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The Marlows #5
Peter's Room
The fifth book in Antonia Forest's series of stories about the Marlow family. During a snowy Christmas holiday the younger Marlows and their friend Patrick Merrick pass the time by inventing a make-believe world inspired by Emily Bronte's Gondal. But the story that starts as an amusement becomes frighteningly real.
231 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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102 people want to read
About the author
Antonia Forest
18 books28 followersAntonia Forest was the pen name of Patricia Giulia Caulfield Kate Rubinstein. She was born in North London, the child of Russian-Jewish and Irish parents. She studied at South Hampstead High School and University College, London, and worked as a government clerk and a librarian. Best known for her series of novels about the Marlow family, she published her first book, Autumn Term, in 1948.
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February 20, 2015Some twenty years ago there was an author popular among the awards crowd; whatever this person wrote was always up for an award, and often won. Then went out of fashion as someone else took that place as the Golden One for the next five years or so. At the time, I tried a couple of the author's works, novel and short piece, and I noticed that at every crisis inevitably someone introduced a gun into the scene, whereupon the stakes shifted to violence and the aftermath of violence.
I found this predictable, and also disappointing, as if the writer couldn't find anything more interesting about the characters to write about than their brains splattering walls.
This struck me when I reached the end of this remarkable book--if a contemporary writer were to take the same plot (only would they be able to deal so effortlessly with literature?) the endpoint would be gruesomely pomo, and probably lauded for that, but would it be worth rereading?
The thing about Antonia Forest is that these books, written for kids, are so beautifully complicated that fans reread them over years. (Those who are lucky enough to get their hands on them. Take a look at the staggering prices of used copies; I can't believe whoever holds the rights is this clueless!)
Peter's Room is arguably one of the best of Antonia Forest's Marlow series. (To call them school stories is akin to calling a Faberge egg a paperweight. You can use one as a paperweight, and it will perform that function satisfactorily, but oh, there is so much more to Faberge's creation!)
This book doesn't actually take place at boarding school, but during the winter holidays between terms. Peter is the first one home, so he busies himself cleaning out a shippen, an abandoned cow shed that has a sizable room upstairs crammed with stuff. Some of it is interesting stuff; he sorts it all, cleans the room, decorates it with a stuffed bird and some antique guns and swords found in a bag. He also saves out a paper from a bereaved father who, in 1645, notes that his son has ridden off to join the Royalists. Peter reflects on how passionate he got as a young student about such things, as if the Roundheads and Cavaliers were still an issue.
The other kids arrive, and for a time are full of reactions to events in the previous book, and then, quite by accident, the twins next-older, pretty sister Ginty starts talking about a student project: the Brontes. Specifically the juvenilia of the Bronte kids--Angria and Gondal--and how they kept it up, more or less, well into adulthood: in Emily's case, her interest only dying with her. Older sister Karen is quite scornful about it all, especially targeting Emily, intimating that she ought to have laid aside childish pleasures in favor of reality, regardless of how grim their lives were. (She decides it couldn't have been very grim, because they got away from Haworth . . . without at all understanding Emily's nature).
The upshot is that the twins (Nicola and Lawrie), Peter, Patrick, and Ginty decide to play Gondal. They're going to invent a story and role-play the characters, the story becoming very involved indeed as they march toward the holidays, get through them, and then hold a fox hunt in winter.
Forest does an omniscient narrator so beautifully; I can't see that any other narrative device would do justice to the complex characters, who all have such varied inner lives as well as their emotional changes, that everyday events become so layered. And one of these layers is the class subtleties. The Marlows, having unexpectedly inherited an estate, did not inherit a jot of wealth with it, but that doesn't seem to matter. Their status has taken a step up, as they discover during the social activities. It's not overtly stated, but it's there for the noticing.
From this point on, I can't talk about the book without some plot spoilers, so if you don't like any discussion of what happens after the opening, don't read on!
Really, plot is going to be discussed!
Okay. This is an unusual book because so much of it is taken up with the Gondal, as the kids come to call it. (They also use Gondal as a verb, as in Let's Gondal now.) It parallels their real lives, sometimes dovetailing in the way imaginative kids often do. Nicola's twin Lawrie, who is intensely devoted to acting, is deeply involved in the game, and when she is disappointed at the outcome, is perfectly capable of going off herself to her room to act out how things ought to have gone.
Ginty, who first produced the idea, focuses fairly quickly in on Patrick, for whom the reader can tell she's developing feelings, as he is for her. It's very, very tentative; he admires how pretty she is, and she mainly wants to hold his character in her arms (she's a fellow soldier) as he dies. She does her best to bend the story in this direction, while finding a shivery undercurrent of truth in unexpected places; they also develop a side story, just the two of them, based around a forced betrothal to someone else, and their secret romance.
Ginty clings hard to the Gondal, wanting it to be true in some way, while knowing it's simply a story. She finds corroboration . . . to another dimension in which, it might be, Crispian and Rupert and the rest were true--had been true--and they themselves were only acting out something which had once been real. It could happen. It did happen. If one wanted proof one only had to remember those two plays of Priestley's--I Have Been Here Before and Time And The Conways . . . and always provided one didn't say it aloud (especially to Nicola) it was gloriously convincing; it was like Flecher's poem about the oldest of the ships--about the mast breaking open with a rose and all the planks putting on leaves again: a thing which could be true--if only it was.
Literature is a deep influence, part of their everyday lives, and so is history. At a crucial juncture they find out the truth about that son who rode away to join the Cavaliers, . . . There was a moment's violent silence, loud with old betrayals and antique feuds and ancient enmities. And then Nicola said, "Lumme, what a heel!" and the long dead things went back to their own place
Nicola, who in some ways is the central character of this book--of the series--doesn't trust the Gondal, and comes to hate it for reasons she cannot fathom, except that she senses deep emotional waters that she cannot define. It's that inability to define them, but especially the strange alteration she observes in Patrick (who gets so deeply into character that he quite unconsciously develops a different countenance when he's thinking Gondal outside the story), that causes her trust to turn to a violent antipathy. One thing she is sure of: she feels emotionally betrayed.
One of the most remarkable chapters in the book is the fox hunt, which is mostly done from Nicola's POV. I'd quote entire passages if I could, the writing is so splendid. At its climax, Patrick passes her and looks back with his Gondal face.
She has no idea how upsetting--intruiguingly, compellingly--Patrick is finding his role. Right until the end he flings himself headlong down the dark road his character takes, until the game comes to an abrupt end.
"I know," said Ginty, who had also suffered Wordsworth the previous term. "'Forget the glories he hath known. And that imperial palace whence he came.'"
"That's us," he said sadly. "Just."
She saw what he meant: and they walked on silently, the cloud shadows sweeping over them, until Ginty said a little desperately, "So what are we going to do now?" He said again listlessly that he didn't know. But even he saw they must do something, and they halted momentarily, looking about them, trying to think of something--anything--they could do which hadn't the blight of ordinary, everyday life all over it. Here they failed, but as both came to realize, after an interval of suggestion, rejection and counter-suggestion, from now on, ordinary, everyday life would have to serve.
I went to look at reviews online. Some profess themselves surprised at Antonia Forest condemning RPGs. And at first I thought she was going there as well, in particular during the long conversation in which Karen pours such scorn on the Brontes for their childish games persisting, to their detriment, into their adult years.
But I don't think that's where this book went so much as acknowledging that exploration of profoundly important truths and emotions through the medium of a game can carry the same consequences as explorations of those things in real life. A rich imagination, or inner life, is an important part of the delights and dangers of growing up.
I found this predictable, and also disappointing, as if the writer couldn't find anything more interesting about the characters to write about than their brains splattering walls.
This struck me when I reached the end of this remarkable book--if a contemporary writer were to take the same plot (only would they be able to deal so effortlessly with literature?) the endpoint would be gruesomely pomo, and probably lauded for that, but would it be worth rereading?
The thing about Antonia Forest is that these books, written for kids, are so beautifully complicated that fans reread them over years. (Those who are lucky enough to get their hands on them. Take a look at the staggering prices of used copies; I can't believe whoever holds the rights is this clueless!)
Peter's Room is arguably one of the best of Antonia Forest's Marlow series. (To call them school stories is akin to calling a Faberge egg a paperweight. You can use one as a paperweight, and it will perform that function satisfactorily, but oh, there is so much more to Faberge's creation!)
This book doesn't actually take place at boarding school, but during the winter holidays between terms. Peter is the first one home, so he busies himself cleaning out a shippen, an abandoned cow shed that has a sizable room upstairs crammed with stuff. Some of it is interesting stuff; he sorts it all, cleans the room, decorates it with a stuffed bird and some antique guns and swords found in a bag. He also saves out a paper from a bereaved father who, in 1645, notes that his son has ridden off to join the Royalists. Peter reflects on how passionate he got as a young student about such things, as if the Roundheads and Cavaliers were still an issue.
The other kids arrive, and for a time are full of reactions to events in the previous book, and then, quite by accident, the twins next-older, pretty sister Ginty starts talking about a student project: the Brontes. Specifically the juvenilia of the Bronte kids--Angria and Gondal--and how they kept it up, more or less, well into adulthood: in Emily's case, her interest only dying with her. Older sister Karen is quite scornful about it all, especially targeting Emily, intimating that she ought to have laid aside childish pleasures in favor of reality, regardless of how grim their lives were. (She decides it couldn't have been very grim, because they got away from Haworth . . . without at all understanding Emily's nature).
The upshot is that the twins (Nicola and Lawrie), Peter, Patrick, and Ginty decide to play Gondal. They're going to invent a story and role-play the characters, the story becoming very involved indeed as they march toward the holidays, get through them, and then hold a fox hunt in winter.
Forest does an omniscient narrator so beautifully; I can't see that any other narrative device would do justice to the complex characters, who all have such varied inner lives as well as their emotional changes, that everyday events become so layered. And one of these layers is the class subtleties. The Marlows, having unexpectedly inherited an estate, did not inherit a jot of wealth with it, but that doesn't seem to matter. Their status has taken a step up, as they discover during the social activities. It's not overtly stated, but it's there for the noticing.
From this point on, I can't talk about the book without some plot spoilers, so if you don't like any discussion of what happens after the opening, don't read on!
Really, plot is going to be discussed!
Okay. This is an unusual book because so much of it is taken up with the Gondal, as the kids come to call it. (They also use Gondal as a verb, as in Let's Gondal now.) It parallels their real lives, sometimes dovetailing in the way imaginative kids often do. Nicola's twin Lawrie, who is intensely devoted to acting, is deeply involved in the game, and when she is disappointed at the outcome, is perfectly capable of going off herself to her room to act out how things ought to have gone.
Ginty, who first produced the idea, focuses fairly quickly in on Patrick, for whom the reader can tell she's developing feelings, as he is for her. It's very, very tentative; he admires how pretty she is, and she mainly wants to hold his character in her arms (she's a fellow soldier) as he dies. She does her best to bend the story in this direction, while finding a shivery undercurrent of truth in unexpected places; they also develop a side story, just the two of them, based around a forced betrothal to someone else, and their secret romance.
Ginty clings hard to the Gondal, wanting it to be true in some way, while knowing it's simply a story. She finds corroboration . . . to another dimension in which, it might be, Crispian and Rupert and the rest were true--had been true--and they themselves were only acting out something which had once been real. It could happen. It did happen. If one wanted proof one only had to remember those two plays of Priestley's--I Have Been Here Before and Time And The Conways . . . and always provided one didn't say it aloud (especially to Nicola) it was gloriously convincing; it was like Flecher's poem about the oldest of the ships--about the mast breaking open with a rose and all the planks putting on leaves again: a thing which could be true--if only it was.
Literature is a deep influence, part of their everyday lives, and so is history. At a crucial juncture they find out the truth about that son who rode away to join the Cavaliers, . . . There was a moment's violent silence, loud with old betrayals and antique feuds and ancient enmities. And then Nicola said, "Lumme, what a heel!" and the long dead things went back to their own place
Nicola, who in some ways is the central character of this book--of the series--doesn't trust the Gondal, and comes to hate it for reasons she cannot fathom, except that she senses deep emotional waters that she cannot define. It's that inability to define them, but especially the strange alteration she observes in Patrick (who gets so deeply into character that he quite unconsciously develops a different countenance when he's thinking Gondal outside the story), that causes her trust to turn to a violent antipathy. One thing she is sure of: she feels emotionally betrayed.
One of the most remarkable chapters in the book is the fox hunt, which is mostly done from Nicola's POV. I'd quote entire passages if I could, the writing is so splendid. At its climax, Patrick passes her and looks back with his Gondal face.
She has no idea how upsetting--intruiguingly, compellingly--Patrick is finding his role. Right until the end he flings himself headlong down the dark road his character takes, until the game comes to an abrupt end.
"I know," said Ginty, who had also suffered Wordsworth the previous term. "'Forget the glories he hath known. And that imperial palace whence he came.'"
"That's us," he said sadly. "Just."
She saw what he meant: and they walked on silently, the cloud shadows sweeping over them, until Ginty said a little desperately, "So what are we going to do now?" He said again listlessly that he didn't know. But even he saw they must do something, and they halted momentarily, looking about them, trying to think of something--anything--they could do which hadn't the blight of ordinary, everyday life all over it. Here they failed, but as both came to realize, after an interval of suggestion, rejection and counter-suggestion, from now on, ordinary, everyday life would have to serve.
I went to look at reviews online. Some profess themselves surprised at Antonia Forest condemning RPGs. And at first I thought she was going there as well, in particular during the long conversation in which Karen pours such scorn on the Brontes for their childish games persisting, to their detriment, into their adult years.
But I don't think that's where this book went so much as acknowledging that exploration of profoundly important truths and emotions through the medium of a game can carry the same consequences as explorations of those things in real life. A rich imagination, or inner life, is an important part of the delights and dangers of growing up.
queued
October 3, 2023I think I'm destined to read this one. No sooner had I added it to my TR pile, I chanced upon it on an outside rack (the same one I found Grimbold's Other World on!), and there was even a drop-box for the 50p - hardly had to break my stride.
What a school run. :)
Looking forward to this in December!
What a school run. :)
Looking forward to this in December!
August 26, 2019
This fifth installment of Antonia Forest's ten-book series about the Marlow family - which alternates between school-stories like
Autumn Term
, and holiday adventure tales like
The Marlows and the Traitor
- follows directly upon the events of
End of Term
, as the younger Marlows, home from boarding school for the Christmas holidays, together with their friend and neighbor, Patrick Merrick, become involved in an intense game of make-believe.
Inspired by the Brontë siblings, and the imaginary kingdoms they dreamt up as children, Marlows and Merrick are soon deep into play-acting - becoming members of their own Gondal's Palladian Guard, beset by treachery on every side, and desperately struggling to save their threatened young king, and their country. But as the game begins to take on a life of its own, becoming almost an obsession for some of the players - to the point that other activities seem pale and unappealing by comparison - Nicola begins to wonder if things have gone too far...
Peter's Room - so named because the make-believe play occurs in the room above the shippen (cow stables), claimed at the beginning of the holiday by Peter - is an entertaining and intelligent novel for young readers, delivering a perceptive portrait of both the importance and limitations of fantasy in children's lives. Not since Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Changeling , one of my favorite books of all time, have I read so powerful a depiction of childhood make-believe - the kind of fantasy created by children themselves, rather than for them.
As someone moreover, who had a mild obsession with the Brontës as an adolescent, I found the inclusion of their work in the story completely charming, and regret that I didn't discover Peter's Room when I was younger. I was particularly impressed by the intelligent discussion of the famous siblings and their juvenilia, in the scene with Ginty, Nicola, and their older sister Karen. Somehow, I have trouble imagining such a serious literary discussion finding its way into many young adult novels today. Perhaps I'm being pessimistic. In any case, this was an immensely involving book, with scenes both beautiful and heartbreaking (I will not soon forget the ambiguous conclusion of the fox hunt, as seen by Nicola), and is one that can be appreciated, I believe, even by those who have not read the other Marlow books.
Inspired by the Brontë siblings, and the imaginary kingdoms they dreamt up as children, Marlows and Merrick are soon deep into play-acting - becoming members of their own Gondal's Palladian Guard, beset by treachery on every side, and desperately struggling to save their threatened young king, and their country. But as the game begins to take on a life of its own, becoming almost an obsession for some of the players - to the point that other activities seem pale and unappealing by comparison - Nicola begins to wonder if things have gone too far...
Peter's Room - so named because the make-believe play occurs in the room above the shippen (cow stables), claimed at the beginning of the holiday by Peter - is an entertaining and intelligent novel for young readers, delivering a perceptive portrait of both the importance and limitations of fantasy in children's lives. Not since Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Changeling , one of my favorite books of all time, have I read so powerful a depiction of childhood make-believe - the kind of fantasy created by children themselves, rather than for them.
As someone moreover, who had a mild obsession with the Brontës as an adolescent, I found the inclusion of their work in the story completely charming, and regret that I didn't discover Peter's Room when I was younger. I was particularly impressed by the intelligent discussion of the famous siblings and their juvenilia, in the scene with Ginty, Nicola, and their older sister Karen. Somehow, I have trouble imagining such a serious literary discussion finding its way into many young adult novels today. Perhaps I'm being pessimistic. In any case, this was an immensely involving book, with scenes both beautiful and heartbreaking (I will not soon forget the ambiguous conclusion of the fox hunt, as seen by Nicola), and is one that can be appreciated, I believe, even by those who have not read the other Marlow books.
February 2, 2009
During school vacation, the Marlows and their friend Patrick Merrick become obsessed with a game they've invented about the Brontes. This is Forest's most unusual book and although hard to obtain, I suggest trying http://www.ggbp.co.uk/ for more information.
August 19, 2024
vanakooli lasteraamat (välja antud 1961, hind 15 šillingit, saadaval raamatukogudevahelise laenutuse kaudu), mida lugesin vanakooli lapse kombel, lihtsalt hakkasin enne õhtusööki pihta, lugesin söögi ajal ja siis mõned tunnid diivanil ja siis hambapesu kõrvale ja siis natuke aega veel voodis ja läbi ta saigi.
mulle need Marlowde sarja raamatud meeldivad igal moel, seal on veenvad tegelased ja toredad lood ja noortel inimestel on seal üksjagu vanakooli privileege (pooltel paljulapselise pere lastest on oma ponid või hobused?), aga ka vanakooli attention span, mis võimaldab pikki vestlusi obskuursetel teemadel. seekord oli mu lemmikuks peatükk, kus neli internaatkoolis haritud teismelist õde (vanuses 13-18) arutavad põhjalikult perekond Brontëde vaimse tervise ja eluvalikute üle, tsiteerides erinevaid luuletusi, proosateoseid, päevikukatkeid ja eluloolisi detaile, sest loomulikult on nad kõik nendega kursis, pluss vestlus toimub raamatukogus (te ju ei arva, et kooli- või avalikus raamatukogus? ikka nende isikliku maamaja omas!) ja saab ju vajadusel järele vaadata.
teine mu lemmikosa sellest raamatust oli detailne kirjeldus rebasejahist osaleja pilgu läbi (mitte rebase). kah normaalne, paneme kõik lapsed (laenatud) hobuste selga, loeme sõnad peale, et käituda tuleb viisakalt, ja laseme nad koerakarja järel üle kraavide ja müüride kalpsama, sest... noh, ma ei teagi, ilmselt kui sul lapsi piisavalt palju on, siis pole probleem, kui üks või teine suure vaprusehoos kaela murrab?
aga ka kirjeldus kolmekuningapäeva tantsuõhtust naabrite juures koos eelneva kõigile kuuele peretütrele sobivate kleitide leidmise minidraamaga oli väga muhe. no selline meeleolukas sissevaade vaesemapoolse, aga viisaka kõrgema keskklassi eluu sõjajärgsel Inglismaal.
kursiivis osad ehk need, kus nooremad lapsed Brontëde eeskujul omaleiutatud RPG-d mängivad, jätsin põhiliselt vahele, nõustudes peategelase Nicolaga, et see asi läks neil ülemäära obsessiivseks. mulle oleks ühest näiteleheküljest piisanud küll ja veel.
jah, selliseid raamatuid enam ei kirjutata. võtan isiklikuks väljakutseks selle sarja võimalikult paljude osade leidmise ja läbilugemise... ja see ei ole mingi 1-click projekt. vt ka: 1961, raamatukogudevaheline laenutus.
mulle need Marlowde sarja raamatud meeldivad igal moel, seal on veenvad tegelased ja toredad lood ja noortel inimestel on seal üksjagu vanakooli privileege (pooltel paljulapselise pere lastest on oma ponid või hobused?), aga ka vanakooli attention span, mis võimaldab pikki vestlusi obskuursetel teemadel. seekord oli mu lemmikuks peatükk, kus neli internaatkoolis haritud teismelist õde (vanuses 13-18) arutavad põhjalikult perekond Brontëde vaimse tervise ja eluvalikute üle, tsiteerides erinevaid luuletusi, proosateoseid, päevikukatkeid ja eluloolisi detaile, sest loomulikult on nad kõik nendega kursis, pluss vestlus toimub raamatukogus (te ju ei arva, et kooli- või avalikus raamatukogus? ikka nende isikliku maamaja omas!) ja saab ju vajadusel järele vaadata.
teine mu lemmikosa sellest raamatust oli detailne kirjeldus rebasejahist osaleja pilgu läbi (mitte rebase). kah normaalne, paneme kõik lapsed (laenatud) hobuste selga, loeme sõnad peale, et käituda tuleb viisakalt, ja laseme nad koerakarja järel üle kraavide ja müüride kalpsama, sest... noh, ma ei teagi, ilmselt kui sul lapsi piisavalt palju on, siis pole probleem, kui üks või teine suure vaprusehoos kaela murrab?
aga ka kirjeldus kolmekuningapäeva tantsuõhtust naabrite juures koos eelneva kõigile kuuele peretütrele sobivate kleitide leidmise minidraamaga oli väga muhe. no selline meeleolukas sissevaade vaesemapoolse, aga viisaka kõrgema keskklassi eluu sõjajärgsel Inglismaal.
kursiivis osad ehk need, kus nooremad lapsed Brontëde eeskujul omaleiutatud RPG-d mängivad, jätsin põhiliselt vahele, nõustudes peategelase Nicolaga, et see asi läks neil ülemäära obsessiivseks. mulle oleks ühest näiteleheküljest piisanud küll ja veel.
jah, selliseid raamatuid enam ei kirjutata. võtan isiklikuks väljakutseks selle sarja võimalikult paljude osade leidmise ja läbilugemise... ja see ei ole mingi 1-click projekt. vt ka: 1961, raamatukogudevaheline laenutus.
December 19, 2020
Published in 1961, and very much of its time, this book is nevertheless atmospheric and enjoyable. The large Marlow family are home for the Christmas holidays. Of aristocratic origins but not particularly wealthy, the family lives on a small farm and owns dogs, horses, and hawks, as well as livestock. The story focuses on Peter, one of the younger Marlows, who refurnishes a room above the old barn, to make a private space for himself. But rapidly three of his many sisters join him there, along with Patrick, a neighbour and friend. Together, as the snow falls heavily, and they can't go out riding, they discuss the Bronte's fantasy world of Gondal, and decide to invent their own fantasy country. This storytelling takes over their imaginations and becomes the focus of their days. That being said, the ideas around Gondal and Brontes were not the most interesting parts of the novel to me: Antonia Forest writes about landscape and place very well, and the descriptions of riding, snow-covered ground, and the long nights spent caring for orphaned lambs, are all beautiful. Though not set in a fantasy realm, this story, with its balls, hunts, enormous families, menagerie of animals, and perfect Christmases, feels indescribably far from my own reality, and because of that I found it wonderful escapism. The chapter about a fox hunt is particularly compelling -- which is quite a feat, because I feel very negatively about fox hunting, and don't have a strong interest in riding -- yet Forest creates such an exciting and tense atmosphere that I can almost understand why people do it. I would recommend this if you like children's books of the 50s and 60s, slice-of-life, and want a quiet, warm read. I will look for more of Forest's work.
June 5, 2014
I wish that those US writers who try to write historicals about the UK would read this series. First published in 1961 this book is one of a series about the Marlowe family and it's now a valuable resource for writers anxious to understand British attitudes, the class system and the upper middle class. To read it now is to have a great glimpse of English boarding school life and the Upper Middle class in the 1950s
Apart from its research value the series is a great read about some interesting characters and in this one we have a story which involves family life during the school holidays. The others are mainly boarding school based. Peter takes over the unused room above the old shippon (cow shed)and discovers documents relating to the history of the family estate.
Meanwhile one of the Marlowe sisters has discovered the Bronte sisters and their fantasy world of Gondal. Ginty and Patrick persuade the others to join in a similar game using Peter's room. Nick is not so keen and it is her realisation that the game actually is becoming a dangerous interference in real life which brings it all to a dramatic close.
A book worth reading for its quality writing, any YA reader would enjoy the novel as a cracking good story as well a glimpse in to a lost way of life.
Apart from its research value the series is a great read about some interesting characters and in this one we have a story which involves family life during the school holidays. The others are mainly boarding school based. Peter takes over the unused room above the old shippon (cow shed)and discovers documents relating to the history of the family estate.
Meanwhile one of the Marlowe sisters has discovered the Bronte sisters and their fantasy world of Gondal. Ginty and Patrick persuade the others to join in a similar game using Peter's room. Nick is not so keen and it is her realisation that the game actually is becoming a dangerous interference in real life which brings it all to a dramatic close.
A book worth reading for its quality writing, any YA reader would enjoy the novel as a cracking good story as well a glimpse in to a lost way of life.
June 22, 2017
Peter's Room takes place during the Marlows' school holidays, at their country house, Trennels; the younger Marlows (Nicola, Lawrie, Ginty, and Peter) gather with their friend Patrick in the old room which Peter has cleaned up and furnished for himself. Intrigued by Ginty's stories of the young Brontës (about whom she is doing a school project with the rest of her form) and their imaginary kingdoms of Gondal and Angria, the Marlows and Patrick decide to create a similar story and act it out. I wasn't entirely convinced by the ending, which was on the contrived side for Forest (her dramatics are usually more believable), but I loved the deeper look at some of her characters who haven't featured as largely in other books, particularly Peter, Ginty, and Patrick (and his developing relationship with Ginty).
February 1, 2020
Love the Marlows. Love the Brontes. Love this. Only thing is it should always be Patrick and Nicola. Always.
September 7, 2016
Still five stars, obviously, because this is Antonia Forest. But this is a strange one and I have to say I'm with Nicola on the Gondalling - it's a bit tedious, even though the book as a whole is incredibly atmospheric. Worth reading, because as usual the characters are real and the situations believable - I particularly enjoy Ginty's panic over the dress, the heart-thumping description of the hunt, and Rowan striding about being a farmer. And if you want to know more about the Brontes, this is the place to come.
December 7, 2010
I couldn't find a copy of the school story in between this Marlow book and the last so I eventually went ahead and read this. Not the most interesting of the series. The Marlows and Patrick go off into imaginary realms in the style of the young Brontes. The moral of the story is supposed to be that they're all too old to be playig make-believe which seems a curious message for an adult author to be putting across.
April 1, 2008
Fascinating story-within-a-story roleplay that triggers shifts in the complex relationships between young adults. Also an interesting look at the Bronte family.
June 5, 2018
An interesting and thought provoking story about the possibilities of imagination and where it might lead you.
April 20, 2020
Beautifully written and very well characterised novel examining the fun and dangers of role playing. A very enjoyable read.
August 22, 2024
lugesin selle raamatu üle rahulikumas tempos kui eelmine kord. ja põhjalikumalt, sest panin vastu kiusatusele "Gondaling" ehk laste rollimängu tegelik sisu vahele jätta (ehkki olgem ausad, teiste inimeste rollimängu kirjeldust ON tüütu lugeda. eriti kui need teised inimesed on 13-15 aastat vanad).
huvitav, kuidas selles loos võtavad kõik "mõistlikud" inimesed (Nicola, Karen, autor ise) kiiresti seisukoha, et rollimäng teismelise- või täiskasvanueas on halb mõte ja kindlasti segab osalejatel oma päris elu elamist... ja siis muidugi juhtub siin loos asju, mis seda justkui kinnitaksid. ehkki samas mis siis nii väga ikka juhtus - ok, see üks koht jahi ajal, kus Patrick Nicolale hobusega peaaegu pähe maandub, aga isegi ei peatu ega vabanda, sest on Nicola väitel parajasti oma rollis nii sees. muus osas tavaline laste obsessioon parajasti käimasoleva mängu suhtes, no et kogu aeg tahaks pigem edasi mängida kui mingeid muid vajalikke asju teha. ei ennusta siin minu arust miski Marlow'de perele sama kurba saatust kui Brontede oma.
nagu eelmiselgi lugemisel, meeldisid mulle jahi ja kolmekuningapäevapeo kirjeldused hirmsasti, ja mul oli täitsa meelest ära läinud see osa, kus Nicola aitab Rowanit vastsündinud talledega ja neil on tore vestlus tuleviku ja eluunistuste teemal. (appi kui ebapraktiline tundub olevat pidada lambaid kohas, kus nad poegivad täpselt jõulude ja uusaasta ajal! aga selgub, et Inglismaa lõunaosas täitsa võib nii minna.) noh, ja see õdedevaheline Brontede-arutelu ka mind jätkuvalt võlub, lihtsalt ses mõttes, et mis huvitavaid vestlusi saavad omavahel pidada inimesed, keda on kõiki samas koolis samad õpetajad samade projektide abil harinud.
nii et kokkuvõttes tore raamat. ehkki kuna just eelmisena lugesin Falconer's Lure'i, kus Nicola ja Patricku sõprus alguse sai, siis on nüüd ekstranukker lugeda selle tegelikult ju üsna kiirest lõpust, eriti kuna ma ka tean, mis sellest Patricku ja Ginty tärkavast armastusest edasi saab (spoiler: ei midagi head). samas jällegi väga eluline on see kõik.
huvitav, kuidas selles loos võtavad kõik "mõistlikud" inimesed (Nicola, Karen, autor ise) kiiresti seisukoha, et rollimäng teismelise- või täiskasvanueas on halb mõte ja kindlasti segab osalejatel oma päris elu elamist... ja siis muidugi juhtub siin loos asju, mis seda justkui kinnitaksid. ehkki samas mis siis nii väga ikka juhtus - ok, see üks koht jahi ajal, kus Patrick Nicolale hobusega peaaegu pähe maandub, aga isegi ei peatu ega vabanda, sest on Nicola väitel parajasti oma rollis nii sees. muus osas tavaline laste obsessioon parajasti käimasoleva mängu suhtes, no et kogu aeg tahaks pigem edasi mängida kui mingeid muid vajalikke asju teha. ei ennusta siin minu arust miski Marlow'de perele sama kurba saatust kui Brontede oma.
nagu eelmiselgi lugemisel, meeldisid mulle jahi ja kolmekuningapäevapeo kirjeldused hirmsasti, ja mul oli täitsa meelest ära läinud see osa, kus Nicola aitab Rowanit vastsündinud talledega ja neil on tore vestlus tuleviku ja eluunistuste teemal. (appi kui ebapraktiline tundub olevat pidada lambaid kohas, kus nad poegivad täpselt jõulude ja uusaasta ajal! aga selgub, et Inglismaa lõunaosas täitsa võib nii minna.) noh, ja see õdedevaheline Brontede-arutelu ka mind jätkuvalt võlub, lihtsalt ses mõttes, et mis huvitavaid vestlusi saavad omavahel pidada inimesed, keda on kõiki samas koolis samad õpetajad samade projektide abil harinud.
nii et kokkuvõttes tore raamat. ehkki kuna just eelmisena lugesin Falconer's Lure'i, kus Nicola ja Patricku sõprus alguse sai, siis on nüüd ekstranukker lugeda selle tegelikult ju üsna kiirest lõpust, eriti kuna ma ka tean, mis sellest Patricku ja Ginty tärkavast armastusest edasi saab (spoiler: ei midagi head). samas jällegi väga eluline on see kõik.
July 20, 2021
I've given all the other Marlow books 5 stars and this almost qualifies, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the others. It's by Antonia Forest, so of course it has smooth but often intriguing prose and well-rounded and distinct characters who have believable interactions.
The thing that sets Peter's Room apart from the rest of the series is the "Gondal" game. Ginty's class is studying the Bronte family and she has to write an essay on the elaborate stories they acted out as adults - somewhere between children's imagination games and improvisation, I think. She want to try "Gondaling" with her younger siblings and their friend Patrick, who are aged 13-16. Three of the chapters are the adventures they make up together - with interruptions as the kids argue and decide about what should happen next. Normally I like reading fantasy adventures in made-up countries, but these are darker than I prefer. Though it's fascinating to see the character of each child transmuted into an imaginary person who is somewhat different. Patrick, in particular, feels compelled to explore cowardice and treachery, which upsets the others.
It's interesting that young Nicola, who is usually the person we identify with, doesn't like Gondal, in fact she "despised Gondal and all its works", though she goes along with it for the sake of the others. She is ultimately the one to decide what happens with the game.
There is a fair amount of real life in this book, too, including a sad event, a party, a betrayal, farm life, and a delightful fox hunt in which the ancient pony Mr. Buster amazes his rider Nicola and everyone else. I like that the outcome of the hunt is ambiguous - Nicola does, too, because she empathizes with both the wily fox and three valiant white hounds. We get to know the Marlows and Patrick better and glimpse a possible future for Nicola.
This is the second time I've read this book and I hope it's not the last.
The thing that sets Peter's Room apart from the rest of the series is the "Gondal" game. Ginty's class is studying the Bronte family and she has to write an essay on the elaborate stories they acted out as adults - somewhere between children's imagination games and improvisation, I think. She want to try "Gondaling" with her younger siblings and their friend Patrick, who are aged 13-16. Three of the chapters are the adventures they make up together - with interruptions as the kids argue and decide about what should happen next. Normally I like reading fantasy adventures in made-up countries, but these are darker than I prefer. Though it's fascinating to see the character of each child transmuted into an imaginary person who is somewhat different. Patrick, in particular, feels compelled to explore cowardice and treachery, which upsets the others.
It's interesting that young Nicola, who is usually the person we identify with, doesn't like Gondal, in fact she "despised Gondal and all its works", though she goes along with it for the sake of the others. She is ultimately the one to decide what happens with the game.
There is a fair amount of real life in this book, too, including a sad event, a party, a betrayal, farm life, and a delightful fox hunt in which the ancient pony Mr. Buster amazes his rider Nicola and everyone else. I like that the outcome of the hunt is ambiguous - Nicola does, too, because she empathizes with both the wily fox and three valiant white hounds. We get to know the Marlows and Patrick better and glimpse a possible future for Nicola.
This is the second time I've read this book and I hope it's not the last.
March 8, 2020
Part 5 of the Marlows. This one I didn't enjoy as much as the others. Similar to Nicola, I couldn't quite get into the play acting element, although I certainly enjoyed learning about the Brontes.
Like Ginty, I studied the Brontes at school and even visited Haworth but I don't remember any discussion about living in a fantasy world, or indeed alcoholism. The discussions between the Marlow siblings around the characters of each of the Bronte siblings, and their relative strengths and weaknesses are not what you would normally expect in a children's book, and makes me wonder if school standards today are not what they were, or if Miss Forest just imposed adult intellectual discussions on her characters. Probably the latter, I think.
In any case, this is an interesting historical piece for its discussion of a Twelfth Night party and a hunting meet, both insights into a life many of us will never experience. The Marlow family, too gets more of an exposition here, and I am growing to know the characters well: Giles: golden boy, Karen: sensible, toeing the party line, Rowan: pragmatic, talented, responsible, Ann: caring, dutiful and boring, Ginty: irresponsible, imaginative, pretty, Peter: playful, immature, arrogant, Nicola: clever, brave, modest, Lawrie: emotional, ambitious, clingy. It's amazing how well they are all drawn and how emotionally attached you can grow to them.
As a children's book I find it is more complex than you would usually expect, with some interesting observations around character, but I feel it is a little old for most children, although enjoyable for an adult.
Like Ginty, I studied the Brontes at school and even visited Haworth but I don't remember any discussion about living in a fantasy world, or indeed alcoholism. The discussions between the Marlow siblings around the characters of each of the Bronte siblings, and their relative strengths and weaknesses are not what you would normally expect in a children's book, and makes me wonder if school standards today are not what they were, or if Miss Forest just imposed adult intellectual discussions on her characters. Probably the latter, I think.
In any case, this is an interesting historical piece for its discussion of a Twelfth Night party and a hunting meet, both insights into a life many of us will never experience. The Marlow family, too gets more of an exposition here, and I am growing to know the characters well: Giles: golden boy, Karen: sensible, toeing the party line, Rowan: pragmatic, talented, responsible, Ann: caring, dutiful and boring, Ginty: irresponsible, imaginative, pretty, Peter: playful, immature, arrogant, Nicola: clever, brave, modest, Lawrie: emotional, ambitious, clingy. It's amazing how well they are all drawn and how emotionally attached you can grow to them.
As a children's book I find it is more complex than you would usually expect, with some interesting observations around character, but I feel it is a little old for most children, although enjoyable for an adult.
March 14, 2024
I’m left feeling… noncommittal… and that surprises me. This feels so inessential and in-between: a “how I spent my winter vacation” story. Maybe it’s the muffling snow or the brief timespan or the lower stakes, but the writing is so understated that there isn’t any urgency and the story doesn’t feel like it matters.
Which is strange for a story that features an almost-tragedy. But the tragedy isn’t the point - the interpersonal is, and this is episodic in that regard: a conversation with Karen here, an interlude with Ginty there, a through-line which consists only of spur-of-the-moment fantasy impulses. And so this is left directionless. There are bits of great character moments, mostly with Patrick, who buys in and who wants to explore weakness and who starts a side story with Ginty… and also with Nicola, who feels like an outsider - from the game and from Patrick - but those moments are brief and quiet. There’s no real contrast to ensure they stand out by their very understatedness. This almost feels deadened by its own chilly winter.
And then, to break it all up, there’s a hunt, the metaphors almost as elusive as the foxes.
There’s a lot to admire in the writing, and maybe the quiet is the point. But this didn’t work for me as well as other Marlow books have. Maybe I need to give it another shot. Or maybe I’m like Karen: just missing the point.
Which is strange for a story that features an almost-tragedy. But the tragedy isn’t the point - the interpersonal is, and this is episodic in that regard: a conversation with Karen here, an interlude with Ginty there, a through-line which consists only of spur-of-the-moment fantasy impulses. And so this is left directionless. There are bits of great character moments, mostly with Patrick, who buys in and who wants to explore weakness and who starts a side story with Ginty… and also with Nicola, who feels like an outsider - from the game and from Patrick - but those moments are brief and quiet. There’s no real contrast to ensure they stand out by their very understatedness. This almost feels deadened by its own chilly winter.
And then, to break it all up, there’s a hunt, the metaphors almost as elusive as the foxes.
There’s a lot to admire in the writing, and maybe the quiet is the point. But this didn’t work for me as well as other Marlow books have. Maybe I need to give it another shot. Or maybe I’m like Karen: just missing the point.
April 11, 2022
What a strange little book!
July 28, 2023
I liked this except for the imaginary part.
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