REVIEW: Thanks to Mr. Jones
May. 19th, 2024 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllThanks to Mr. Jones: Phyllis Mathewman. C. & J. Temple, 1948.
‘Who is Mr Jones?’ I wondered, having bought this on the strength of having enjoyed a couple of Mathewman’s books for girls in the past. I see I haven't reviewed anything by her here. It turns out that Mr Jones is the main character’s dog, a terrier named after the farmer who gave it to her, not Mr Jones from ‘Animal Farm’ (which had been first published in 1945.) The author will mention another Mr Jones, but to say any more about him would be a spoiler.
I should also say that the main character is called Peter, but it’s short for Petronella. She’s thirteen and we meet her at a turning point in her life, when her mother informs her that, because of death duties, they will have to let the family home, Monksfield, a manor in the Welsh Borders, and move to Bristol, where she will have to go to school instead of the boarding school they’d planned. Peter does not take the news well, having lead what Mathewman describes as a sheltered life, even though they’ve just come through the second world war. Granted, her mother also announces that she’d agreed to host a friend’s children for the summer, which will now be the last summer Peter will get to spend at Monksfield before she grows up, probably. It’s a lot to take in.
Peter has a violent reaction to all this, but is the type to blow up and then get over it (though she’s never faced anything as big as this.) Actually, it turns out that Jeffrey, Sara and Timothy Chalmers are rather attractive young people. Jeff is the oldest at fifteen, Sara about Peter’s age and they soon become fast friends, while Timothy is sure enough of himself that he won’t get bullied, although he has to mind Jeff. In fact, I liked the Chalmers more than Peter, who I thought deserved to find out how the majority of thirteen year olds lived, in homes without oodles of room, without acres of land, without servants or a pony. But the plot and the characters (including the servants, who are, of course, devoted) seemed determined to make it right for Peter, as Tim uncannily, and just a touch smugly, prophesised.
Still, Mathewman delivers vivid characters, from imaginative Peter, tactless Sara, to the more insightful Jeff. And although it’s couched as ‘friendship’ between Peter and Jeff, they come to find that they have much in common, such as their liking of imagining what historical places were like in the past, with hints that their bond will last. In contrast, Tim is interested in mechanics and electricity, and reading the book in the twenty-first century, I smiled a couple of times over the technical advances he’d like to see, knowing what was actually invented instead.
The story is enjoyable and mostly within the bounds of credibility. There’s one dramatic rescue, but Peter gets to show the beauties of the borders – Malvern, Hereford, Symonds Yat and Ludlow – to the visitors. It also turns out that the Chalmers are used to putting on shows. Jeff is quite the budding producer cum director, Sara can dance and Tim of course does the lighting, so when it rains, the children prepare to put on a masque. All the while, Peter is dreading having to leave, and though she’s trying to keep busy, there are constant reminders and sometimes tensions.
We get to find out what Mr Jones makes of it all, and all credit to Mathewman here, I’m not a dog person or a fan of dropping into dogs’ thoughts in stories. But it wasn’t too badly done. Mr Jones is obsessed by rabbits or their scents, and fully aware of his own dignity, in a way that reminded me more of a cat than a dog, so that’s probably why I liked him. I kicked against Peter and her family’s entitlement, but noted that one of the characters observed that quite a few Parliamentarians were acting out of conviction, and schoolgirls had a tendency to romanticise Cavaliers because of how they dressed! It’s a pretty enjoyable read, overall.
‘Who is Mr Jones?’ I wondered, having bought this on the strength of having enjoyed a couple of Mathewman’s books for girls in the past. I see I haven't reviewed anything by her here. It turns out that Mr Jones is the main character’s dog, a terrier named after the farmer who gave it to her, not Mr Jones from ‘Animal Farm’ (which had been first published in 1945.) The author will mention another Mr Jones, but to say any more about him would be a spoiler.
I should also say that the main character is called Peter, but it’s short for Petronella. She’s thirteen and we meet her at a turning point in her life, when her mother informs her that, because of death duties, they will have to let the family home, Monksfield, a manor in the Welsh Borders, and move to Bristol, where she will have to go to school instead of the boarding school they’d planned. Peter does not take the news well, having lead what Mathewman describes as a sheltered life, even though they’ve just come through the second world war. Granted, her mother also announces that she’d agreed to host a friend’s children for the summer, which will now be the last summer Peter will get to spend at Monksfield before she grows up, probably. It’s a lot to take in.
Peter has a violent reaction to all this, but is the type to blow up and then get over it (though she’s never faced anything as big as this.) Actually, it turns out that Jeffrey, Sara and Timothy Chalmers are rather attractive young people. Jeff is the oldest at fifteen, Sara about Peter’s age and they soon become fast friends, while Timothy is sure enough of himself that he won’t get bullied, although he has to mind Jeff. In fact, I liked the Chalmers more than Peter, who I thought deserved to find out how the majority of thirteen year olds lived, in homes without oodles of room, without acres of land, without servants or a pony. But the plot and the characters (including the servants, who are, of course, devoted) seemed determined to make it right for Peter, as Tim uncannily, and just a touch smugly, prophesised.
Still, Mathewman delivers vivid characters, from imaginative Peter, tactless Sara, to the more insightful Jeff. And although it’s couched as ‘friendship’ between Peter and Jeff, they come to find that they have much in common, such as their liking of imagining what historical places were like in the past, with hints that their bond will last. In contrast, Tim is interested in mechanics and electricity, and reading the book in the twenty-first century, I smiled a couple of times over the technical advances he’d like to see, knowing what was actually invented instead.
The story is enjoyable and mostly within the bounds of credibility. There’s one dramatic rescue, but Peter gets to show the beauties of the borders – Malvern, Hereford, Symonds Yat and Ludlow – to the visitors. It also turns out that the Chalmers are used to putting on shows. Jeff is quite the budding producer cum director, Sara can dance and Tim of course does the lighting, so when it rains, the children prepare to put on a masque. All the while, Peter is dreading having to leave, and though she’s trying to keep busy, there are constant reminders and sometimes tensions.
We get to find out what Mr Jones makes of it all, and all credit to Mathewman here, I’m not a dog person or a fan of dropping into dogs’ thoughts in stories. But it wasn’t too badly done. Mr Jones is obsessed by rabbits or their scents, and fully aware of his own dignity, in a way that reminded me more of a cat than a dog, so that’s probably why I liked him. I kicked against Peter and her family’s entitlement, but noted that one of the characters observed that quite a few Parliamentarians were acting out of conviction, and schoolgirls had a tendency to romanticise Cavaliers because of how they dressed! It’s a pretty enjoyable read, overall.
