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The Wyndhams Went to Wales
Book by Allan, Mabel Esther
Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
About the author
Mabel Esther Allan
231 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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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 1, 2013
I've been having a bit of a MEA-fest, since her books are being reprinted by both Girls Gone By Press and Greyladies, so I can say with some confidence that her writing for children is much better than her writing for adults. This is an excellent family story for primary school aged children, while 'Death Goes Dancing', written in the 1950s but only published in 2014 by Greyladies, read almost as a parody of a Ngaio Marsh or a Margery Allingham. Except for collectors who, like me, are completists and need everything an author ever wrote, I'd advise readers to stick with Mabel Esther Allan's children's and teenage fiction.
Interestingly, The Wyndhams went to Wales only identifies the author as M. E. Allan, and the blurb makes no mention of her sex. I wonder if this was another 'J. K. Rowling' situation - girls will apparently read books written by both women and men; boys won't read books written by women.
Place is always central to Allan's books, and this is perhaps most worth reading for the description of a Welsh fishing village in the middle of the twentieth century. Allan must have been a gift to Welsh tourism.
Interestingly, The Wyndhams went to Wales only identifies the author as M. E. Allan, and the blurb makes no mention of her sex. I wonder if this was another 'J. K. Rowling' situation - girls will apparently read books written by both women and men; boys won't read books written by women.
Place is always central to Allan's books, and this is perhaps most worth reading for the description of a Welsh fishing village in the middle of the twentieth century. Allan must have been a gift to Welsh tourism.
January 30, 2023
täitsa nunnu vanaaegne lasteraamat, kus juhtub veel vähem, kui kokkuvõte/tagakaas lubab.
üks üsna heal järjel nelja lapse ja koeraga inglise pere sõidab Walesi puhkama, kaasa võetakse ka naabripoiss ja juhtumisi suvitab samas külas ka peretuttav tütrega, nii et lastekamp on piisavalt suur ja saab tekitada eraldi seiklusi vanematele ja noorematele, nagu tolle aja raamatutes kombeks. seiklused on põhiosas sellised, kus kellegi elu ega tervis ohtu ei satu, ehkki halva ilmaga mägedesse minekul ikka mõned tagajärjed on (lüüakse ära üks põlv ja põrutatakse kergelt üks pea).
aa, koer satub küll korraks surmaohtu.
kõik ümbritsevad täiskasvanud on leebed ja lastesõbralikud ja kutsuvad kogu kamba meeleldi endaga purjetama, telkima või piknikku ja lõkkeõhtut pidama. lapsed on vastu viisakad ja hästikasvatatud ja teevad kogu pika puhkuse jooksul kamba peale kokku ainult umbes kaks pahandust.
sujuvalt libisetakse üle asjaolust, et lastest vaevu vanem kohalik naabritüdruk peab elatist teenima suvitajate köögitüdruku ja teenijana, ja suure heateo ja kõigile osapooltele tulusana nähakse seda, et Jenny võetakse koju minnes linna kaasa, et ta saaks oma karjääri seal jätkata. üldse nende kohalike waleslaste üle tehakse pigem nagu leebet nalja - näidatakse neid heasüdamlike, aga üpris harimatutena, kirjeldatakse välimuselt justkui teisest rassist olevana ja nende ingliskeelne jutt on hoopiski veidra aktsendiga. ehkki lauseehitus tundus mulle küll üsna tabavalt kõmrilik kohati. vb nad siis tõesti rääkisidki tollal nii.
ebanormaalselt palju aega veetsin googeldades, miks kalameeste paadi (ja ühtlasi Walesi kõrgeima mäetipu) nimi oli Y Wyddfa, kui ometi w-ga algavate sõnade artikkel peaks olema "yr" ja Snowdoni nimi praegusel ajal ongi ametlikult Yr Wyddfa. aga ei saanudki teada, et kas vanasti kasutati seda artiklit teisiti või on lihtsalt autori näpukas.
üks üsna heal järjel nelja lapse ja koeraga inglise pere sõidab Walesi puhkama, kaasa võetakse ka naabripoiss ja juhtumisi suvitab samas külas ka peretuttav tütrega, nii et lastekamp on piisavalt suur ja saab tekitada eraldi seiklusi vanematele ja noorematele, nagu tolle aja raamatutes kombeks. seiklused on põhiosas sellised, kus kellegi elu ega tervis ohtu ei satu, ehkki halva ilmaga mägedesse minekul ikka mõned tagajärjed on (lüüakse ära üks põlv ja põrutatakse kergelt üks pea).
aa, koer satub küll korraks surmaohtu.
kõik ümbritsevad täiskasvanud on leebed ja lastesõbralikud ja kutsuvad kogu kamba meeleldi endaga purjetama, telkima või piknikku ja lõkkeõhtut pidama. lapsed on vastu viisakad ja hästikasvatatud ja teevad kogu pika puhkuse jooksul kamba peale kokku ainult umbes kaks pahandust.
sujuvalt libisetakse üle asjaolust, et lastest vaevu vanem kohalik naabritüdruk peab elatist teenima suvitajate köögitüdruku ja teenijana, ja suure heateo ja kõigile osapooltele tulusana nähakse seda, et Jenny võetakse koju minnes linna kaasa, et ta saaks oma karjääri seal jätkata. üldse nende kohalike waleslaste üle tehakse pigem nagu leebet nalja - näidatakse neid heasüdamlike, aga üpris harimatutena, kirjeldatakse välimuselt justkui teisest rassist olevana ja nende ingliskeelne jutt on hoopiski veidra aktsendiga. ehkki lauseehitus tundus mulle küll üsna tabavalt kõmrilik kohati. vb nad siis tõesti rääkisidki tollal nii.
ebanormaalselt palju aega veetsin googeldades, miks kalameeste paadi (ja ühtlasi Walesi kõrgeima mäetipu) nimi oli Y Wyddfa, kui ometi w-ga algavate sõnade artikkel peaks olema "yr" ja Snowdoni nimi praegusel ajal ongi ametlikult Yr Wyddfa. aga ei saanudki teada, et kas vanasti kasutati seda artiklit teisiti või on lihtsalt autori näpukas.
December 23, 2021
A whole month in a house on the Welsh coast! The four Wyndhams thought it would be a great holiday - until they heard that bossy Sally was coming too. Each of them had a wish for the holiday. Marissa’s was to go camping. Brian wanted to climb Snowdonia. Isobel dreamed of sailing out on the open sea, and Candy wanted animals. Would their holiday wishes come true - and would Sally spoil the holiday?
This story is very much in the vein of Enid Blyton family stories for older primary school children, only with less heavy-handed morality - which doesn’t necessarily make for a better book, as the episodes which make it up are therefore less significant, not leading to any real change. Allen’s Wales, like Blyton’s in the near-contemporary Ragamuffin Mystery, is surely out of date in its depiction of simple peasant folk presented as strange and alien to the English central characters, and she herself would get much better at dealing with the fact that these children are comfortably off while others at the same age have to work.
If I’d read this book at just the right age I would have thought it a lovely holiday story but as it is it’s not a keeper for me. Unusual to see Allen presenting a product of her favourite self-governing schools in an unfavourable light, as she does with Sally’s bossy tendencies, but maybe it’s thanks to her school that Sally is so sensible about reform...
This story is very much in the vein of Enid Blyton family stories for older primary school children, only with less heavy-handed morality - which doesn’t necessarily make for a better book, as the episodes which make it up are therefore less significant, not leading to any real change. Allen’s Wales, like Blyton’s in the near-contemporary Ragamuffin Mystery, is surely out of date in its depiction of simple peasant folk presented as strange and alien to the English central characters, and she herself would get much better at dealing with the fact that these children are comfortably off while others at the same age have to work.
If I’d read this book at just the right age I would have thought it a lovely holiday story but as it is it’s not a keeper for me. Unusual to see Allen presenting a product of her favourite self-governing schools in an unfavourable light, as she does with Sally’s bossy tendencies, but maybe it’s thanks to her school that Sally is so sensible about reform...
November 6, 2017
A fun, if slightly old-fashioned, middle-grade adventure story about a family holiday to Wales. The children are rambling about the countryside without adult supervision in the grand traditions of the Famous Five and Swallows and Amazos and similar. Fun, but not ground breaking.
June 2, 2021
Scrapes a four. Nothing really happens but it’s charmingly written.
May 29, 2016
I always have high hopes for books by Mabel Esther Allan because of how much I love her ballet books, but this one was only just ok. This family story just didn't quite have the same sense of fun as the Ballet Family or any of Gwendoline Courtney's family stories. The society for the suppression of Sally tickled my fancy though it never came to fruition.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews