Apple Bough (by Noel Streatfeild)

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After reading quite a tense - and lengthy - novel, it was a relief to settle down to one of my favourite children’s books by Noel Streatfeild. I have loved her writing since I was about nine or ten, and reread my collection of her books regularly. She’s best known for ‘Ballet shoes’, now considered a classic, but there are two or three of her other books which I like even more. 

I last read ‘Apple Bough’ in the summer of 2016, but had forgotten the bulk of the story. I knew it was about a family who travelled, who missed their home (Apple Bough) in Essex. I recalled a talented musician, too. But I did not remember any of the details, or even the people. 

The Forum family are travelling when we first meet them, and it’s clear that three of the children are getting rather jaded. But their parents are convinced that they all love being world travellers, and none of the children feel able to contradict them. It’s not that the parents are controlling or harsh - quite the opposite. They’re a close, loving family, and their parents believe they should all be together, wherever they are. 

The reason for their travelling around the globe is Sebastian, the second child. Then there’s a longish flashback, when we see the family living happily in their large, rambling home with an overgrown garden. Their father is a pianist who travels around the country accompanying soloists, but he’s rarely away for more than a day at a time. Their mother is a somewhat disorganised, bohemian artist. 

All the children are somewhat musical, and learn to play the piano at quite a young age. Sebastian seems to be the most musical, and when he’s four it’s clear that he longs to play the violin. He starts to learn, and progresses rapidly until he’s having to do several hours of practice every day. 

Myra, the oldest child - who is only six at this stage - is very responsible, and has been trying to look after her younger siblings. So it’s a great relief when Miss Popple is engaged as a governess. Miss Popple is not just a teacher; she’s a good cook, and a great organiser. And she gradually takes over the management of the family. And everything is going well until one day Sebastian, now eight years old, is heard playing at a local concert, and then invited to do a tour in the United States. Since the parents refuse to break up the family, they close the house and they all set off for what should have been six months, but ends up as four years abroad. 

So the story really begins when Myra is thirteen and Sebastian twelve. The next brother, Wolfie, is ten, and the youngest, Ettie, is nine. They have been travelling around for so long that they have become bored, and more determinedly English than anything else. Sebastian is a likeable boy - he’s not an arrogant prodigy but a small, rather quiet child who almost turns into a different personality when he’s on stage. He’s quite famous, and his siblings expect to keep travelling with him, but would love to stop.

Then they go on a month’s holiday to stay with their grandparents in Devon, and their grandfather, who is a minister, talks to them about the parable of the talents. He points out that they all have gifts, and they should all use them, even if Sebastian is the one with far more talent than any of the rest of them. Myra longs to have a home, and most of all to see her dog, who had to go and stay with Miss Popple’s brother. 

Inevitably there are some unlikely coincidences, and - typically for Streatfeild - Ettie is becoming a promising ballet dancer. But the story is beautifully told, and all the children are believable and three-dimensional. Perhaps Wolfie is a bit too confident and arrogant, but then that’s a good thing from the point of view of an opportunity he is offered. And Ettie, while also sure of her ability, doesn’t think there’s any chance that she could settle down with just one ballet teacher, because all she really remembers is travelling.

There were two or three places where I had tears in my eyes as I read; not many authors can do that for me, but I find Streatfeild’s writing often very moving. She gets right into the minds and hearts of children, and I could empathise strongly with Myra. There is also some low-key humour, and a great deal of warmth. 

As with many of this author’s books, the ending is a tad more abrupt than I wanted - but it does tie up lots of threads very nicely. It also makes the point that change happens, that people grow up, and that sometimes even the closest of families may have to spend time apart.

Very highly recommended. Intended for children aged around eight to twelve, but it could make a nice read-aloud for a younger child. And of course Noel Streatfeild’s books are also read regularly by adults like me who recall them fondly from our own childhood and teenage years. 

Very highly recommended if you like gentle character-based children’s fiction. 

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