Griselda

by Angela Bull

Poor-little-rich-girl Charlotte is left behind in northern England when her parents take a business trip to America. After a succession of governesses and disagreeable Aunt Jane, Charlotte is sent to Winteredge where she meets happy, extrovert Griselda, and a new world of friendship, caring and intrigue unfolds as a contender for Griselda's home appears on the scene.
British Book News

182 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 1977

About the author

Angela Bull (Mary, née Leach) was born at Halifax, Yorkshire, England on September 28, 1936.
She was educated at Badminton School and at Edinburgh University where she graduated with honours in English 1959.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1977, this work of middlegrade historical fiction is a lovely (if slightly harrowing) Victorian melodrama set in the 1860s. It reminded me slightly of A Little Princess, in that both of the main characters here, Charlotte and Griselda, suffer multiple dramatic reversals of fortune. At the book's opening, Charlotte's industrialist father has made a big splash with a mechanical innovation, and goes off on a triumphal visit to America with the prospect of many riches and a possible knighthood in store. Meanwhile, Griselda, daughter of a lowly schoolteacher has lately come to live at Winteredge, a farm house in the moors outside of Charlotte's Northern city. Shortly before Griselda's father's death, he had managed to prove with a family tree (his pet hobby), that he was the heir to Winteredge in a line of succession going back to the 1600s. The two girls are brought together at this ancestral farm when Charlotte's dreadful and selfish aunt, who's ostensibly caring for Charlotte while her parents are in America, fobs her off in turn on a former schoolmate she meets by chance in the city -- Griselda's sickly mother. Charlotte is wretched and unhappy at being passed along like a parcel of goods, while Griselda is terribly lonely and seizes on Charlotte as a companion to take a share in the imaginary fantasy world which is her passion. They don't hit it off immediately, but after overcoming some initial frigidness, they do in fact become fast friends, and despite the bleak and lonely surroundings, Charlotte is happier than she's ever been. However, she comes to realize that a spiteful action shortly after her arrival at Winteredge, though almost immediately regretted, might have serious consequences for Griselda...and indeed many changes, a dramatic separation, and a severe test of their friendship are in store for both.

Many aspects of the story were quite improbable, but Angela Bull spins it out so entertainingly, I didn't mind. My only quibble is that the ending is absurdly rushed. In contrast with A Little Princess. In that book, we get to see Sara enjoying her return to wealth and privilege in a much more leisurely and satisfying way. Here we learn of the restoration of Griselda's home (she's the Sara character, with her imagination and winning ways, while Charlotte, like Ermingarde is more plodding, but loyal) in literally just one sentence.

This is the second book I've read by Bull. The first was The Friend With a Secret, also historical fiction about a lonely girl in Victorian England, and also a delightfully engrossing read.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

since I am a wimp about reading about people (in this case, two girls) in unhappy circumstances, which spoiled a lot of my enjoyment, I thought about giving the book only three stars, but that seemed to few, because there was much I enjoyed....so three and a half, rounded up