I very much enjoyed, both as a child and an adult, E Nesbit’s classic children’s books such as ‘The Railway Children’ and ‘Five Children and It’. On acquiring a Kindle some years ago I was delighted to learn that she (along with various other authors) had written some lesser-known works for adults. I downloaded a lot of free out-of-copyright books and on a recent trip to the UK, decided to read this one.
‘The Incomplete Amorist’ was first published in 1906, so it’s inevitably steeped in Victorian morality and culture. So I had no problem realising how shocking it is for 18-year-old Betty, the respectable step-daughter of a Vicar, to meet Vernon, an artist, ten years her senior, without a chaperone. She justifies the meetings in her own mind, as educational; Vernon offers to teach her, and it’s fairly clear that he is a serial womaniser who hopes to seduce a young girl.
But Betty is really very innocent; her shyness and honesty, which he takes as coquetry, keeps him somewhat at arm’s length. Unsurprisingly her stepfather finds out and is horrified, banning her to her room and refusing to allow her to see him again. It could have been melodramatic; it could have been dull. But there’s a lot of irony in the writing, and some wry observations that lift this out of the mundane. The relationship between Betty and her stepfather is full of misunderstandings, and I found myself hoping that they would eventually learn to understand each other.
Much of the story is set in Paris, where Betty goes to study art with a respectable lady after the intervention of one of her aunts. Vernon is in the same city, and two new characters appear who befriend Betty and gradually the four develop a rather complex love quadrangle (if that’s the phrase).
In places the story was rather slow-moving, and the conversation a bit stilted, but given that it was written well over a hundred years ago, it’s quite lively and even risqué in places. Nothing is ever stated outright, but there are implications and innuendoes, and a fair amount of tension when Betty decides to try and live independently for a while.
‘The Incomplete Amorist’ was a good book to read when on holiday; it wasn’t so gripping that I couldn’t put it down at any point but the characters and situations were distinct enough that I never forgot who was whom, or got lost in the story when picking it up to read a bit more at bedtime.
I didn’t think it anywhere near as good as the author’s children’s books, but on the whole I liked this book and am glad I read it. The link above is to a print copy of the book, but it's easy enough to find free or inexpensively for the Kindle or other ebook readers, or as part of an E Nesbit collection.
Review copyright 2017 Sue's Book Reviews
I do like children's fiction, particularly the books written in the early-to-mid part of the 20th century. And while E Nesbit wasn't my favourite author when I was a child, I did enjoy some of her books such as 'The Railway Children'. So I was pleased to find some of her lesser-known books available in ebook form; they are out of copyright so it was easy to find a free version.
I am not sure if I ever read 'The Enchanted Castle' as a child, although the title sounds familiar. It's the story of three siblings, Gerry, Jimmy and Kathleen. They have to stay at Kathleen's boarding school one holiday, due to illness elsewhere. They are loosely in the charge of the French mistress, but Gerry manages to charm her and they find themselves given a great deal of freedom - perhaps typical for the era, since most of E Nesbit's fictional children seem to roam the countryside unescorted.
So the children set out with a picnic to explore the neighbourhood and after making up lots of adventures they find themselves in the grounds of a castle. It feels magical, and then they come, a young girl dressed as a princess who is fast asleep. They play at 'Sleeping Beauty' for a while, and the princess turns out to be Mabel, niece of someone who works at the castle. She befriends the children and shows them some 'magic', using tricks of the castle, only to discover that a particular ring is indeed magical, granting various wishes with a variety of consequences...
I suppose the overall idea is somewhat similar to that of the better-known 'Five Children and It', but with more of a theme of castles and jewels, interspersed with the ongoing plotline of trying to be nice to the somewhat sad mam'selle who is staying in the school. Sometimes amusing, in a low-key way, this was quite fun to read.
Unfortunately my Kindle version was rather poorly converted, meaning that a lot of the punctuation was missing, so it jarred somewhat as I read. I assume that in book format it would be considerably easier to read.
Intended for children aged around 8-11, the language is inevitably dated, since the book was first published in 1907. Some of the concepts may seem rather naive, even unpleasant or racist - yet E Nesbit was herself very socially for her era. What I particularly like about her books is that she gets nicely inside the minds of children, so that it's easy to identify with them. Overall, this is an enjoyable story, if a little bizarre. Recommended.
'The Enchanted Castle' is in print in various formats on both sides of the Atlantic, quite inexpensively, so I would suggest buying a paperback rather than this flawed free ebook edition.
Review copyright 2014 Sue's Book Reviews
I love reading children's books, particularly classics like 'The railway children' by E Nesbit. The story is well-known: three children live an idyllic life with their cheerful father and loving mother in the early part of the 20th century.
One day some men arrive unexpectedly and their father goes away with them. Their mother is very upset, and before long the children and their mother move to a smaller house near a railway station.
The book mostly follows the lives of the children. They no longer go to school so they are free to roam around the countryside getting to know people and learning a great deal about the railway. Which doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it's a great book - there are some very moving moments, and it's also very well-written with a bit of humour in the author's asides.
Despite being written nearly 100 years ago the language doesn't seem too old-fashioned, and would probably be enjoyed by children from about the age of seven or eight upwards reading alone, or younger with a parent reading aloud.
I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this after a gap of many years. I could hardly put it down after starting it last night, and finished it in just a few hours this afternoon.
Definitely recommended.
(If you prefer a film of children's books, we enjoyed an excellent adaptation of The Railway Children (the 1970 version). It is fairly true to the original, albeit a tad slow-moving).
Every so often I need to relax my mind, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to re-read an old favourite children's book. E (Edith) Nesbit wrote several books which I enjoyed in my childhood, most of which we still have on our shelves.
'Five Children and It' is one of her best-known stories, featuring four children and their baby brother, around the turn of the 20th century. One day, playing outside, they discover a 'sand-fairy' (or Psammead) who can grant wishes.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with magical wishes, they are taken very literally. So in most cases the wishes do not necessarily provide what was hoped for. Indeed, each wish turns out to cause a great deal of problems for the children, although thankfully they only last until sunset on the day they were wished.
Still, rather than the morality tale theme that was so common in the late 19th and early 20th century (and which would have been easy to include in these stories of extravagant greed on behalf of the children!) the stories are basically good fun. They are down-to-earth practical children who love each other in a typical sibling way, and who really want things to turn out all right.
Obviously some of the language and the culture is rather dated, but the book is quite suitable for today's children.
(Later note - this book has recently become in vogue again, due to the film version of Five Children and It, made in 2004)
