Although it doesn’t really feel like it, this is now quite an old story (originally published in 1954). If you like history, adventure and mystery and don’t mind a bit of a challenge, you might enjoy this book. You may not fully understand what is happening all the time but, even though they are mysterious, the stories seem like they could really have happened and you gradually find yourself more and more involved with the characters.
Toseland has an unusual childhood (as well as an unusual name!) and seems to be rather lonely: his mother is dead and his father and stepmother are abroad in Burma. He normally spends his holidays from boarding school with his head mistress (Miss Spudd!) and her aged father which is not a lot of fun. This holiday, he is rather excited because he is going to stay with his great-grandmother who, oddly, he has never met. When he arrives, he discovers her house is surrounded by flood-water and he has to be ferried there in a rowing boat by the elderly, but jolly, Mr Boggis (whose family seems to have been involved with the Oldknow family for hundreds of years). Mr Boggis suggests Great-Grandmother Oldknow will be very happy to meet him. He finally arrives to discover a strange old house with winding staircases, mirrors and ancient intriguing objects everywhere. Toseland, a highly imaginative boy, feels like he has arrived in a magical castle.
Great-Grandmother (Granny), who is very welcoming, encourages Tolly to explore the house and gardens as freely as he likes. She names him Tolly —a nickname adopted by all previous Toselands in his family— but, even so, she is always making mistakes with his name and thinking he is Toby. Mysteriously, Granny suggests that other children do sometimes visit the house so he may not be alone for long…
Soon after Tolly’s arrival, he is shown a large oil painting of his ancestors from the 17th century (three children and their mother and grandmother) which fascinates him. He discovers that the three children were called Toby, Alexander and Linnet. He notices that many of their belongings are still in the house and, because he is so observant, he even rediscovers some that have been lost for many years. Tolly loves hearing his granny’s stories about the house and, as the stories develop, he becomes more and more fascinated by his family’s past and even begins to imagine that the children in the painting could be his ‘brothers and sisters’…
This book was made into a popular TV series in the 1980s and can still be found on DVD. It also developed into a series of books which have been widely enjoyed. Lucy Boston was awarded a Carnegie medal for one of them: A Stranger at Green Knowe. The original books were also illustrated by her son, Peter, with intricate black and white drawings. They have more recently been republished in more modern designs and the first book (this one) and the second The River at Green Knowe can now be read in one volume.
This looks good!