The Secret of Grey Walls (by Malcolm Saville)

(Amazon UK link)

I am so enjoying my gradual re-read of Malcolm Saville’s ‘Lone Pine’ series. I first discovered the earlier books on my grandmother’s shelves when I was a child, and acquired later books in Armada paperback form through the 1970s. I used to re-read the entire series, one after another, every few years, and then every decade… but have decided, as with my last read-through, to re-read about one per month, interspersed with some new books and some I’m re-reading by other favourite authors.

The last time I read ‘The Secret of Grey Walls’ was twelve years ago, so although I recalled the general storyline I had forgotten most of the detail. I’ve had my edition in hardback all along, albeit rather battered, so I have no need to look for a ‘full’ edition; the Armadas were quite seriously abridged, although I’m grateful that they were published in that form as they were inexpensive for me as a teenager, and kept the series alive in my mind.

In this book, Jon and Penny Warrender, who were introduced as new characters in ‘The Gay Dolphin Adventure’, get to meet the other Lone Pine members - Peter, Tom and Jenny - whom they had not previously met. They travel up to Shropshire from Rye, a long train journey, and en route meet a sheep farmer called Alan Denton. Penny takes quite a shine to him; Jon, who is intellectual and reserved, is less enthusiastic.

The rest of the Lone Pine club are en route to a guest house, which their housekeeper Agnes is going to be running for her sister for a while. Poor Agnes has a hard time in this book, anxious about her charges, particularly the ten-year-old Morton twins Dickie and Mary. I could feel for her in a way I didn’t appreciate at all when I was younger.

It’s an exciting adventure, like others in the series. Sheep are being systematically stolen from local farmers, including Alan Denton, but nobody can understand how it’s happening. Peter is pretty sure they are being transported in a large furniture van, but nobody seems to believe her. And they’re all a bit suspicious of the strange person, Mr Cantor, who is staying at the guest house, claiming that he’s interested in antiquities, and is searching for flint arrowheads in the area.

The Lone Piners determine to find out what’s going on, and embark on explorations, investigations, and a great deal of potential danger. It’s a book intended for older children and younger teenagers (I believe the official age rating was 9-13) so, inevitably, everything gets sorted out, with the bad guys caught. I knew this anyway from previous readings of the book - but still I found some of the scenes quite tense.

‘Seven White Gates’ was first published in 1947 so the style is a bit dated, though not overly so. There are lengthy conversations and some descriptions that, even now, I tend to skim. But the story is very well-written, showing different points of view without it feeling disjointed in any way. The children’s characters are quite distinct too, and much of the conversation is character development as well as advancing the plot.

David is a courageous leader; Peter (Petronella) quiet, brave and intuitive. Jon is an academic, Penny an impetuous lover of action. Then Tom is a hard-working farm-hand who sometimes hankers after the city; Jenny an incurable romantic. And the twins are loyal, particularly to each other, and very bright. They are all likeable in their own ways, and I thought Malcolm Saville did an excellent job in this book of showing the stresses and slight jealousies that happened at first, when Jon and Penny started interacting with those they had not previously met.

This isn’t one of my absolute favourite books of the series, but I still enjoyed it very much. It was a little slow to get going, but difficult to put down once I was half-way through.

Each of the books stands alone but it’s better to have read the earlier books as the main characters recur, and some of the minor ones do too. I suspect the main readership is adults who remember this series with nostalgia from their teenage years, but I hope that younger teens will also discover the books and learn to love them, if only as historical fiction set in the 20th century.

Not currently in print, although the full version has been published by 'Girls Gone By' and is available (usually quite expensively) second-hand. Sometimes old hardback editions are better value, but if you want the full version avoid Armada paperbacks and Collins hardback re-issues.

Definitely recommended to anyone over the age of about eight or nine; it could make a good read-aloud too.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews