OVERVIEW: Some recent reads
Apr. 12th, 2022 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI am currently reading ‘Barbara – Called Binkie and other stories of school life and adventure’ by various writers, most of whose names I don’t recognise. Generally, I’m supposed to avoid annuals or collections like this because I enjoy them less than full-length girls own stories and they take up too much space, but pre-pandemic, I yielded to the title. I’m dipping into this story by story between other books, which I’ve found is a good way to get through short story collections.
The first story, ‘Barbara – Called Binkie’, by Doris Canham, was multi-chaptered, covering a school year, and possibly shorter than your average boarding school story at eight chapters long, although it’s hard to tell because the pages are a third bigger than your usual story book.
The story itself is tosh, with a remarkable premise that enables heroine Binkie/Binks to go to boarding school. I was prepared to overlook that, because Binkie was critical of her cousin’s stepmother for good reason, but although you think the story is going to be about Binkie helping her cousin Sheia to find her feet at school, the authoress introduces an older girl, named Perceval (!) who is ravishingly beautiful, with violet eyes and a connection to the school founder. The events are implausible and most of the adults come off as idiots, despite an attempt to restore the headmistress’s authority towards the end.
I’ve only read the second story, which is a more normal short story length. ‘Sally to the Rescue’ by C.M. Drury, is Guide propaganda, showing how Guiding and Scuting skills might come in handy if you were facing armed bandits in an English village.
I may or may not keep you updated on the further stories of school life and adventure!
I also read ‘The Mystery of Old Beams’ by Jessie Leckie Hebertson. It started off promisingly with a clash of personalities. Anne Sanders, an only child, is trying to make up her mind about her cousin Jerry Charlsworth, who is to stay with her and her mother over the summer. He’s around her age, but fastidious about appearance, which Anne is decidedly not. The book is obsessed with appearance, although Herbertson never seems to come to a decided opinion about the issue.
Just as Anne is explaining that nothing happens in Lewknor - the book features intriguing place names, and although it’s never explicitly stated, I presume it’s set in Cornwall – three schoolgirl sisters land at nearby Old Beams. They are Elizabeth, Henrietta and Angela, all very different personalities. Angela turns out to be the heroine of the book, befriending Anne and Jerry.
The problem begins as the mystery does. Although it puzzles the three investigators, it’s not such a puzzler to anyone who knows the genre. A supporting character really goes through the wringer. Admittedly, the reader knows he’s concussed, trapped and in danger of dying of dehydration while the children don’t, but I got exasperated with their desire to keep things a secret until they find a reliable adult and all is resolved.
The first story, ‘Barbara – Called Binkie’, by Doris Canham, was multi-chaptered, covering a school year, and possibly shorter than your average boarding school story at eight chapters long, although it’s hard to tell because the pages are a third bigger than your usual story book.
The story itself is tosh, with a remarkable premise that enables heroine Binkie/Binks to go to boarding school. I was prepared to overlook that, because Binkie was critical of her cousin’s stepmother for good reason, but although you think the story is going to be about Binkie helping her cousin Sheia to find her feet at school, the authoress introduces an older girl, named Perceval (!) who is ravishingly beautiful, with violet eyes and a connection to the school founder. The events are implausible and most of the adults come off as idiots, despite an attempt to restore the headmistress’s authority towards the end.
I’ve only read the second story, which is a more normal short story length. ‘Sally to the Rescue’ by C.M. Drury, is Guide propaganda, showing how Guiding and Scuting skills might come in handy if you were facing armed bandits in an English village.
I may or may not keep you updated on the further stories of school life and adventure!
I also read ‘The Mystery of Old Beams’ by Jessie Leckie Hebertson. It started off promisingly with a clash of personalities. Anne Sanders, an only child, is trying to make up her mind about her cousin Jerry Charlsworth, who is to stay with her and her mother over the summer. He’s around her age, but fastidious about appearance, which Anne is decidedly not. The book is obsessed with appearance, although Herbertson never seems to come to a decided opinion about the issue.
Just as Anne is explaining that nothing happens in Lewknor - the book features intriguing place names, and although it’s never explicitly stated, I presume it’s set in Cornwall – three schoolgirl sisters land at nearby Old Beams. They are Elizabeth, Henrietta and Angela, all very different personalities. Angela turns out to be the heroine of the book, befriending Anne and Jerry.
The problem begins as the mystery does. Although it puzzles the three investigators, it’s not such a puzzler to anyone who knows the genre. A supporting character really goes through the wringer. Admittedly, the reader knows he’s concussed, trapped and in danger of dying of dehydration while the children don’t, but I got exasperated with their desire to keep things a secret until they find a reliable adult and all is resolved.
