The Runaway Summer

by Nina Bawden

Deeply unhappy at the recent divorce of her parents, Mary is sent away to live by the sea with her distant grandfather and the detestable Aunt Alice. Feeling abandoned, without even the company of her beloved pet cat Noakes, the summer looks set to become one long stretch of unendurable loneliness. But suddenly she is dragged, half unwittingly, into a situation that will force her to come to the aid of others more vulnerable than herself. So begins her runaway summer, as she sets about helping Simon, the son of a local policeman, and a young illegal immigrant boy arrived from Kenya, frightened and all alone.The Runaway Summer was first published in 1969 to typically universal acclaim. It is, in the words of the Times Educational Supplement, an 'unputdownable gem of a book. The tale is beautifully constructed in diamond-hard language.'

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Classics

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Nina Bawden was a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.

When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.

A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.

Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.

Reviews

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I had read this as a child but didn't really remember it. Re-reading as an adult, I find it surprisingly lovely. The young characters seem authentic and fully realized, flaws and all, but likeable. I absolutely identified with and appreciated Mary from the very start:
"Mary was angry. She had been angry for ages; she couldn't remember when she had last felt nice. Sometimes she was angry for a good reason -- when someone tried to make her do something she didn't want to do -- but most of the time she was angry for no reason as all. She just woke in the morning feeling cross and miserable and as if she wanted to kick or break things."
Fantastic!

[Colin Garrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

While her parents are going through a divorce, young Mary is farmed out to relatives who live near the seaside. But Mary’s grandfather and his daughter (Aunt Alice), only serve to dampen the girl’s mood. Caught up in her own little world, Mary resorts to what she does best – making up stories. Transforming her relatives into the most detestable pair of grumps ever, Mary takes out her petulance on anyone and everyone, lying and spinning tall tales to anyone who’ll listen. So, when she meets Simon and his twin sisters on the beach, it takes a little while for them to become friends. However, seeing two strange men and a boy getting out of a boat at the shore, Mary cannot understand why the men leave the boy there all alone. The only thing she can do is to seek the help of her new friends.

First published in 1969, this is another delightful tale from Nina Bawden. The development of the characters, especially that of Mary, as the plot unfolds, is extremely well done and builds into a fascinating story about family, trust and childhood. Bawden’s use of language is highly appealing, creating beautiful descriptions of the landscape as well as brilliantly drawn characters. My only criticism is her overuse of exclamation marks! Far too many!

A delightful and heart-warming book.

[Cricket Muse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having watched the film adaptation of Carrie’s War I became interested in finding more books by Nina Bowden.
Written in the late sixties, Runaway Summer touches on topics that are still current today: family structure and immigrant laws.
It would be odd if Mary had so much freedom to run about today, but given the time period it seems appropriate.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Baneen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't read stories like this one, but it was worth reading it.