The Secret of Galleybird Pit

Brown Family #1

by Malcolm Saville

"If it's the first time you two have been up the Downs you'd better listen to what I say. Keep away from this place. It's dangerous. Galleybird Pit it's called." With this harsh warning Lucy and Humf Brown find themselves caught up in a horrifying drama.

They see a little dog racing away from the pit and immediately after, Lucy and Humf find a dead lamb. The dog looked like Terry who belongs to their friend Mark - if that's so, the farmers intend to shoot him. How can the children prove that Terry isn't the sheep-killer?

Genres: Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Leonard Malcolm Saville was an English author best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expect I read this in 1974 when I bought it; nearly fifty years later I've just finished it, possibly for the first time since I was a teenager. It's about 12-year-old Lucy and her younger brother Humf who have moved from the city to a small village in Sussex.

Nice family dynamics, though I don't think children would appreciate them, and Humf is a three-dimensional character, but the plot is a bit thin, and there's no 'secret' as such. Rather more unpleasant animal issues than I'm comfortable with, but this was written in 1959, and set in a farming community.

Perhaps a child of about nine or ten might like it, so long as they're not sensitive to unpleasant scenes involving animals; but I suspect this is mainly read by adults who have loved Saville's writing for many decades.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thin plot but Saville’s writing carried me along anyway.

Worst aspect is the father of the Brown family. I think we’re meant to find him charming but he’s a feckless man-baby.