Two Fair Plaits

Jillies #2

by Malcolm Saville, Lunt Roberts (Illustrator)

Two Fair Plaits

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Leonard Malcolm Saville was an English author best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Louise Culmer]

The second story about the Jillies is a fairly routine kidnapping story, made interesting by the setting, which is the dock land area of London (now changed out of all recognition). Anyone visiting. Dock land now will search in vain for the boats, the sailors, and the dockers who throng the pages of this book. The Jillies are hampered by having to do their investigating in the thick and stifling London fog, which slows them down somewhat. But of course they triumph in the end, who could doubt it?

[Deborah]

Much better than Redshank's Warning, the second Jillies story is about the kidnapping of a little girl with the two fair plaits of the title. It's atmospheric in its description of foggy 1940s London in the run-up to Christmas, the plot moves at a fair pace, and the involvement of a bunch of children is (by MS standards) almost believable. Even the Jillies aren't as annoying in this book, mainly because we see the action from the point of view of the kidnapped Belinda for some of the time.

But Mandy Jillions is surely MS's most irritating creation. It's hard to repress a cheer when she ends up injured and covered in mud (not that this stops her being too big for her boots for very long). And the jubilant 'See! We did it without the grown-ups!' attitude is mystifying to this twenty-first century adult, although perhaps it was exactly the sort of attitude 1940s children were seeking.

[Ella Hand]

I have distant memories of reading this as a child. Thoroughly enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of London smog and the havoc it caused. The huge gulf between the middle class children at the centre of the book and the working class families they encounter seems jarring to modern sensibilities but probably reflects the divides when this was first published in 1949.making it a fascinating social history as well as a jolly good yarn.

[Chris McMeekan]

It seemed appropriate to read this for the first time while on a boating holiday on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, but times are very different now! The days of working boats are long gone, as are the London smogs, thank goodness. As usual Saville's descriptions of place were superb. Class differences were clear between the characters, which was probably accurate for the time.

[Carys]

Very exciting book and added to this is it is set in a real setting, which is a trademark of Malcolm Saville. This means although the docklands area of London is very different today it is easy to use your imagination and be there. Great descriptions also of the London smog. Alarming descriptions of burning building at the end and fire safety.