REVIEW: Crooked Sixpenny
Aug. 15th, 2024 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI feel the need to emphasise that this is not about the Olympics or any sports.
Crooked Sixpence: Jane Shaw. Girls Gone By Publishers, 2021
I’ve read most of the Penny books, but out of sequence and over a period of many years, so I didn’t really remember much about them. As a result, the introduction at the start of this story was useful, but only up to a point, because I still had unanswered questions. It’s the end of summer, sisters Penny and Jill Carter are staying at Friars Combe, a village in Somerset near Bath, with their friends Laura and John Mallory. The Mallorys have recently introduced the Carters to Richard and Cam (Camilla) Gauntlett, and while Penny and John aren’t sure about Richard, for he seems full of himself, Cam, Laura and Penny are around thirteen and the six children join forces to become ‘the Six Pennies’, because ‘something queer’ is going on around Villain’s Field, part of the Gauntletts’ grandfather’s land.
Apparently, the ghostly ‘Tudor Boy’ has been seen around the field recently, an apparition with special significance for the Gauntletts. This fascinates most of the children, but terrifies Penny. The Mallorys’ cousin Stephen, who plans to become a teacher, is coming to camp at Villain’s Field with six orphans, including mischievous Ginger and Sid, who has a stutter when he’s excited. This gives the investigators an extra reason to visit the field.
The mystery around the field and how it’s solved are not too taxing, although everything that happens is plausible (give or take that it all happens within a very brief period of time.) What lifts the book (although I’ve read so many holiday adventures that are far less plausible) is Shaw’s humour. Penny is a rounded character, with a good instinct about people, loyal – she looks up to Stephen, adores her dog Candy – but easily embarrassed and frightened and unsure of her own capabilities, unlike her more gung-ho friends, particularly the Mallorys. Her interest in collecting coins and imagining the past, and general uselessness often lead to the most useful clues. And really, someone who baulks at milking cows when they’ve never done it in their life, or climbing ladders or catching ghosts when they believe in them, is sympathetic. In contrast, her sister Jill has no imagination and is constantly putting Penny down (admittedly Penny can be annoying), despite being the younger of the two. John’s enthusiasms carry everyone into doing things whether they want to or are fit for them or not. Stephen has something of this charisma, too, although he’s more sensible. He’s old enough to drive and is solicitous of Penny, who gets knocked about a fair bit during these adventures.
The dialogue, too, is always natural, leavened by wit – there’s always someone to tell whoever is telling a story in a rather rambling way to get to the point. Siblings don’t let their siblings to get away with too much, although this lends a contrast then to the orphans, which Penny can see.
Campfires and parties are interrupted by other adventures, and there’s a big change for the Gauntletts, but also for one of the orphan boys, all because of Penny, who is, thanks to Shaw’s deft writing, a relatable heroine.
This GGBP edition also features a thorough and instructive ‘Personal Introduction’ by Jane Shaw’s son, which details how the author used real locations and incidents as inspirations and traces various influences for ‘Crooked Sixpence’ and the Penny series. There’s also the short story ‘Crooks Limited’ by Shaw, in which a girl nicknamed Ricky (the nickname Cam gives Richard in ‘Crooked Sixpence’) dreams of being the one to catch a gang of crooks using a furniture van to loot art and antiques in Glasgow. Her friends Julie and Fay may tease her, but help in their different ways. These and the other extras really add value to this edition.
Crooked Sixpence: Jane Shaw. Girls Gone By Publishers, 2021
I’ve read most of the Penny books, but out of sequence and over a period of many years, so I didn’t really remember much about them. As a result, the introduction at the start of this story was useful, but only up to a point, because I still had unanswered questions. It’s the end of summer, sisters Penny and Jill Carter are staying at Friars Combe, a village in Somerset near Bath, with their friends Laura and John Mallory. The Mallorys have recently introduced the Carters to Richard and Cam (Camilla) Gauntlett, and while Penny and John aren’t sure about Richard, for he seems full of himself, Cam, Laura and Penny are around thirteen and the six children join forces to become ‘the Six Pennies’, because ‘something queer’ is going on around Villain’s Field, part of the Gauntletts’ grandfather’s land.
Apparently, the ghostly ‘Tudor Boy’ has been seen around the field recently, an apparition with special significance for the Gauntletts. This fascinates most of the children, but terrifies Penny. The Mallorys’ cousin Stephen, who plans to become a teacher, is coming to camp at Villain’s Field with six orphans, including mischievous Ginger and Sid, who has a stutter when he’s excited. This gives the investigators an extra reason to visit the field.
The mystery around the field and how it’s solved are not too taxing, although everything that happens is plausible (give or take that it all happens within a very brief period of time.) What lifts the book (although I’ve read so many holiday adventures that are far less plausible) is Shaw’s humour. Penny is a rounded character, with a good instinct about people, loyal – she looks up to Stephen, adores her dog Candy – but easily embarrassed and frightened and unsure of her own capabilities, unlike her more gung-ho friends, particularly the Mallorys. Her interest in collecting coins and imagining the past, and general uselessness often lead to the most useful clues. And really, someone who baulks at milking cows when they’ve never done it in their life, or climbing ladders or catching ghosts when they believe in them, is sympathetic. In contrast, her sister Jill has no imagination and is constantly putting Penny down (admittedly Penny can be annoying), despite being the younger of the two. John’s enthusiasms carry everyone into doing things whether they want to or are fit for them or not. Stephen has something of this charisma, too, although he’s more sensible. He’s old enough to drive and is solicitous of Penny, who gets knocked about a fair bit during these adventures.
The dialogue, too, is always natural, leavened by wit – there’s always someone to tell whoever is telling a story in a rather rambling way to get to the point. Siblings don’t let their siblings to get away with too much, although this lends a contrast then to the orphans, which Penny can see.
Campfires and parties are interrupted by other adventures, and there’s a big change for the Gauntletts, but also for one of the orphan boys, all because of Penny, who is, thanks to Shaw’s deft writing, a relatable heroine.
This GGBP edition also features a thorough and instructive ‘Personal Introduction’ by Jane Shaw’s son, which details how the author used real locations and incidents as inspirations and traces various influences for ‘Crooked Sixpence’ and the Penny series. There’s also the short story ‘Crooks Limited’ by Shaw, in which a girl nicknamed Ricky (the nickname Cam gives Richard in ‘Crooked Sixpence’) dreams of being the one to catch a gang of crooks using a furniture van to loot art and antiques in Glasgow. Her friends Julie and Fay may tease her, but help in their different ways. These and the other extras really add value to this edition.
