REVIEW: The Guides in Hanover Lane
Jan. 21st, 2024 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllThe Guides in Hanover Lane: Anne Bradley. Lutterworth Press, 1958. My copy is inscribed 1967.
Once lockdown started, I decided to try to buy books, especially girls own books, online by authors that I’d thought highly of. One of those was Anne Bradley, author of Katherine at Feather Ghyll, the book that gave me the name of this blog.
It feels as though it’s been a while since I’ve read a Guide book. In truth, I always think of books about Guides as Guiding propaganda, in that the authors are trying to promote the movement as A Good Thing for their readers, either Guides themselves or prospective Guides. But when the story is well written and the characters are engaging, that doesn’t matter.
I’m pleased to say that that’s the case here. Granted, although everything that happens is plausible, a lot of things happen in quick succession (the last couple of chapters are rather breathless), but then the author makes that part of the plot. Beatrice and best friend Freddy are horrified when the parish hall burns down, because that’s where their Guide meetings are held. When the two patrol leaders try to scramble and decide what to do next, they are let down by a couple of their seniors while their captain is away in the US for a combined honeymoon and her new husband’s work. Their eccentric commissioner, Miss Chumley, ergo ‘Chummy’, says that Beechy as the eldest PL left must do her best, and that it’s a chance for this generation of Guides to show some initiative. (Chummy goes to London to have her teeth done, basically, which takes several weeks.)
No, that’s not fair, first, Chummy finds the Guides a new place to meet, the old laundry in Hanover Lodge. It’s a decent-sized room and could do, but the owner, Miss Fletcher, is fussy and asks her niece Erica, a chilly, young person who is closer in age to Beatrice’s brother Rowan (who like everyone calls our heroine ‘Beechy’) who seems to look down at Scouts and Guides to keep an eye on them. The local children and young people don’t like ‘goody-goodies’ coming to Hanover Lane, and although two girls come along to the Guide meetings, Deanna and Julie, Beechy, trying to keep things going until the captain returns and make the most of the new spot, could do without their attitude, especially as the third PL, Meriel, is a spoilt young madam.
The story is told ‘by Beechy’ herself, which gives an immediacy to it, letting us in on her trepidation as she faces the huge challenge of taking on extra responsibility. We also learn what she really thinks in the face of obstacles about getting on their hostess’s good side, managing Meriel’s demands and encouraging Julie’s interest in Guiding. But there are helpers, loyal Freddy (who needs to restrain her impulse to thrill), Rowan, and from unexpected quarters.
What I like about this story is that these are plausible challenges, personality clashes, class issues (which Guide books have always faced, and which were becoming more discussed in books for children in the 1950s). It faces the question of how relevant Guiding is to this generation, probably a few years younger than the daughters of the first Guides would be, in a world where there are TV sets and other distractions competing for young teenagers’ time and energy, when a lot of them would be leaving school at 16.
If anything, Bradley was perhaps a bit too honest about human nature – it’s not a great advertisement for the Guide movement when a lieutenant puts her career first and another PL says she’s outgrown Guides just when there’s a crisis. Arguably, Meriel doesn’t have what it takes to be a PL, but by sticking to her principles and doing her best, Beechy gains the respect of the people who doubted Guiding the most. There’s also fun, as the Guides go on a midnight ramble and build up to a Halloween party, where Beechy, a budding writer, comes up with a play.
The characters are all rounded and lively. Beechy is very human, fairly observant but has to be as tactful as a fifteen and a half year old can be. Erica is multi layered, standoffish one second, thoughtful the next, and her appearance keeps changing. She and Rowan provide a romance on the sidelines of the book's main action. Julie, who may not be the most academic and, at times, not the most likely Guide candidate, turns out to be the one who ‘gets it’ the most. The Hanover Street gang are depicted effectively, and although Chummy sweeps in at the end to help sort things out, it is mainly the youngsters themselves who have to deal with things. Worth reading!
Once lockdown started, I decided to try to buy books, especially girls own books, online by authors that I’d thought highly of. One of those was Anne Bradley, author of Katherine at Feather Ghyll, the book that gave me the name of this blog.
It feels as though it’s been a while since I’ve read a Guide book. In truth, I always think of books about Guides as Guiding propaganda, in that the authors are trying to promote the movement as A Good Thing for their readers, either Guides themselves or prospective Guides. But when the story is well written and the characters are engaging, that doesn’t matter.
I’m pleased to say that that’s the case here. Granted, although everything that happens is plausible, a lot of things happen in quick succession (the last couple of chapters are rather breathless), but then the author makes that part of the plot. Beatrice and best friend Freddy are horrified when the parish hall burns down, because that’s where their Guide meetings are held. When the two patrol leaders try to scramble and decide what to do next, they are let down by a couple of their seniors while their captain is away in the US for a combined honeymoon and her new husband’s work. Their eccentric commissioner, Miss Chumley, ergo ‘Chummy’, says that Beechy as the eldest PL left must do her best, and that it’s a chance for this generation of Guides to show some initiative. (Chummy goes to London to have her teeth done, basically, which takes several weeks.)
No, that’s not fair, first, Chummy finds the Guides a new place to meet, the old laundry in Hanover Lodge. It’s a decent-sized room and could do, but the owner, Miss Fletcher, is fussy and asks her niece Erica, a chilly, young person who is closer in age to Beatrice’s brother Rowan (who like everyone calls our heroine ‘Beechy’) who seems to look down at Scouts and Guides to keep an eye on them. The local children and young people don’t like ‘goody-goodies’ coming to Hanover Lane, and although two girls come along to the Guide meetings, Deanna and Julie, Beechy, trying to keep things going until the captain returns and make the most of the new spot, could do without their attitude, especially as the third PL, Meriel, is a spoilt young madam.
The story is told ‘by Beechy’ herself, which gives an immediacy to it, letting us in on her trepidation as she faces the huge challenge of taking on extra responsibility. We also learn what she really thinks in the face of obstacles about getting on their hostess’s good side, managing Meriel’s demands and encouraging Julie’s interest in Guiding. But there are helpers, loyal Freddy (who needs to restrain her impulse to thrill), Rowan, and from unexpected quarters.
What I like about this story is that these are plausible challenges, personality clashes, class issues (which Guide books have always faced, and which were becoming more discussed in books for children in the 1950s). It faces the question of how relevant Guiding is to this generation, probably a few years younger than the daughters of the first Guides would be, in a world where there are TV sets and other distractions competing for young teenagers’ time and energy, when a lot of them would be leaving school at 16.
If anything, Bradley was perhaps a bit too honest about human nature – it’s not a great advertisement for the Guide movement when a lieutenant puts her career first and another PL says she’s outgrown Guides just when there’s a crisis. Arguably, Meriel doesn’t have what it takes to be a PL, but by sticking to her principles and doing her best, Beechy gains the respect of the people who doubted Guiding the most. There’s also fun, as the Guides go on a midnight ramble and build up to a Halloween party, where Beechy, a budding writer, comes up with a play.
The characters are all rounded and lively. Beechy is very human, fairly observant but has to be as tactful as a fifteen and a half year old can be. Erica is multi layered, standoffish one second, thoughtful the next, and her appearance keeps changing. She and Rowan provide a romance on the sidelines of the book's main action. Julie, who may not be the most academic and, at times, not the most likely Guide candidate, turns out to be the one who ‘gets it’ the most. The Hanover Street gang are depicted effectively, and although Chummy sweeps in at the end to help sort things out, it is mainly the youngsters themselves who have to deal with things. Worth reading!
