricken that after a few weeks she walked to the nearby Carmelite Monastery – and that was that!

Anyway, Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy was an entertaining read. Rumer Godden seems to have found plenty of material in the Catholic religion after her conversion to it as she wrote two others with convent settings I believe. By the time she wrote this one she had moved to the Scottish borders to be near her daughter, and she lived in Dumfries and Galloway until her death? Can I count her as a Scottish author – hmm – maybe not. She did immerse herself in Scottish culture though and even wrote at least one children’s book in Scots dialect. It’s called The Dragon of Og and you can read my thoughts on that one here.

New to Me Books – from Edinburgh

We visited Edinburgh today, dodging Princes Street as there are no secondhand bookshops there, we headed for Stockbridge where there are a few charity bookshops. I bought:

Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken

Elsie Piddock by Eleanor Farjeon

My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin

Little Plum by Rumer Godden

The Little White House by Elizabeth Goudge

The Stolen Sister by Joan Lingard

The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff

Quite a few of these ones are aimed at children or young adults. Have you read any of them?

Books from Orkney – Birsay Books

When we went on holiday to the Orkney Islands last month I didn’t really expect to find any books to buy there, but Jack did some research and discovered Birsay Books, on the part of the mainland called Birsay as you would expect. It was surprisingly good, for me anyway. If you’re looking for modernish books you wouldn’t be so impressed.

Books Bought at Birsay Books, Orkney

I bought:

Castaway Camp by M.E. Atkinson (I haven’t read anything by this author but somebody recommended her)

Tropical Issue by Dorothy Dunnett (a mystery)

A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep by Rumer Godden (her autobiography)

The Glad Eye by Ranger Gull (I bought this one for the cover, isn’t it great?!)

Swing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio Marsh (I’ve already read and reviewed this one)

Winter at Thrush Green by Miss Read (this one I got at a charity shop in Kirkwall)

A Certain Smile by Francois Sagan (it’s possible that I read this one back in the 1970s)

The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff ( this contains three of her books but I only had one of them)

Not a bad haul I think. Have you read any of them?

The Dolls’ House by Rumer Godden

The Dolls’ House by Rumer Godden was first published in 1947 and it was the first book that she had written for children, but my copy is from 1963 and it has some lovely illustrations by Tasha Tudor.

The setting is just after the end of World War 2, when there was a chronic shortage of toys, and the dolls which belong to Charlotte and Emily Dane are having to live in draughty shoe boxes. They dream of living in a proper dolls’ house, especially Mr Plantaganet the father of the family of dolls.

They’re quite a mixed bunch of dolls, some broken and drawn on and Mr Plantaganet has had to put up with the most abuse over the years. He had been a Scottish doll originally, but years ago a child had ripped his bagpipes off him, causing damage. Tottie is the cheapest doll, she is a tiny wooden farthing doll (you got four of them for a penny) and she is the oldest of them and can tell them all of the original owners who were great-aunts of their Emily and Charlotte.

When there’s a death within the extended Dane family there’s the inevitable house clear out and Mr Plantaganet’s wishes come true as Emily and Charlotte are given an old dolls’ house which had been languishing unloved for generations in an attic. The girls set to work and make the house fit for the dolls, everything is wonderful until a very conceited doll arrives from a specialist cleaners, her name is Marchpane and she upsets everything and everyone. She thinks she is above everyone else as she’s made of kid leather and china.

This is a lovely tale which was obviously written to teach children what are the important things in life. There are quite a few adults who could learn a thing or two from it!

I love the cover of this book with its beautiful Georgian house, which even has a dog kennel for the toy dog in the story.

An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden

An Episode of Sparrows cover

An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden was first published in 1956. The setting is an area of London which like them all has a mixture of what had been grand houses fringing a poorer neighbourhood. The Victorian iron railings had been removed from the private gardens in the square belonging to the grander houses, and big holes were appearing in the grounds where large quantities of earth had been removed, it was a real mystery and Angela – queen bee of the Garden Committee – is determined to get to the bottom of it, although someone else will have to do the work of course.

Although I really enjoyed this book I did find it at times to be so sad as the main character, an eleven year old girl called Lovejoy Mason lives a loveless and neglected life as her mother has dumped her on strangers while she goes off to pursue a life on the stage, and doesn’t even send money for her upkeep with the result that Lovejoy has grown out of her clothes and shoes, something that she feels keenly as she has a love of good quality fabric and design, something that her mother had passed on to her.

A packet of cornflower seeds begins her love of gardening and she manages to make a secret miniature garden on a bomb site, the only one which didn’t seem to be inhabited by a gang of boys. But when the local baseball season was over (a game they had been taught by Zassi a little American boy) Tip Malone and his gang turned up to reclaim their patch and trouble ensues. But Tip Malone finds himself drawn to Lovejoy, it’s a mystery to him. He thinks maybe it’s because she always looks so clean with her hair well brushed, despite her obvious poverty. The garden becomes the most important thing in Lovejoy’s life and Tip gets dragged along in her wake.

The children – the sparrows – are the main characters in the book, but their exploits have a big impact on Angela and her older sister Olivia who has always lived in her young sister’s shadow. In particular Olivia who has never pushed herself forward is impressed with Lovejoy’s attitude to life although it has to be said that Lovejoy is anything but a Goody two-shoes.

Although there’s plenty of strife in this book the writing is lovely and it has a great ending so it turned out to be a perfect pandemic read.

I had been under the impression that I had read this book back in the 1970s when I had a big Rumer Godden binge, but I soon realised that I hadn’t, so that was a nice surprise. I wonder how long it has been sitting unread on my bookshelves!

Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times

I’ll be gathering all the Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times blogposts here for the moment. Judith at Reader in the Wilderness has had too much going on in her life recently to be able to keep up with it, so I’m stepping in to help.

More Books

The bookshelf I’m featuring this week is home to some favourite authors. I loved The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy, it’s about a large and wealthy London based family, starting from Victorian times and following their lives and family feuds beyond World War 1. These books are available free from Project Gutenberg here.

I think I’ve read all of the books on this shelf apart from Veranilda by George Gissing. This book dates from 1904 and originally belonged to Jack’s Granny and has her name in it. M. Besford. I used to write my name in books but stopped doing that decades ago. I’m now wondering if I should at least write it in pencil, as I really like to see a name and date inside a book. What do you do – inscribe or leave blank and pristine? Have you read Veranilda or anything else by George Gissing.

I remember that I really enjoyed reading The Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher – before I started blogging, but I’ve never read anything else by him. Have you?

A few of my Rumer Godden books are on this shelf, some are in a bookcase upstairs, possibly they wouldn’t fit on this shelf. Elizabeth Jane Howard and Penelope Lively are favourites too, then of course there’s Mrs Gaskell. I’ve been meaning to visit Elizabeth Gaskell’s house for years. I see that it has opened up again but I might leave it until next year.

If you’re taking part in Bookshelf Travelling this week I’ll add a link to you, if I miss your post please send me a link.

A Son of the Rock (Jack)

Staircase Wit

Stainless Steel Droppings

The Mousewife by Rumer Godden

The Mousewife cover

The Mousewife by Rumer Godden was one of the books I got for Christmas, it was first published in 1951 but my copy was published in 1958. It’s such a cute wee book with just 39 pages and lots of illustrations which are by William Pene du Bois. This is ostensibly a book for children but in reality it will probably be appreciated more by adults, or maybe I should say by women.

A mouse couple live in an old house belonging to a spinster. They’re house mice and never venture beyond the walls, they think that the house is the whole world, but when the mousewife catches sight of the garden and woodland through a window she’s entranced by what she can see. The seasons come and go and she sees all the flowers and then the snow, but all her husband thinks about is cheese.

She’s a good mousewife, taking care of her husband when he over-indulges on currants and wrapping him up with tufts of carpet wool behind the fender. By this time she has a family to look after too and she’s the breadwinner so to speak and she has no time for thinking. But a boy brings the spinster homeowner a dove in a cage and the dove is pining for the great outdoors, it has lost the will to live, the peas which the dove is given for food are just what the mousewife needs to feed her growing brood and she makes friends with the dove.

This is a lovely tale with the dove and the mouse helping each other. The dove tells the mousewife about the hills, corn, stars and clouds.

It has been given to few mice to see the stars: so rare is it that the mousewife had not even heard of them, and when she saw them shining she thought at first they must be new brass buttons. Then she saw they were very far off, farther than the garden or the wood, beyond the farthest trees. “But not too far for me to see,” she said. She knew now that they were not buttons but something far and big and strange. “But not so strange to me,” she said, “for I have seen them, and I have seen them for myself,” said the mousewife.

Ladies or mousewives – please beware of neglecting your husband, as if you don’t give them your full attention, they might just bite your ear! You can see some of the illustrations here.