This reading project gives me a reason to go back and reread beloved childhood favorites -- not that I needed an excuse to pick up L. M. Boston's books again.
Lucy Maria Wood Boston (1892-1990) began writing after the age of sixty and used her riverside home as the fictional setting of her novels. As a single mother, she moved to Hemingford Grey, a country manor house in Cambridgeshire (northeast of London) on the bank of the River Great Ouse that is estimated to have been built around 1130. Boston lived there almost five decades until her death, restoring it and developing an extensive garden.
As Boston readily admits in her autobiographical book Memory in a House, the influence of Hemingford Grey produced stories are deeply English. They reflect folklore and history but also the riverside habitat in a way that is both rare and compelling. (You can tell by my stack pictured below how much I love these books. In the days before Amazon or online booksellers, I carefully tracked down copies from library sales no matter how battered.)
Many of the books I've been reading for this project would fall into the genre of Action/Adventure. Boston's stories, too, could fall into this category, yet they more fully fit into the Low Fantasy genre. "Low" doesn't describe quality in any way, but rather describes the fictional world of the book in comparison with everyday life. In "High Fantasy" stories, setting, characters, and plot involve a purely fictional fantasy world. The Hobbit is a great example. "Low Fantasy," on the other hand, involves fantastic occurrences within our known world. The Harry Potter books and Narnia stories are Low Fantasy.
L.M. Boston brings to life a wonderful country house called Green Knowe. Through six books, readers come to know the house and its occupants in different historic time periods. One of the most magical aspects, however, is that the children living in the house get to visit each other across time. The ensuing adventures are fun to read, yet also inspiring. Fantasy stories are often about the classic battle of Good vs. Evil. The Low Fantasy genre -- with a foot in both the physical and spiritual realms -- seems to particularly coax authors into revealing their thoughts about life and their values. Although this may seem preachy to some, I find authors like C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle create an oasis where readers can come to learn and feel strengthened. That is how I feel about Boston's books as well. They offer a world full of love and joy but also an appreciation of tradition, history, and nature.
1. The Children of Green Knowe -- The first of the Green Knowe stories takes place in post-WWII. It centers on Tolly, a boy who has lost his mother and doesn't have a real place in the world until he meets his great-grandmother and discovers Green Knowe. He soon meets the children who lived there in the 1650s.
2. The Treasure of Green Knowe (English version is The Chimneys of Green Knowe) -- Tolly gets to know the house and its occupants in 1798, helping them solve a centuries-old crime.
3. The River at Green Knowe -- Two war orphans come to Green Knowe for the summer and have grand adventures along the river -- while also finding healing from their experiences.
4. A Stranger at Green Knowe -- Ping, a war orphan visiting Green Knowe, befriends a runaway zoo gorilla. (This book won the prestigious Carnegie Medal.)
5. An Enemy at Green Knowe -- Tolly and Ping defend Green Knowe from an enemy who wants to find hidden treasure and claim the house as her own. (Note: I find this book quite a bit darker than the others. Boston wrote it while trying to defend the house from developers. I'll read the other books to Eli soon but will save this one until he is older. If you have an older child who is compelled to read by "spooky factor," this is a great one!)
6. The Stones of Green Knowe -- Tolly meets Roger, who lived in the house when it was first built in the times of the Norman invaders.
The Green Knowe stories are still in print and I have bought copies for many of the kids in my life. Truly, these are not to be missed!
To read about a film based on The Treasure of Green Knowe, click HERE.
For more about the British Reading Adventure including previous posts and a book list, click HERE.
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