The Runaway

by Elizabeth Anna Hart

This 1872 novel by a mid-Victorian poet and novelist is about a girl named Clarice, living with her widowed father and her governess 'in a charming home at a convenient (railway) distance from the city.' One day she finds a girl of her own age hiding in the shrubbery. She is Olga and 'there is no question that she is the liveliest child character in English fiction' said the Observer in 1936.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, 19th Century, Victorian, Classics, Middle Grade, British Literature

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

Also wrote under the name Fanny Wheeler Hart.

Born in London in 1822, Elizabeth Anna Hart was the daughter of a clergyman, critic and poet. Her aunt was Lewis Carroll's grandmother. She married an officer in the Indian Army, but had no children. She is perhaps best remembered for the children's story, The Runaway (1872), and for the adult novel Mrs Jerningham's Journal. She died in 1890.

From: Persephone Books.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few weeks ago, when I was looking at empty years in my 100 Years of Books project and books that might fill them, I was reminded of a book I read a good few years ago and I was seized by a wish to read it again.

I rushed to the Persephone bookcase, but I found that the book wasn’t there. Then I remembered that I had read a library copy, and I set about ordering it again. I found that my book has disappeared from the catalogue! And so I had to order a copy. I was sure that it was a good investment – and now that I have read it again I have no doubt at all that it was.

‘The Runaway’ is a story written for children, but it is so very well written that I think it can be appreciated at any age.

Clarice lives in a country house with her widowed father, who travels to work in the city every day. She loves her home and the people around her, and she hopes to have the kind of adventures she has read about in books one day.

A quite unexpected adventure begins one day when she is out in the garden picking flowers. Clarice discovers Olga, the runaway of the title in the shrubbery. Olga asks Clarice to hide her, Clarice agrees, and so the story begins.

At first Clarice is delighted with her new friend, but it isn’t long before she starts to worry. Olga is a live wire, she hates being shut up, and she is eager to explore her new surroundings. Clarice understands, but she is torn when her governess becomes anxious at the strange noises in the house and she hates not being able to tell her father the truth.

She begins to wonder if she is doing the right thing in hiding Olga, she wonders what the consequences will be, and doubts about the truth of Olga’s story of who she is and why she ran away grow in her mind.

There are many joys in this book.

The plot plays out beautifully, through many lovely scenes. Many of then were wonderfully dramatic but I think that my favourite was a quiet scene, with Clarice trying to ask her father for advice without giving away her secret.

A dramatization could be wonderful; as would reading aloud.

I loved spending time with the two girls. What I learned of their background enabled me to understand how they had grown into the girls they were They complemented each other beautifully, and I found that I could empathise and understand each of them.

I loved Clarice for her lovely mix of imagination and sensibleness; and I appreciated that she was good not for its own sake but because the world and the people around her cared for her and she cared for them and wanted them to be happy.

I loved Olga for her vitality, her joie de vivre, and her gift for doing the unexpected.

The story shows them both off so well, a dramatic conclusion bring the best out of both of them, and I was captivated from the first page to the last.

The illustrations are utterly charming, and they match the story perfectly.

‘The Runaway’ was a particular favourite of the artist Gwen Raverat, it was at her suggestion that it was reissued, illustrated with her wood-engravings, and the Persephone Books edition reproduces them all.

I was sorry to leave them, the two girls, and their world when they story came to an end.

Anyone wanting to run away from life for a little while would do very well to run into this book.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Victorian children's story with much less than the usual amount of Victorian moralising. Fifteen-year-old Clarice is longing for something to happen in her tedious life - her mother is dead, her father works all day, and her younger brother has just started boarding school. Being a girl she has to stay at home with a governess, and she's neither old enough for grownup entertainments nor young enough for toys.

She gets rather more than she wished for when she finds a young stranger named Olga hiding in the garden, having run away from school, demanding to be hidden and fed. Clarice thinks she has the perfect hiding place, but Olga isn't the kind of child who can stay still for long ...

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first thoughts as I started reading this book were this is what children’s dreams are made of - the delight of having a secret from the adults in your life and being able to put a spoke in their wheels, having a special friendship with someone new and exciting. As time went on, however, I began to get very annoyed with Olga and was relieved when the problem was resolved. So whilst I enjoyed this story in many ways it didn’t turn out to be quite what I was expecting.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! It was light, funny, and made me laugh out loud many times. The illustrations by Gwen Raverat add so much to the story and are a pleasure to look at. The book's teenage heroine, Clarice Clavering, longs for adventure and finds it when she stumbles across Olga Leslie, the "runaway" of the title, who has snuck away from school. Attempting to hide Olga from her father, governess, and servants leads to many humorous and farcical happenings, especially when a potential case of mistaken identity complicates things even further.

My main criticism is that the two girls in the story act much younger than their years, even for a story published in 1872. Olga in particular can be gratingly childish for a 15-year-old, acting more like a silly, hyperactive 8 or 9 year old.

That said, this was a quick and highly entertaining read and I enjoyed it a lot.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 1872 children's book recounts the trials, tribulations and joys of its heroine as she attempts to help runaway Olga. The plot is thin, there's some moralizing, but the dilemmas of Clarice are as real as the situation is fantastic, and Olga is such a scamp that I had to join Clarice in irresistible laughter at her antics as a ghost and a horse.

[Karen Mace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet and charming read which is definitely lifted by the inclusion of some beautiful illustrations that work so well with the storyline.

Clarice is a young girl who likes to do things the right way and isn't one to 'play up' but when she finds a runaway hiding in the grounds, she starts telling lies for the first time in her life to help keep Olga a secret, hidden away in her closet while trying to make her do the right thing and return home and let her family know where she is.

Olga is a peculiar and feisty young girl - she has run away as she's not happy but keeping quiet isn't her greatest forte so she likes to play tricks on the members of the household where Clarice lives, despite Clarice telling her to stay quiet and hidden! It doesn't seem in her nature to do so and causes members of the staff to worry there's strange things going on in the house.

This was lots of fun to read and would suit readers of all ages! It has that innocence about it that was refreshing to read and is one of the sweetest books I've read in quite a while!

[SarahC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a children's story from the Victorian era, republished by Persephone Books of London -- it is one of their exclusive gray covers. It was an interesting look at the interactions of two young girls. Clarice is almost a grownup, responsible, and accustomed to the straight and narrow world in her father's house. Olga is the runaway who ends up under Clarice's shrubbery. This is an interesting situation as Clarice promises to hide Olga within the household and Olga almost refuses to really be hidden as she makes appearances as a ghost, makes odd and jolly shouts at random times, and dances in the library.

It was interesting in that it is a rarely-mentioned Victorian book, but it seemed a little impersonal, not much that adults or young people could really get their arms around as a children's story. I would rate it on the low side of 3 stars actually.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading my first Persephone book last month, I was really excited to read another. The Runaway is a quick read and utterly charming. It’s a children’s book about a young girl who discovers another girl in her garden who has run away from home. It was fun to read about the two girls antics and adventures. I loved that it took place in a small village in the English countryside, in a house full of hiding places. I didn’t find the story necessarily captivating. It took me about a month to read the book. It did remind me a lot of the books I used to read when I was younger and it was fun to read a book that took me back to that time and place!

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This edition is worth buying for the woodblock engravings alone. The story rather bored me.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange little novel written for children but with sinister and sometimes psychological undertones. Beautifully illustrated with spooky dark woodcuts

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't stand Olga. I would NOT have helped her if I was Clarice.

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book, but Olga is hands-down the most annoying character in literature. I would have called the police on her in a heartbeat.

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2018/03/02...

[Ergative Absolutive · Rating 3 out of 5]

The woodcuts in this were really exquisite, and the book begins quite charmingly. Some of the shenanigans (especially the horse in the closet) are very funny. The problem is that the farcical elements depend on 1870's era patriarchy and class snobbery to work. Dad is gaslighting the servants that they're foolish and didn't really see what they claim they saw (which they genuinely did see); Clarice is incapable of making policeman leave her house which they barge into and demand to search without a warrant---although of course if her father had been home he would have been able to send them packing. She can't even make the clergyman shut up and leave her alone when all she wants to do is go to town and mail a letter, and he insists on walking with her, asking about the letter she wants to mail, demanding that she tell him why she's upset and unhappy. And then her father sees that she's upset and unhappy, says that it's not like her to look so unhappy, and instead of expressing concern about her unhappiness, tells her to go to bed and come down tomorrow when she's happy and pretty again. It's really infuriating. The point of these events, of course, is to throw amusing obstacles in the way of Clarice, who just wants to be left alone to hide Olga from nosy neighbors, but the obstacles only work because a bunch of men have no difficulty believing that they know best what a teenage girl of their acquaintance thinks, what she should be worried about, who she should know and write letters to, and whether she should enjoy a walk down to the village by herself.



Also, the ending moral is supposed to be something like 'Clarice should have told her father immediately about Olga', but of course if she had then her father would have given up Olga to the police immediately when the advertisement about the thief was printed, and that would have been wrong. So even the moralizing For The Children! elements are poorly motivated by the events of the book.

[lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Oh Clarice, how odd it is that all this will not be happening soon, and that some day we shall talk it over, and say to each other, do you remember this? and, do you remember that?"

It's always disappointing when I give a Persephone book three stars (though it's happened only a handful of times). While quite the romp, this was perhaps just a touch too Victorian.

The characters, from Clarice's governess to Olga the runaway herself, were all quite vivid, though a bit caricaturish. I couldn't stand Olga, though — she was so annoying and willfully destructive in a way that I did not find the least bit funny. And, unfortunately, her misbehavior is the core driver of the book.

I also thought both Olga and Clarice acted far too young for their age — they were supposedly 15 and yet seemed more like 10 or 11. Perhaps their Victorian upbringing was to blame.

But for a quick summery read, I can see the appeal here. The simple setting would make this an excellent play, one I could see an older child getting much more enjoyment from than I did in this form.

But I can't end this review without mentioning the wonderful illustrations which honestly might have saved this a star — Nicola knew what she was doing when she chose to republish this particular edition!

29/152

[Amber Whitaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really can't understand how people find Olga lively and fun. She was a constant torment to Clarice, spoke exclusively in nonsense, and didn't care at all about others. I WANTED her to be caught just to be done with it all! The ending felt surreal that people doing their job were scolded as if Olga hadn't created all the ruckus in the first place, and Olga just kept begging off getting reprimanded at all. I see the angle of not taking things at face value or jumping to conclusions, but it felt so ridiculous overall that it stopped being enjoyable and just got annoying and veered into seeming to encourage being naughty.

I did like the illustrations and some of the kind, reflective moments Clarice had.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun (though in real life Olga would be hard work)

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

The woodcut illustrations might bump it up to 2.5, but all in all a rather silly story with one of the most annoying young characters imaginable.

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Melanie Moore]

Children’s book published in 1872 republished by Persephone. Similarities to Secret Garden

[Karen Camer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely read. Gentle storyline and interesting characters

[Zaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.75)

[Victoria Beningfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

giving this book to my 10-year old self

[Kami Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a bookstore that focuses on female authors that haven't been published or paid much attention to, so I was pretty excited about it. I have a thing for passionate tomboys (Anne Shirley, Jo March, Hermione Granger), and I was looking forward to adding another to my list.

Unfortunately I didn't find Clarice or Olga particularly compelling. To be fair, I related to Clarice's moral questions about keeping secrets vs. doing what's right, and the way her relationship with Olga grew was sweet. But the plot never moved much past the initial conflict, and it felt juvenile.

This might be a lovely story to read to a young child, or perhaps I'd enjoy it a second time without going in with too many expectations. But for now, it was just a simple, Victorian read.

[Jeslyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this more had I found Olga to be a likable character.

Perhaps if Olga's antics and attitude were more those of a 15 year-old girl (even 19th-century teenagers couldn't possibly act like this, surely), or her age was adjusted to her conduct (8-10 years old is more like it), I would have enjoyed the book more.

Or, perhaps not.

[rr]

Another charming find from Persephone Books. The quirkiest things come out of the mouth of the character Olga--is she philosophical or nonsensical? The dividing line becomes unclear sometimes. And this particular edition reproduces the great illustrations by Gwen Raverat; I can't imagine the experience of the book without them.

[Donna Enticknap · Rating 5 out of 5]

poor lucky clarice to have met olga; the most hilarious, adorable, and foolishly frustrating creature ever written.

it's a curiously delightful story, and this persephone edition of the book is a beautiful thing.. gwen raverat's wood engraved illustrations, the endpapers, the simple dove grey cover. i enjoyed every minute reading this.

[Melinda Nelsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book! I found myself wishing I'd had it read to me when I was young. Definitely from a more innocent era. Almost more fun than the story was the fantastic engravings placed substantially throughout the book. They're just beautiful.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable children's novel about a girl (Clarice) hiding a runaway (Olga). Olga is much more free-spirited and careless than Clarice, who agonises over whether she is doing the right thing.

[Brave · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Maybe higher. Still processing.