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Choir School #3
Cathedral Wednesday
Cathedral Wednesday
158 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
24 people want to read
About the author
William Mayne
135 books16 followersWilliam Mayne was a British writer of children's fiction. Born in Hull, he was educated at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral and his memories of that time contributed to his early books. He lived most of his life in North Yorkshire.
He was described as one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th Century by the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, and won the Carnegie Medal in 1957 for A Grass Rope and the Guardian Award in 1993 for Low Tide. He has written more than a hundred books, and is best known for his Choir School quartet comprising A Swarm in May, Choristers' Cake, Cathedral Wednesday and Words and Music, and his Earthfasts trilogy comprising Earthfasts, Cradlefasts and Candlefasts, an unusual evocation of the King Arthur legend.
A Swarm in May was filmed by the Children's Film Unit in 1983 and a five-part television series of Earthfasts was broadcast by the BBC in 1994.
William Mayne was imprisoned for two and a half years in 2004 after admitting to charges of child sexual abuse and was placed on the British sex offenders' register. His books were largely removed from shelves, and he died in disgrace in 2010.
He was described as one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th Century by the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, and won the Carnegie Medal in 1957 for A Grass Rope and the Guardian Award in 1993 for Low Tide. He has written more than a hundred books, and is best known for his Choir School quartet comprising A Swarm in May, Choristers' Cake, Cathedral Wednesday and Words and Music, and his Earthfasts trilogy comprising Earthfasts, Cradlefasts and Candlefasts, an unusual evocation of the King Arthur legend.
A Swarm in May was filmed by the Children's Film Unit in 1983 and a five-part television series of Earthfasts was broadcast by the BBC in 1994.
William Mayne was imprisoned for two and a half years in 2004 after admitting to charges of child sexual abuse and was placed on the British sex offenders' register. His books were largely removed from shelves, and he died in disgrace in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 11, 2015
This was one of my favourite books as a child and I have been quoting from it for years, but I never owned it so I have not read it for decades. Recently I was able to acquire a copy and slightly anxiously began to read.
Of course it was not quite the story I remembered - not as laugh-out-loud funny, more quirky and rather melancholic. Andrew, the central character, is prefect at a cathedral choir school (probably Canterbury), following in the path of his dead father and his older, eccentric and musical brother. He is a dayboy and consequently feels rather outside much of the school's life. When a 'plague' strikes (some bug going round) he ends up as acting head boy and responsible for much of the arrangement for covering all the duties and services required. It's not a heroic book: there's no A-team moment or glorious reward for all his work, but it is a gentle and perceptive look at the problems of taking on responsibility as we grow up, and dealing with difficult people. I'm slightly surprised I loved it so much when I was younger, but I definitely love it now.
Of course it was not quite the story I remembered - not as laugh-out-loud funny, more quirky and rather melancholic. Andrew, the central character, is prefect at a cathedral choir school (probably Canterbury), following in the path of his dead father and his older, eccentric and musical brother. He is a dayboy and consequently feels rather outside much of the school's life. When a 'plague' strikes (some bug going round) he ends up as acting head boy and responsible for much of the arrangement for covering all the duties and services required. It's not a heroic book: there's no A-team moment or glorious reward for all his work, but it is a gentle and perceptive look at the problems of taking on responsibility as we grow up, and dealing with difficult people. I'm slightly surprised I loved it so much when I was younger, but I definitely love it now.
February 20, 2023
brilliant children's book about boys in cathedral schools, where the boys sing at the cathedral attached to the boarding school. Just try to buy a copy of this book to see how much it's worth now.
March 2012 - have read this again as an adult but sadly I didnt particularly enjoy it, or perhaps it's too dated. It was written in the 1950's and much of the schoolboy humour doesnt work these days, nor do the frequent Latin references. I have left the star rating as 5 because as a child I loved this book, and it is written for children. My adult's rating is only 2 or 3 stars.
February 2023 - reread the book and enjoyed it. There are hardly any Latin references, the book is a fine read. This one tells of the disruption to the Cathedral services and school when many boys become unwell.
March 2012 - have read this again as an adult but sadly I didnt particularly enjoy it, or perhaps it's too dated. It was written in the 1950's and much of the schoolboy humour doesnt work these days, nor do the frequent Latin references. I have left the star rating as 5 because as a child I loved this book, and it is written for children. My adult's rating is only 2 or 3 stars.
February 2023 - reread the book and enjoyed it. There are hardly any Latin references, the book is a fine read. This one tells of the disruption to the Cathedral services and school when many boys become unwell.
March 1, 2021
How do you exercise authority which you suddenly acquire? A strange theme for a children's book but looked at from the child's viewpoint the problems and the solutions are a part of growing up. The theme is contained in an entertaining story of a Cathedral boarding school in the midst of a (?flu) epidemic and how the school copes with an ever diminishing number of choir boys.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews