Permanent Rose (by Hilary McKay)

(Amazon UK link)

The first time I read the ‘Casson family’ series by Hilary McKay, they were spread over about a year as I gradually acquired them. This time I’ve been reading in chronological order, at a rate of about one per month. I read the third in the series (originally the second), ‘Indigo’s star’, back in July, and was travelling in August. So I’ve only just reread its sequel, ‘Permanent Rose’. I last read this in February 2012 and had forgotten almost all of it. 

Rose, youngest in the Casson family, is nearly nine in this book. She’s a gifted artist with a tremendous imagination. She’s outgoing and inquisitive, as well as very determined. And she’s probably dyslexic, although nobody seems to have realised that yet. 

The story opens as a boy called David makes his way to the Casson house, hoping to see Indigo. David is rather neglected (though he has a grandfather who loves him), and for some years was a thug and a bully. But he’s now reformed, and wants to be Indigo’s friend. He hopes this is possible since Indigo’s previous best friend Tom - who featured heavily in ‘Indigo’s star’ - is back in New York. David isn’t quite prepared for what he finds at the delightfully chaotic Casson home: nude sunbathing in the back garden, for instance. 

The first chapter cleverly introduces each of the family individually without tedious back story; instead it shows them in their different environments and what they’re currently doing or thinking about. David is rather taken with Rose, but she had developed a huge crush on Tom, and misses him even more than Indigo did. Tom has not been in touch, although he promised he would. And nobody in this chaotic family thought to make a note of Tom’s address or phone number.

There’s a series of incidents in the book, many of them involving Rose, but not all of them. Caddy, who is now 18, is engaged to Michael (who also adores Rose) but she’s not sure she wants to marry him. And she keeps losing her ring. Saffy, who was adopted when she was three after her mother died, has a sudden hankering to know who her father is. Indigo is reading and rereading an old book about King Arthur, and sharing snippets with Rose. Eve, mother of the family, is meanwhile painting murals on the local hospital walls.

I’m not sure what it is about these books that makes them so moving. The characters are all slightly caricatured, and yet while reading they feel entirely real. They live in general chaos, making their own rather random meals, since Eve usually stays in her art studio when she’s not working elsewhere. Their father Bill lives in London, in a flat, with his girlfriend Samantha who became known to the family in the previous book. 

I find these books compulsive reading, even though some of the storylines are bizarre in the extreme. Saffy’s friend Sarah, for instance, wants to make a cake for her mother’s birthday, but makes major mistakes three times… including putting popcorn on the top, and assuming that if ingredients are doubled, the cooking time should too.  

But alongside some bickering and crazy events, there’s a strong family bond. They are all really very fond of each other - this is something David finds difficult to understand, as he slowly gets to know the whole family. And I like Rose very much in this book, even though she’s started doing risky things that are morally dubious. She evidently feels a bit neglected herself, as the youngest in the family with an absent father and vague mother. She longs for security: she doesn’t want Caddy to break up with Michael, and she is worried about Indigo becoming friendly with David. She also longs to find out what has happened to Tom. 

Recommended for children of about 9-12, or adults like me who enjoy this kind of book. It would make a good read-aloud for slightly younger children, but note that there are issues relating to what Rose calls the ‘facts of life’ (though nothing explicit) as Saffy does her research. 

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