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Zia Sass
In questi tre racconti si trovano le origini di Mary Poppins, ossia le storie dei tre personaggi, incontrati nella vita, da cui P. L. Travers trasse i caratteri fondamentali della sua tata e tante delle sue invenzioni.
In origine, furono stampati privatamente, nel 1940, come regali di Natale per gli amici e i familiari. E sono qui pubblicati per la prima volta in italiano.
L’autrice, già famosa, ricorda dei suoi incontri con tre persone che avevano modellato la sua infanzia e lasciato una traccia indelebile per il resto dell’esistenza.
La vecchia zia Sass, alta e rigida signora uscita da un romanzo vittoriano che spargeva benevolenza mascherata da inflessibile severità; il cuoco cinese Ah Wong che faceva sentire tutto e tutti parte di «una corrente sola, unica e indivisibile»; il vecchio fantino irlandese Johnny Delaney che guardava al mondo «come se l’avesse creato lui e adesso non sapesse che farsene della sua creazione». Sono le guide complici e sagge di una bambina che cresce in una immensa piantagione australiana, portatrici di un segreto fascinoso come un mistero, capaci di «sollevare le nostre vite quasi sul piano della leggenda».
P. L. Travers, «riservata e fiera» tanto da essere incomparabilmente meno conosciuta del suo personaggio, e contemporaneamente così gelosa dell’autenticità di Mary Poppins da non aver gradito la versione che ne diede Walt Disney, in queste pagine consegna in fondo una rivelazione, confezionata in tre commoventi ritratti divertenti e pieni di amore. Da quale sottofondo di immagini e realtà, di tipi umani straordinari e necessari, di vissuto, e quindi da quale verità esistenziale viene uno dei grandi miti classici moderni.
In origine, furono stampati privatamente, nel 1940, come regali di Natale per gli amici e i familiari. E sono qui pubblicati per la prima volta in italiano.
L’autrice, già famosa, ricorda dei suoi incontri con tre persone che avevano modellato la sua infanzia e lasciato una traccia indelebile per il resto dell’esistenza.
La vecchia zia Sass, alta e rigida signora uscita da un romanzo vittoriano che spargeva benevolenza mascherata da inflessibile severità; il cuoco cinese Ah Wong che faceva sentire tutto e tutti parte di «una corrente sola, unica e indivisibile»; il vecchio fantino irlandese Johnny Delaney che guardava al mondo «come se l’avesse creato lui e adesso non sapesse che farsene della sua creazione». Sono le guide complici e sagge di una bambina che cresce in una immensa piantagione australiana, portatrici di un segreto fascinoso come un mistero, capaci di «sollevare le nostre vite quasi sul piano della leggenda».
P. L. Travers, «riservata e fiera» tanto da essere incomparabilmente meno conosciuta del suo personaggio, e contemporaneamente così gelosa dell’autenticità di Mary Poppins da non aver gradito la versione che ne diede Walt Disney, in queste pagine consegna in fondo una rivelazione, confezionata in tre commoventi ritratti divertenti e pieni di amore. Da quale sottofondo di immagini e realtà, di tipi umani straordinari e necessari, di vissuto, e quindi da quale verità esistenziale viene uno dei grandi miti classici moderni.
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2014
24 people are currently reading
393 people want to read
About the author
P.L. Travers
63 books728 followersPamela Lyndon Travers was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist, popularly remembered for her series of children's novels about mystical nanny Mary Poppins.
She was born to bank manager Travers Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes. Her father died when she was seven, and although "epileptic seizure delirium" was given as the cause of death, Travers herself "always believed the underlying cause was sustained, heavy drinking".
Travers began to publish her poems while still a teenager and wrote for The Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers.
In 1925 while in Ireland, Travers met the poet George William Russell who, as editor of The Irish Statesman, accepted some of her poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other Irish poets who fostered her interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Later, the mystic Gurdjieff would have a great effect on her, as would also have on several other literary figures.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success.Five sequels followed, as well as a collection of other novels, poetry collections and works of non-fiction.
The Disney musical adaptation was released in 1964. Primarily based on the first novel in what was then a sequence of four books, it also lifted elements from the sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back. Although Travers was an adviser to the production she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins's character, felt ambivalent about the music and disliked the use of animation to such an extent that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. At the film's star-studded premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequence had to go. Disney responded by saying "Pamela, the ship has sailed." and walked away. Travers would never again agree to another Poppins/Disney adaptation, though Disney made several attempts to persuade her to change her mind.
So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Walt Disney adaptation and the way she felt she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she only acquiesced upon the condition that only English born writers (and specifically no Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production even though they were still very prolific. Original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production however. These points were stipulated in her last will and testament.
Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in 1996.
Although Travers never married, she adopted a boy when she was in her late 30s.
She was born to bank manager Travers Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes. Her father died when she was seven, and although "epileptic seizure delirium" was given as the cause of death, Travers herself "always believed the underlying cause was sustained, heavy drinking".
Travers began to publish her poems while still a teenager and wrote for The Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers.
In 1925 while in Ireland, Travers met the poet George William Russell who, as editor of The Irish Statesman, accepted some of her poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other Irish poets who fostered her interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Later, the mystic Gurdjieff would have a great effect on her, as would also have on several other literary figures.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success.Five sequels followed, as well as a collection of other novels, poetry collections and works of non-fiction.
The Disney musical adaptation was released in 1964. Primarily based on the first novel in what was then a sequence of four books, it also lifted elements from the sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back. Although Travers was an adviser to the production she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins's character, felt ambivalent about the music and disliked the use of animation to such an extent that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. At the film's star-studded premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequence had to go. Disney responded by saying "Pamela, the ship has sailed." and walked away. Travers would never again agree to another Poppins/Disney adaptation, though Disney made several attempts to persuade her to change her mind.
So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Walt Disney adaptation and the way she felt she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she only acquiesced upon the condition that only English born writers (and specifically no Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production even though they were still very prolific. Original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production however. These points were stipulated in her last will and testament.
Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in 1996.
Although Travers never married, she adopted a boy when she was in her late 30s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
December 15, 2017
3.5 Mary Poppins, fond memories. Read the book before ever seeing the movie, saw the movie with my children when they were young. Though the book was different from the movie, much darker, I enjoyed both. These threes stories are not really Christmas stories, though they were written by the author as a Christmas gift for family members.
The first story, Aunt Sass was my favorite. An inside look at a the woman who inspired Mary Poppins, possibly that of her own great aunt. What an absolute character, can definitely see Mary's brisk personality in these pages.
The second story, Ah Wong, was both humorous and sad. Would not be politically correct today, but this man from China, was such an amazing character. Definitely had his own views and opinions, and not at all afraid to share them. The ending brings closure in an unusual and heartfelt way.
The third story, Johnny Delaney, an Irishman, who had decided views on how children should be raised. Though this was my least favorite, it was still a good one. Just paled because of the strength of the first two.
So although these are not your typical Christmas stories, I still found them wonderful. They brought back memories of when my now grown children were young, and believed in the magic of Mary Poppins.
The first story, Aunt Sass was my favorite. An inside look at a the woman who inspired Mary Poppins, possibly that of her own great aunt. What an absolute character, can definitely see Mary's brisk personality in these pages.
The second story, Ah Wong, was both humorous and sad. Would not be politically correct today, but this man from China, was such an amazing character. Definitely had his own views and opinions, and not at all afraid to share them. The ending brings closure in an unusual and heartfelt way.
The third story, Johnny Delaney, an Irishman, who had decided views on how children should be raised. Though this was my least favorite, it was still a good one. Just paled because of the strength of the first two.
So although these are not your typical Christmas stories, I still found them wonderful. They brought back memories of when my now grown children were young, and believed in the magic of Mary Poppins.
January 5, 2020
This consists of 3 short stories:
1 Aunt Sass
2 Ah Wong
3 Johnny Delaney
The setting is Australia where P.L. Travers grew up. Life is different down there. Aunt Sass is my favorite of the 3 stories. I was expecting more Christmas in these pages. There is a little holiday cheer, but really very little. P. L. Travers wrote these stories for friends and family and gave them to the people as a Christmas gift and I think that's why they are called Christmas.
Aunt Sass is sassy and very much like Mary Poppins. Yes, P. L. is the writer of Mary Poppins and this Aunt Sass is similar in many ways to Mary Poppins and she was the idea for this. I think Aunt Sass was a real person.
P. L.'s writing is very precise.
1 Aunt Sass
2 Ah Wong
3 Johnny Delaney
The setting is Australia where P.L. Travers grew up. Life is different down there. Aunt Sass is my favorite of the 3 stories. I was expecting more Christmas in these pages. There is a little holiday cheer, but really very little. P. L. Travers wrote these stories for friends and family and gave them to the people as a Christmas gift and I think that's why they are called Christmas.
Aunt Sass is sassy and very much like Mary Poppins. Yes, P. L. is the writer of Mary Poppins and this Aunt Sass is similar in many ways to Mary Poppins and she was the idea for this. I think Aunt Sass was a real person.
P. L.'s writing is very precise.
October 20, 2024
Aunt Sass by PJ Travers is a lovely story written as a tribute to the Author best know as Mary Poppins. It gives a glimpse into her aunt Helen Morehead known as Aunt Sass. Originally written as a private family/close friend Christmas story is a mixture of memories, humor and love.
February 12, 2024
Akcja "P. L. Trawers, otul mnie, bo już nie daję rady" - czas, start.
Niepozorna książeczka, ale napisana tak wspaniale, że każde słowo chłonie się z czystą przyjemnością.
Niepozorna książeczka, ale napisana tak wspaniale, że każde słowo chłonie się z czystą przyjemnością.
December 4, 2018
Było super, dopóki nie trafiłam na "plutonową jaskinię bytu" - serio? Jestem małostkowa i takie duperele mi przeszkadzają.
December 20, 2016
“Aunt Sass” is a semi-autobiographical and truly exquisite testimony about Pamela L. Travers’s memorable great aunt Helen Morehead (Aunt Ellie).
“Aunt Sass” was published privately in 1941 in a limited edition of five hundred copies. It was intended as a Christmas gift for friends, although the theme had nothing to do with Christmas.
I wonder what Pamela’s friends’ reactions were. Were they touched? Did they care about her childhood memories? Did they discuss the story with her? Or, did they toss it somewhere on a shelf and forgot it existed? And I wish I knew why she dedicated the story to Eugene and Curtice. Who were they? Maybe someone out there having that piece of knowledge will read this post and give me the answer…
Fortunately, for the purposes of my blog and my personal obsession with Pamela L. Travers, Donna Coonan, Commission Editor of Virago Press, undertook to uncover Pamela’s unpublished works after seeing the documentary “The Secret Life of Mary Poppins“ a BBC culture show narrated by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In November 2014, Virago Press, with the authorization of Pamela’s estate, published “Aunt Sass” along with two other stories: “Ah Wong” and “Johnny Delaney.” (Review of these two stories to follow.)
After the early death of Pamela’s father, her mother, Margaret, found herself financially unsupported and overwhelmed by the task of raising three young children alone. Great Aunt Ellie came to the rescue and took the role of the directing and protecting figure in Margaret’s and her children’s lives. The grieving family, anxious about its future, moved in temporarily with Ellie and her two dogs, Badger and Tinker. The first meal at Aunt Ellie’s house seems to have been forever carved into Pamela’s psyche:
“The next thing we knew we were all sitting at the luncheon table hearing Aunt Sass (Ellie) descant unfavorably on our table manners, upbringing, personal appearance and ghastly futures. One after another the children melted into tears and were ordered from the table. Eventually, my mother could bear it no longer and left the room, weeping. I alone remained. She glared at me and through a maddening haze of tears I glared back.
And now, I suppose, you’ll break down and go too.
I will not, you old Beast! I shouted to her. I am not crying, it’s only my eyes. "
This was hardly a warm and comforting welcome. Not only that, but according to Pamela’s biographer, the children, when visiting, would be sent to sleep on a cot in the attic while the best spare room would be reserved for the dogs, Tinker and Badger.
The story doesn’t tell us explicitly, but it is possible that Ellie, herself, was overwhelmed by the events and by the long-term task of assisting the financial and moral needs of her niece and her three young children.
“Here, take the cherries to the little ones and tell your mother Aunt Sass is a bitter old woman and that she didn’t mean a word if it."
Nevertheless, Ellie’s manners were cold and her mean words stuck in young Pamela’s mind for many years to come. If that was not the case, there would not have been a story about Aunt Sass and no Mary Poppins, for that matter.
Aunt Ellie appears to have had somewhat of a split personality; a rough exterior and mean demeanor with some occasional sentimental deeds.
“Her remarkableness lay in the extraordinary, and to me, enchanting discrepancy between her external behavior and her inner self. Imagine a bulldog whose ferocious exterior covers a heart tender to the point of sentimentality (…).”
Reportedly, extremely opinionated, Ellie viewed the world in either black or white. She also believed herself to be (or wanted others to think so) the retainer of all truth and expected, as “a general in a War Office,” to be obeyed on the spot.
“The grim face was stony with conviction, the deep voice rumbled and you felt a delicious tremor of fear and anticipation fly through you. Any minute, any second some terrible miracle might happen. Would the world fall in two if you brought her the wrong knitting needles? Would you go up in smoke if you tweaked Tinker’s tail or Badger’s ear?”
For little Pamela, the ambiguity of Aunt Ellie proved itself frightening, but at the same time, her presence provided a sense of safety, of being taken in charge by someone who appeared almighty and powerful; just like the Banks children in the Mary Poppins stories.
Ellie’s power resided in her wealth and in her use of constant criticism and gossip as her weapons of coercion and disempowerment. I suspect her of being bullied by her own inner fears and disappointments, and that whenever guilt arose she tried to compensate for her exteriorized bullying by the occasional fairy godmother kind of attitude, which her financial resources allowed her to do. She did pay for Pamela’s boarding school, her typewriter, and her fare to England. As the years passed by, little Pamela grew up to become a young woman with artistic talents and a mind of her own.
Now, this is just a hunch, but I feel that when Pamela, in her budding femininity, began to express her artistic tendencies more assertively, her Great Aunt’s insecurities only increased and maybe even gave birth to some feelings of jealousy. I wish I could travel in time to see and hear for myself how things really happened. Instead, all I have are little bits and pieces of information to titillate my imagination with, just like these examples of exchanges:
“I will not go out with you in that hat!”
“Very well, Aunt Sass. I’ll go by myself. ”
“Why do you have to turn yourself into a monstrosity? I am ashamed to be seen with you. Get into the car!”
Or
“Writing? Faugh! Why can’t you leave that to journalists?”
What’s all this I hear about you going to England? Ridiculous nonsense! You were always a fool.”
Anyhow, Ellie and Pamela never truly got along. “For the rest of her life we fought with all the bitterness of true affection.”
Ellie became ill right after her last visit to England. She was ninety years old. The illness “stretched her on her bed and drew a curtain of unconsciousness over her.” When, against all expectations, she came briefly back to life she was a different woman.
“The old gruffness, the fierce egotism were gone. She was concerned and anxious now to reveal the heart that had hidden so long behind it. It was as if, knowing her time to be short, she must hasten to let the light appear through the thinning crust of flesh. … That stretch of dark unconsciousness had taught her how not to be self-conscious. Her defenses were down at last.”
It was on their last meeting that Pamela gave Ellie a copy of the first of the Mary Poppins books. Her aunt took it to read it on her voyage back home. I wonder if she recognized herself in the traits of Mary Poppins. Could that be the cause of her softening of the heart? We’ll never know the answers and I can only speculate.
I also couldn’t help but notice something else, a similarity of fortunes. It is almost as if Pamela in some way professed her own future. She too lived well into her nineties, she too was quite self-obsessed and self-conscious, and it was only in her later writings that she expressed this same willingness to open up and at last be vulnerable; something that she resisted during her entire life.
It is true then that Pamela L. Travers wrote more than she knew, although when she said: “We write more than we know we are writing. We do not guess at the roots that made our fruit” she was referring to the resemblance between Mary Poppins and her Great Aunt Ellie.
Strangely enough, when interviewed, Pamela always maintained that she didn’t know where Mary Poppins came from.
A comment made by Camillus Travers, Pamela’s adoptive son, comes to mind. Talking about his mother he said: “My mother was Mary Poppins.” And if Mary Poppins was based on the character of Helen Morehead, then it is only logical to assume that as Pamela grew older she ended up reproducing her bitter aunt’s behavior.
I also wonder if Pamela ever became aware of the irony of this condition. I can only hypothesize that Pamela, experiencing her life as an ordeal, modeled “the giantess, the frightening fairy-tale figure who” in her “childhood seemed immense enough to knock against the stars and hold counsel with God.” She modeled what she believed to be strength and resilience.
The stories in this book were interesting to me because I am interested in Pamela L. Travers and her life experience. Although beautifully written, I doubt that these stories will be an interesting read for the majority, there is not a lot of action, nor magic, nor joy…
themarypoppinseffect. com
“Aunt Sass” was published privately in 1941 in a limited edition of five hundred copies. It was intended as a Christmas gift for friends, although the theme had nothing to do with Christmas.
I wonder what Pamela’s friends’ reactions were. Were they touched? Did they care about her childhood memories? Did they discuss the story with her? Or, did they toss it somewhere on a shelf and forgot it existed? And I wish I knew why she dedicated the story to Eugene and Curtice. Who were they? Maybe someone out there having that piece of knowledge will read this post and give me the answer…
Fortunately, for the purposes of my blog and my personal obsession with Pamela L. Travers, Donna Coonan, Commission Editor of Virago Press, undertook to uncover Pamela’s unpublished works after seeing the documentary “The Secret Life of Mary Poppins“ a BBC culture show narrated by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In November 2014, Virago Press, with the authorization of Pamela’s estate, published “Aunt Sass” along with two other stories: “Ah Wong” and “Johnny Delaney.” (Review of these two stories to follow.)
After the early death of Pamela’s father, her mother, Margaret, found herself financially unsupported and overwhelmed by the task of raising three young children alone. Great Aunt Ellie came to the rescue and took the role of the directing and protecting figure in Margaret’s and her children’s lives. The grieving family, anxious about its future, moved in temporarily with Ellie and her two dogs, Badger and Tinker. The first meal at Aunt Ellie’s house seems to have been forever carved into Pamela’s psyche:
“The next thing we knew we were all sitting at the luncheon table hearing Aunt Sass (Ellie) descant unfavorably on our table manners, upbringing, personal appearance and ghastly futures. One after another the children melted into tears and were ordered from the table. Eventually, my mother could bear it no longer and left the room, weeping. I alone remained. She glared at me and through a maddening haze of tears I glared back.
And now, I suppose, you’ll break down and go too.
I will not, you old Beast! I shouted to her. I am not crying, it’s only my eyes. "
This was hardly a warm and comforting welcome. Not only that, but according to Pamela’s biographer, the children, when visiting, would be sent to sleep on a cot in the attic while the best spare room would be reserved for the dogs, Tinker and Badger.
The story doesn’t tell us explicitly, but it is possible that Ellie, herself, was overwhelmed by the events and by the long-term task of assisting the financial and moral needs of her niece and her three young children.
“Here, take the cherries to the little ones and tell your mother Aunt Sass is a bitter old woman and that she didn’t mean a word if it."
Nevertheless, Ellie’s manners were cold and her mean words stuck in young Pamela’s mind for many years to come. If that was not the case, there would not have been a story about Aunt Sass and no Mary Poppins, for that matter.
Aunt Ellie appears to have had somewhat of a split personality; a rough exterior and mean demeanor with some occasional sentimental deeds.
“Her remarkableness lay in the extraordinary, and to me, enchanting discrepancy between her external behavior and her inner self. Imagine a bulldog whose ferocious exterior covers a heart tender to the point of sentimentality (…).”
Reportedly, extremely opinionated, Ellie viewed the world in either black or white. She also believed herself to be (or wanted others to think so) the retainer of all truth and expected, as “a general in a War Office,” to be obeyed on the spot.
“The grim face was stony with conviction, the deep voice rumbled and you felt a delicious tremor of fear and anticipation fly through you. Any minute, any second some terrible miracle might happen. Would the world fall in two if you brought her the wrong knitting needles? Would you go up in smoke if you tweaked Tinker’s tail or Badger’s ear?”
For little Pamela, the ambiguity of Aunt Ellie proved itself frightening, but at the same time, her presence provided a sense of safety, of being taken in charge by someone who appeared almighty and powerful; just like the Banks children in the Mary Poppins stories.
Ellie’s power resided in her wealth and in her use of constant criticism and gossip as her weapons of coercion and disempowerment. I suspect her of being bullied by her own inner fears and disappointments, and that whenever guilt arose she tried to compensate for her exteriorized bullying by the occasional fairy godmother kind of attitude, which her financial resources allowed her to do. She did pay for Pamela’s boarding school, her typewriter, and her fare to England. As the years passed by, little Pamela grew up to become a young woman with artistic talents and a mind of her own.
Now, this is just a hunch, but I feel that when Pamela, in her budding femininity, began to express her artistic tendencies more assertively, her Great Aunt’s insecurities only increased and maybe even gave birth to some feelings of jealousy. I wish I could travel in time to see and hear for myself how things really happened. Instead, all I have are little bits and pieces of information to titillate my imagination with, just like these examples of exchanges:
“I will not go out with you in that hat!”
“Very well, Aunt Sass. I’ll go by myself. ”
“Why do you have to turn yourself into a monstrosity? I am ashamed to be seen with you. Get into the car!”
Or
“Writing? Faugh! Why can’t you leave that to journalists?”
What’s all this I hear about you going to England? Ridiculous nonsense! You were always a fool.”
Anyhow, Ellie and Pamela never truly got along. “For the rest of her life we fought with all the bitterness of true affection.”
Ellie became ill right after her last visit to England. She was ninety years old. The illness “stretched her on her bed and drew a curtain of unconsciousness over her.” When, against all expectations, she came briefly back to life she was a different woman.
“The old gruffness, the fierce egotism were gone. She was concerned and anxious now to reveal the heart that had hidden so long behind it. It was as if, knowing her time to be short, she must hasten to let the light appear through the thinning crust of flesh. … That stretch of dark unconsciousness had taught her how not to be self-conscious. Her defenses were down at last.”
It was on their last meeting that Pamela gave Ellie a copy of the first of the Mary Poppins books. Her aunt took it to read it on her voyage back home. I wonder if she recognized herself in the traits of Mary Poppins. Could that be the cause of her softening of the heart? We’ll never know the answers and I can only speculate.
I also couldn’t help but notice something else, a similarity of fortunes. It is almost as if Pamela in some way professed her own future. She too lived well into her nineties, she too was quite self-obsessed and self-conscious, and it was only in her later writings that she expressed this same willingness to open up and at last be vulnerable; something that she resisted during her entire life.
It is true then that Pamela L. Travers wrote more than she knew, although when she said: “We write more than we know we are writing. We do not guess at the roots that made our fruit” she was referring to the resemblance between Mary Poppins and her Great Aunt Ellie.
Strangely enough, when interviewed, Pamela always maintained that she didn’t know where Mary Poppins came from.
A comment made by Camillus Travers, Pamela’s adoptive son, comes to mind. Talking about his mother he said: “My mother was Mary Poppins.” And if Mary Poppins was based on the character of Helen Morehead, then it is only logical to assume that as Pamela grew older she ended up reproducing her bitter aunt’s behavior.
I also wonder if Pamela ever became aware of the irony of this condition. I can only hypothesize that Pamela, experiencing her life as an ordeal, modeled “the giantess, the frightening fairy-tale figure who” in her “childhood seemed immense enough to knock against the stars and hold counsel with God.” She modeled what she believed to be strength and resilience.
The stories in this book were interesting to me because I am interested in Pamela L. Travers and her life experience. Although beautifully written, I doubt that these stories will be an interesting read for the majority, there is not a lot of action, nor magic, nor joy…
themarypoppinseffect. com
December 22, 2025
The title story was a lightly written tale about an aunt who should be in every family, and also about bygone people and times.
"Ah Wong" was the best story. It spoke volumes about people and times. It also touched my heart.
"Johnny Delavey" was the weakest story. He was an interesting man, but I somehow lost interest as I read.
[3-3.5 stars]
"Ah Wong" was the best story. It spoke volumes about people and times. It also touched my heart.
"Johnny Delavey" was the weakest story. He was an interesting man, but I somehow lost interest as I read.
[3-3.5 stars]
December 18, 2017
This is a collection of three stories by P. L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins. Although the title mentions "Christmas Stories", this was not a collection of stories about Christmas. They were written as stories that she wrote as Christmas gifts. Christmas was briefly mentioned in a couple of the stories, but that was it.
I didn't think they were outstanding stories, but I did enjoy the second one of the heathen Chinaman named Ah Wong. He was a humorous man. I can't say this is a favorite book, but the stories were cute and what you would expect of P. L. Travers.
I didn't think they were outstanding stories, but I did enjoy the second one of the heathen Chinaman named Ah Wong. He was a humorous man. I can't say this is a favorite book, but the stories were cute and what you would expect of P. L. Travers.
December 17, 2019
These stories are NOT Christmas-themed, which surprised me. Instead, the author wrote the stories as Christmas gifts for family members. There is a tiny nod to Christmas at the very end, but really, these are just character sketches of interesting people she knew as a child.
I would recommend this to adult fans of Mary Poppins/P.L. Travers, as you can see some of the origins of Mary Poppins in the titular story, but would not recommend it as a collection of Christmas stories, because it isn't.
I would recommend this to adult fans of Mary Poppins/P.L. Travers, as you can see some of the origins of Mary Poppins in the titular story, but would not recommend it as a collection of Christmas stories, because it isn't.
August 19, 2016
Virago’s delightful Christmas gift book for 2014 was P.L. Travers’ Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories. In the early 1940s, Travers – most famous, of course, for her charming Mary Poppins books – wrote these stories, which she gave as Christmas gifts to her friends. Each was published in a limited run of 500 copies – ‘Aunt Sass’ in 1941, ‘Ah Wong’ in 1943 and ‘Johnny Delaney’ in 1944 – and they are now available to a wide audience for the very first time.
In Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories, Travers focuses upon three quite unusual characters, all of whom inspired her childhood. They range from ‘eccentric great aunt’ Christina, who was known as Sass and was the inspiration for Mary Poppins, to a Chinese cook and a ‘foul-mouthed ex-jockey’.
Victoria Coren Mitchell’s foreword is rather lovely, and so nicely written. She begins: ‘These stories should be a delight for any reader, but particularly magical for fans of P.L. Travers; great masterpiece, the Mary Poppins stories. Many of the preoccupations of those wonderful novels appear in these pages: merry-go-rounds, gorgon nurses, small dogs, smart hats, suns and moons and comets and constellations’.
As in Mary Poppins, Travers’ descriptions are lovely, and her characters sparkle with vivacity from the moment in which they are introduced. Aunt Sass, whom it is believed is based upon Travers’ own great-aunt Ellie, is ‘stern and tender, secret and proud, anonymous and loving’. ‘Like Mary Poppins,’ writes Coren Mitchell, ‘she twinkles and snaps in spits and spots’.
In her title story, Travers describes the way in which ‘Everything in the world came back to herself – or her family. She used notable people simply as a background for her own life… The universe and other unknown worlds swung about the central pivot of Aunt Sass and those nearest her… She was like the central shaft of a merry-go-round. When her whistle blew the family revolved about her like so many wooden horses’. Parallels can certainly be drawn between Aunt Sass and Mary Poppins in sentences such as this: ‘The gruff words were immediately discounted by the smile that lit the grim face with a radiance more moving than beauty’.
In ‘Ah Wong’, a family of Australian children try to convert their quirky Chinese cook to Christianity, with some quite amusing results. In the third and final story, ‘Johnny Delaney’, the title character, with his ‘little thin bow-legs’ and ‘black, Irish head’, works on the family’s plantation and is a jack-of-all trades: ‘I suppose you would have said that he was primarily a jockey. That, at any rate, was the form of address he preferred. But he was also groom, stable-boy and carpenter; even, when labour was short, a cane cutter, and sometimes a feeder at the mill’. In each successive story, elements of darkness creep in, and everything has a hidden depth of sorts.
In Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories, Travers lets her readers in, just a little, to her craft: ‘We write more than we know we are writing.’ The places which spring from her pen are so richly described that it does not take long for the scenes which she depicts to become vivid.
Despite the title of the collection, the stories themselves are not festive; they are merely autobiographical tales which show those who had a large impact upon Travers when she was young. Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories is amusing and heartwarming, and would make a charming addition to any bookshelf. The book contains lovely illustrations by Gillian Tyler, which match the tales beautifully.
In Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories, Travers focuses upon three quite unusual characters, all of whom inspired her childhood. They range from ‘eccentric great aunt’ Christina, who was known as Sass and was the inspiration for Mary Poppins, to a Chinese cook and a ‘foul-mouthed ex-jockey’.
Victoria Coren Mitchell’s foreword is rather lovely, and so nicely written. She begins: ‘These stories should be a delight for any reader, but particularly magical for fans of P.L. Travers; great masterpiece, the Mary Poppins stories. Many of the preoccupations of those wonderful novels appear in these pages: merry-go-rounds, gorgon nurses, small dogs, smart hats, suns and moons and comets and constellations’.
As in Mary Poppins, Travers’ descriptions are lovely, and her characters sparkle with vivacity from the moment in which they are introduced. Aunt Sass, whom it is believed is based upon Travers’ own great-aunt Ellie, is ‘stern and tender, secret and proud, anonymous and loving’. ‘Like Mary Poppins,’ writes Coren Mitchell, ‘she twinkles and snaps in spits and spots’.
In her title story, Travers describes the way in which ‘Everything in the world came back to herself – or her family. She used notable people simply as a background for her own life… The universe and other unknown worlds swung about the central pivot of Aunt Sass and those nearest her… She was like the central shaft of a merry-go-round. When her whistle blew the family revolved about her like so many wooden horses’. Parallels can certainly be drawn between Aunt Sass and Mary Poppins in sentences such as this: ‘The gruff words were immediately discounted by the smile that lit the grim face with a radiance more moving than beauty’.
In ‘Ah Wong’, a family of Australian children try to convert their quirky Chinese cook to Christianity, with some quite amusing results. In the third and final story, ‘Johnny Delaney’, the title character, with his ‘little thin bow-legs’ and ‘black, Irish head’, works on the family’s plantation and is a jack-of-all trades: ‘I suppose you would have said that he was primarily a jockey. That, at any rate, was the form of address he preferred. But he was also groom, stable-boy and carpenter; even, when labour was short, a cane cutter, and sometimes a feeder at the mill’. In each successive story, elements of darkness creep in, and everything has a hidden depth of sorts.
In Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories, Travers lets her readers in, just a little, to her craft: ‘We write more than we know we are writing.’ The places which spring from her pen are so richly described that it does not take long for the scenes which she depicts to become vivid.
Despite the title of the collection, the stories themselves are not festive; they are merely autobiographical tales which show those who had a large impact upon Travers when she was young. Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories is amusing and heartwarming, and would make a charming addition to any bookshelf. The book contains lovely illustrations by Gillian Tyler, which match the tales beautifully.
December 23, 2015
This book would be of most interest to fans of P.L. Travers and Mary Poppins. The three short stories in the this small-format book are not Christmas-themed. Rather, they are stories Ms. Travers wrote for relatives as gifts at Christmas. They are loosely autobiographical, as she harkens back to people she remembers from her childhood in Australia. The title character, Aunt Sass, is thought to have been a model for Mary Poppins. The other two stories involve hired help her parents had when she was young. One person was a Chinese cook and the other an Irish hired hand. Ms. Travers sets these stories on a plantation, although the foreword says her father was actually a banker, hence the stories are not completely autobiographical, but are memories she tweaked to suit a story line. At barely over 100 pages, this is a quick read.
December 1, 2024
What an odd little read. Still enjoyable, but I really have no idea what to say about it beyond that.
May 3, 2023
Un vero gioiellino❤️❤️❤️
December 23, 2018
I am glad to have read these right now as it reminds me what my struggle is with the new Mary Poppins movie by Disney. They are just not true to what Travers was trying to accomplish with what she wrote and the reason that she wrote. These stories are PURE Travers. They allow for the darkness that children face but need help managing, which is what she was all about. Warning: there are three stories and only the final one has anything to do with Christmas. They are labeled as Christmas because she wrote them to give as Christmas gifts. But, that last story ends with a true Christmas punch that did bring on the tears.
Quotes:
"Johnny eyed her viciously, 'This wan's black with loving!' Black with loving. Curious phrase. Our parents shook uncomprehending heads and left it hanging in the air, another of Johnny's mysteries. Had they argued they would have said conventionally that love is always bright. Johnny knew better. He saw the child in her coils of passion and knew she was lost from the start. For the child and for Johnny love was heavy and silent within them."
"Children have strong and deep emotions but no mechanism to deal with them. If once they let their hearts fill up they know that they will be drowned. So they seize on the nearest objective thing to keep down the rising flood."
Quotes:
"Johnny eyed her viciously, 'This wan's black with loving!' Black with loving. Curious phrase. Our parents shook uncomprehending heads and left it hanging in the air, another of Johnny's mysteries. Had they argued they would have said conventionally that love is always bright. Johnny knew better. He saw the child in her coils of passion and knew she was lost from the start. For the child and for Johnny love was heavy and silent within them."
"Children have strong and deep emotions but no mechanism to deal with them. If once they let their hearts fill up they know that they will be drowned. So they seize on the nearest objective thing to keep down the rising flood."
December 23, 2016
The title of this book, though accurate, might be a little misleading. The three stories in this collection have nothing to do with Christmas except that Travers wrote them as Christmas gifts for friends and family.
The title story is the best of the lot and, according to the foreword, may be the basis for the author's very famous "Mary Poppins." It's a delightful read and is well worth your time.
The other two stories are fun, but didn't captivate me nearly as much.
If you love "Mary Poppins" or if you're just looking for a quick holiday read, this short compendium may do the trick.
The title story is the best of the lot and, according to the foreword, may be the basis for the author's very famous "Mary Poppins." It's a delightful read and is well worth your time.
The other two stories are fun, but didn't captivate me nearly as much.
If you love "Mary Poppins" or if you're just looking for a quick holiday read, this short compendium may do the trick.
September 20, 2022
Why did I finish listening to this?
This is made up of three stories: Aunt Sass, Ah Wong, and John Delaney. None of the stories are Christmas related despite the title of this collection. Aunt Sass was mildly entertaining, but the other two stories were awful. There were racist undertones, but given the era of writing I suppose that's to be expected- not that it's acceptable in any way, but historically accurate. I was also very uncomfortable with the main characters trying to convert their Chinese servant to Christianity without actually explaining salvation to him whatsoever, but rather to benefit themselves in some twisted way.
This is made up of three stories: Aunt Sass, Ah Wong, and John Delaney. None of the stories are Christmas related despite the title of this collection. Aunt Sass was mildly entertaining, but the other two stories were awful. There were racist undertones, but given the era of writing I suppose that's to be expected- not that it's acceptable in any way, but historically accurate. I was also very uncomfortable with the main characters trying to convert their Chinese servant to Christianity without actually explaining salvation to him whatsoever, but rather to benefit themselves in some twisted way.
July 20, 2019
Ignore the confusing subtitle: These are not stories about Christmas, they are stories written as Christmas gifts by the author of Mary Poppins. These are supposedly nonfiction, and apparently there is some reason to believe that Aunt Sass was at least part of the inspiration for Mary Poppins.
On a road trip recently, we came across a hotel gift shop with a remarkable little collection of books for sale, and this was one of them. I'm grateful to the buyer for that shop, for the Aunt Sass story alone. The other two stories are less compelling for me. The middle story is casually racist in a way that is appalling for us now, so if you do pick up this book, be prepared (or skip the story). The third story has a certain charm, but it's the Aunt Sass story that I think of as the reason to read this. I was going to give the book 5 stars, but then realized that didn't make sense since I'm only reviewing the book because of the first story (and the brief foreword).
On a road trip recently, we came across a hotel gift shop with a remarkable little collection of books for sale, and this was one of them. I'm grateful to the buyer for that shop, for the Aunt Sass story alone. The other two stories are less compelling for me. The middle story is casually racist in a way that is appalling for us now, so if you do pick up this book, be prepared (or skip the story). The third story has a certain charm, but it's the Aunt Sass story that I think of as the reason to read this. I was going to give the book 5 stars, but then realized that didn't make sense since I'm only reviewing the book because of the first story (and the brief foreword).
January 31, 2021
4.5 stars
I'm grateful to have discovered this tiny treasury of three short stories written as Christmas gifts for friends by P.L. Travers. Although written in the 1940's, they were published just a few years ago. While the book is classified as fiction, it is likely the stories were autobiographical in nature. The writing was endearing and quite poignant at times and I enjoyed all of them.
I'm grateful to have discovered this tiny treasury of three short stories written as Christmas gifts for friends by P.L. Travers. Although written in the 1940's, they were published just a few years ago. While the book is classified as fiction, it is likely the stories were autobiographical in nature. The writing was endearing and quite poignant at times and I enjoyed all of them.
November 23, 2021
Aunt Sass
This wasn’t even a story – just a characterization of a crabby old lady that supposedly everyone adored and/or feared. Even the excellent narration by could not save this.
NOTE: These stories have nothing to do with Christmas. They are stories that the author wrote and then gifted to her friends at Christmastime.
Gave up after 48 minutes and the completion of the 1st story
Audiobook
Narrated by Catherine Clark
2 hours
This wasn’t even a story – just a characterization of a crabby old lady that supposedly everyone adored and/or feared. Even the excellent narration by could not save this.
NOTE: These stories have nothing to do with Christmas. They are stories that the author wrote and then gifted to her friends at Christmastime.
Gave up after 48 minutes and the completion of the 1st story
Audiobook
Narrated by Catherine Clark
2 hours
December 31, 2024
How have I gone this long without knowing about this book? It is hilarious from the beginning. Aunt Sass is the best. Quirky aunt of anyone’s family multiplied greatly.
May 13, 2025
Great listening!
February 28, 2020
How very sweet - three small stories about people that P.L. Travers knew when she was growing up. A nice insight into her memories from childhood.
January 30, 2024
An interesting read from the author of the Mary Poppins books. Entertaining, but a product of its time with the subjects of each story, an elderly aunt, a genial Chinese cook, and a rough Irish workman and jockey.
She obviously has fond remembrances of the central characters, which she vividly describes. The descriptions turn into stories and the characters come alive. Not much Christmas in these stories, except for one small reference.
She obviously has fond remembrances of the central characters, which she vividly describes. The descriptions turn into stories and the characters come alive. Not much Christmas in these stories, except for one small reference.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2018
Don't be scared off by the 'Christmas Stories' in the title: these are stories written as Christmas presents and not about Christmas or containing the cloying Christmas story spirit. You couldn't go wrong, however, reading these by the fireside and bathing in its antiquated pluck and spirit. I found all three of these stories much more readable than the author's Mary Poppins, which I found too grating to finish, and the third and last story is startlingly insightful, as well as most full of the subtly dark spirit that runs throughout this book. Warning: the second story has a couple Chinese characters that, while presented with love, have a speaking style that (whether accurate or grossly inaccurate is lost in time) may provoke a strong PC cringe effect, rightly or wrongly I do not know.
November 28, 2014
Lovely autobiographical stories from the author of Mary Poppins. The title refers to the fact that P L Travers would give these stories away as gifts at Christmas, and not to the setting/theme of the stories themselves.
Full review here: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
Full review here: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
December 22, 2016
These stories aren't actually Christmas-themed, but rather were originally written by P.L. Travers as Christmas gifts. The narrator was fantastic and the stories had a real sense of voice and of place. I probably should re-listen to the audiobook to appreciate this collection a bit more though. And I really should read Mary Poppins one of these days!
December 23, 2018
Raccolta composta da tre racconti brevi di Pamela Lyndon Travers, la creatrice di Mary Poppins . Si tratta di tre storie assolutamente stupende che non mancheranno di divertire e commuovere i lettori, trasportandoli tra i paesaggi australiani.
December 23, 2015
P.L. Travers is a wonderful storyteller!
January 20, 2016
Loved the story about Aunt Sass who was the inspiration for Mary Poppins!
Lovely stories!
Lovely stories!
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