I can't quite leave author L. M. Boston yet. There are still two beloved books to share and both have the ability to almost suspend time by absorbing the reader in the setting. No matter how old I am, I still get caught up in the beauty of nature woven into these adventures! Also, I'm always a little in awe of how vividly Boston portrays children's inner thoughts and feelings when she was at least a half century past her own childhood as she wrote. While I read, I get jolts of remembrance on how it felt to be small.
The Sea Egg, written in 1967, takes us to the Cornish coast to enjoy summer holidays with brothers Toby and Joe. The magic begins when they find an egg-shaped stone -- that soon hatches. Before long, they are learning some of the secrets of the sea. Less than a hundred pages, this is a perfect story for a summer trip to the beach.
Nothing Said was written in 1971 and is set in a riverside house based on Boston's ancient 1130 A.D. manor house, Hemingford Grey. Young Libby's parents need to attend a conference, so a family friend named Julia offers Libby a temporary place to stay. Julia is an artist as well as a home gardener and amateur naturalist. With Julia as an ally and sometimes-guide, Libby finds herself leaving London behind for fields, hills, forests, and waterways. Although there is enough plot to pull the reader forward, it is the setting that lifts and propels this story. The old house and its gardens as well as the river and its upland tributaries are practically characters in their own right. (And if I live to be a hundred, I'll never stop hoping for a chance to swim in the still, crystal-clear waters of a flooded flower garden just like Libby!)
Although not preachy in any way, this small novella is a spiritual book about awakenings. I think of it often even if several years have gone by since I read it and Nothing Said always pops into my mind if someone asks about my favorite books. In fact, I have given a copy of this book many times to people going through hard times because there is something quietly profound and balm-like about it. It is a joy to read, a tale with a peaceful afterglow.
Happy reading!
I often thought of The Sea Egg when we lived in Northern California and visited the Pacific beaches. Here's Eli last spring with his buddies Garrett and Rosie. Rodeo Beach north of San Francisco felt like the sort of place where a magical egg might wash up...
Click HERE for the previous post about the Green Knowe books.
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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