Are you ready to take a break from stitching? Read on to find out about a good book you might like to try!
Lucy Boston was an author
as well as a quilter. She was in her
sixties when she wrote her first book, “Yew Hall,” followed by a series of
children’s books that made her famous. In the books she used her home, the Manor at
Hemingford Grey, as the model for Green Knowe, the house in the story. The
first of the children’s series, “The Children of Green Knowe” was published in
1954 and was a runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. The illustrations in the books were drawn by
Lucy Boston’s son, Peter.
I loved the story of
Tolly, a small boy who comes to visit the great-grandmother he’s never met who
lives in a magical old manor house dating from the Norman Conquest and
continuously inhabited by his ancestors, the d’Aulneaux, later the Oldknowe or
Oldknow, family. The manor was swimming in
water from the winter floods and Tolly arrived at the door at night in a
boat. What a way to set the stage for
the mysterious and magical events of the story!
Above the fireplace hangs a picture of three children who grew up at
Green Knowe during the reign of Charles II in the 17th century. Tolly explores the rich history of his family
through a series of stories his great-grandmother tells him about the children
in the picture. He finds the children’s
playthings hidden here and there around the house and begins to encounter, not
frighteningly, what appear to be the spirits of the three descendants.
The little toy mouse from the story
In the story, real life
and fantasy intermingle in the most delightful way - it’s a fun book not just
for children, but for adults as well! I
found the book at my local library.
The book was adapted for
television in 1986 in the BBC production The Children of Green Knowe.
In the story, Tolly’s bedroom is
reminiscent of this bedroom at the Manor.
The rocking horse and bird cage are both part of the story.
There is certainly something fascinating about the manor. Today, many
people visit to experience a place they imagined as a child after reading Lucy
Boston’s Green Knowe books and studying their illustrations, which were
lovingly drawn by her only son, Peter. Far
from being a reconstruction in a theme park or an uninhabited museum, the house
is first and foremost a home, currently inhabited by Lucy’s daughter-in-law, Diana Boston – a characteristic which only adds to
its appeal.
