The Bell Family (by Noel Streatfeild)

(Amazon UK link)

I have been reading and re-reading books by Noel Streatfeild for over fifty years. But it wasn’t until about ten years ago that I managed to acquire a copy of ‘The Bell Family’, which had been reprinted in paperback form. I couldn’t recall ever having read it before. Now, a decade later, I couldn’t remember anything about it, so it was definitely time for a re-read.

The book is about a family who live in London. It was first published as a contemporary novel in the 1950s, and my edition is delightfully illustrated by Shirley Hughes. Alex, the father, is a clergyman. He’s peace-loving, hard-working and often tired. His wife, Cathy, would much prefer to live in the country but she and Alex are a close couple, and she does what she can to support him. Their vicarage is rather a depressing place, in a busy high street, and they have very little money.

However they do have four children. Paul is fourteen as the story gets going. His passion is medicine, and he hopes, one day, to be a doctor. He works hard and managed to win a scholarship to a grammar school. He hopes to continue winning scholarships as he embarks on the lengthy training that will be needed. His sister Jane is twelve; she’s dark-haired, slim and pretty and loves ballet. She doesn’t have the precocious talent of some of Streatfeild’s other dancing children, but she is single-minded and practises daily. She knows she has no hope of going to a ballet school, due to the cost, and the dancing teacher at her school isn’t the greatest. Mostly she has accepted this.

Ginny is the next sister, aged ten. She loves food and is not as slim or attractive as Jane, but she is quite outspoken. She knows her mind and has strong opinions. She also sometimes acts without thinking of the consequences. She is quite close to Angust, the youngest in the family, who is about to turn eight. He has an excellent singing voice and won a scholarship to a choir school. But unfortunately he doesn’t much like singing.

Despite the family’s extreme poverty, they have a ‘daily’ called Mrs Gage who does the cleaning and cooking, and generally looks after them. And they have a dog, Esau, who is a very attractive dog. One of the early chapters has the family posing him for a photo, so they can enter him in a dog competition.

This book apparently started life as a series of radio broadcasts, with each episode more-or-less complete in itself. I don’t think it makes much difference; it flows well, and while the book is a series of incidents rather than having an overall plot or aim, there’s plenty of character progression. In the course of this book - which covers more than a year - there are many events. One of the earlier ones is a birthday party for Angus, arranged by his wealthy uncle and aunt who look down on them. Alex’s parents are there too; they love the children, but refused to accept Alex’s calling to the ministry, so they won’t give him any financial support. 

During the course of the book, Angus discovers something he really wants to do, and Ginny gets in trouble more than once, though she is not deliberately naughty. Jane dances in a special show and is given a surprise… something done so well that I found myself tearing up a little. And Paul has to make a very difficult decision about his future. I very much liked the way that was handled, including the conversation that leads to his eventual final decision. 

Ten years ago I thought this book well written but didn’t count it as one of my favourites. Possibly this is because I read it shortly after reading some of the author's autobiographical works. I could tell that much of the story came from her personal experience.  But re-reading in the past few days, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am already looking forward to reading it again in another decade or so. 

The first time I read this book, I learned that it has a sequel, originally called ‘New Town’, and reprinted at some point as ‘New Shoes’.  I looked for it after reading ‘The Bell Family’, but to no avail. I really hoped it would be reprinted at some point, but ten years later that hasn’t happened. Unfortunately it’s quite rare and very expensive. So I won’t be getting that any time soon. 

‘The Bell Family’, however, is much more widely available, from Amazon and elsewhere. It’s even been published for the Kindle. 

Recommended to older children or teens who like this kind of book, or to adults like me who grew up with Noel Streatfeild and re-read her books regularly.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews