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The Conch Shell
Instead of going to London to start a much desired first job, Meraud Pentreath finds herself captive in her native Cornwall looking after the charming little hotel, The Conch Shell.
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About the author
Mabel Esther Allan
230 books33 followersA prolific British children's author, who also wrote under the pen-names Jean Estoril, Priscilla Hagon, Anne Pilgrim, and Kathleen M. Pearcey, Mabel Esther Allan is particularly known for her school and ballet stories.
Born in 1915 at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, Allan knew from an early age that she wanted to be an author, and published her first short stories in the 1930s. Her writing career was interrupted by World War II, during which time she served in the Women's Land Army and taught school in Liverpool, but the 1948 publication of The Glen Castle Mystery saw it begin to take off in earnest. Influenced by Scottish educator A.S. Neill, Allan held progressive views about education, views that often found their way into her books, particularly her school stories. She was interested in folk dance and ballet - another common subject in her work - and was a frequent traveler. She died in 1998.
Born in 1915 at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, Allan knew from an early age that she wanted to be an author, and published her first short stories in the 1930s. Her writing career was interrupted by World War II, during which time she served in the Women's Land Army and taught school in Liverpool, but the 1948 publication of The Glen Castle Mystery saw it begin to take off in earnest. Influenced by Scottish educator A.S. Neill, Allan held progressive views about education, views that often found their way into her books, particularly her school stories. She was interested in folk dance and ballet - another common subject in her work - and was a frequent traveler. She died in 1998.
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October 13, 2021
seventeen year old Meraud was looking forward to leaving Roselyn, the small Cornish village where she has spent all her life, and moving to London to work for a publisher. but to her dismay, her Aunt Jen, who has looked after Meraud and her siblings ever since their mother died, has to go away to care for her ailing half sister, so Meraud has to abandon her plans to go to London and stay in Roselyn, to run the Conch Shell, the guesthouse that had been Aunt Jen's responsibility, and try to keep her younger brother and sister out of trouble. meraud's self absorbed father, artist Paul Pentreath, is no help, he cares for nothing but his painting. There is an added complication when some cousins of the Pentreaths, hiterto unknow , come to stay.
like all Mabel Esther Allan's books, her great strength lies in her ability to evoke places, and she is supberb at conjuring up the atmosphere of a small Cornish fishing village, and the beautiful, strange landscape of the Land's End Peninsula. meraud herself comes to realise that Cornwall may be a more interesting place than she had imagined. This is one of the most interesting and enjoyable of Mabel Esther Allan's novels for teenagers.
like all Mabel Esther Allan's books, her great strength lies in her ability to evoke places, and she is supberb at conjuring up the atmosphere of a small Cornish fishing village, and the beautiful, strange landscape of the Land's End Peninsula. meraud herself comes to realise that Cornwall may be a more interesting place than she had imagined. This is one of the most interesting and enjoyable of Mabel Esther Allan's novels for teenagers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review