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The Fledgling
Available for the first time on Kindle! At Edmund Brooke’s insistence, his daughter, Vitorina, leaves the closed world of her old and strait-laced great-aunts and their Portuguese mansion—complete with chapel containing valuable relics—and journeys to a boarding school in England. Edmund readily accepts the offer of a golfing acquaintance to act as chaperone for Tory. Once on the train, however, Tory learns quite a bit more about Mr. Darlan, her traveling companion, than he would prefer. And so Tory is called upon to let down her facade of meekness and to reveal her real she is shrewd, imaginative and—as the situation calls for—brave. She is determined to outmaneuver this malicious mastermind, Darlan, and his French female accomplice who poses as his sister. She reaches London without her companion. But as planned, Tory is met by her father’s delightful distant cousin and ex-fiancée, Philippa. Immediately drawn to Philippa, Tory goes so far as to fake chicken pox in order to stay longer with Philippa. This gives her time to settle some loose ends involving Mr. Darlan’s plot and to create one of her for wasn’t Tory’s father Philippa’s great love and isn’t he all alone now? *Note, these titles contain the original, unabridged, text exactly as the author first wrote it. Many later editions of Elizabeth Cadell's works were heavily abridged or changed. We hope you enjoy the re-issue of these timeless books. Watch for more to come in the near future! Cover Design by Nikita Garets
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1975
98 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Cadell
103 books118 followersViolet Elizabeth Vandyke was born on 10 November 1903 in Calcutta, British Raj, daughter of British parents, Elizabeth Lynch and Frederick Reginald Vandyke, a colonial officer. During the Great War she studied music in London, but refused a musical career and returned to India where she married in 1928 Henry Dunlop Raymond Mallock Cadell, and they had a son and daughter. After she was widowed ten years later, she returned to England.
Elizabeth wrote her first book 'My Dear Aunt Flora' during the Second World War in 1946, there after producing another 51 light-hearted, humourous and romantic books which won her a faithful readership in England and America. In addition to England and India, many of her books are set in Spain, France, and Portugal. She finally settled in Portugal, where her married daughter still lived.
She died on 9 October 1989, aged eighty-five.
Elizabeth wrote her first book 'My Dear Aunt Flora' during the Second World War in 1946, there after producing another 51 light-hearted, humourous and romantic books which won her a faithful readership in England and America. In addition to England and India, many of her books are set in Spain, France, and Portugal. She finally settled in Portugal, where her married daughter still lived.
She died on 9 October 1989, aged eighty-five.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 10, 2014
I love her books. Couldn't put it down, so I just ignored everything and read it in one sitting.
May 10, 2020
I'd heard 'The Fledgling' ranked among Elizabeth Cadell's best novels, which, I think, perhaps led me to expect too much...
In fact, the aspect of the book that struck me most is how messed up the adult characters are:
- Heroine, Philippa, is still carrying a flame for the hero (Edmund) who jilted her 12 years before when be met and married in Macau, the Fledgling's (aka Tory's) mother. Mawkishly sentimental Philippa still keeps a photograph of Edmund on her bedside chest, with a Koala bear (they won at a fair) pinned to it. One of the first things she tells poor Tory - fresh off the 'boat train' from Paris and who she doesn't know from a bar of soap - is that she'd been engaged to her father.
- Hero Edmund is (in the heroine's words) 'a clam' who closed up completely after his wife was killed in a motor accident nine years previously. Shortly after her death, he handed their baby daughter, Tory, over to her ancient, noble Portuguese relatives. Only recently has he inserted himself into his daughter's life, deciding she's become 'too Catholic' and must attend an English boarding school.
- 'Other Man' Lord Tancred is a pompous businessman/politician who - in the mould of Margaret Thatcher - has clawed his way, from relatively humble origins, to a position as a 'parliamentary grandee'. His origins however 'haunt' him and make him resentful of anyone cast from a different mould (i.e. scion of wealthy merchant family Edmund)
The only person in the story, in fact, who isn't an obvious case for the psychologists chair is school-girl Tory. She is remarkably well adjusted for a child without a mother and whose father, Edmund, is emotionally and physically unavailable, to the extent he sends her off from Lisbon to London (via Paris) in the company of some bloke he met at his Estoril golf club . The heroine certainly has one thing right when she damns Edmund's notions of parenting.
Messed up adults aside, the plot line of this novel is a bit flimsy: Why does Philippa go to such lengths not to involve the police once Tory confides in her? Why doesn't she just 'phone absentee father (then in Lima) and tell him to sort out the small problem of the stolen statuette? What I found most jarring about the story though was the antagonism that Lord Tancred displays toward a 10-year-old-child. If Tory was cut from the same cloth as the precocious child in Nancy Mitford's The Blessing I may understand his behaviour slightly better, but she's not, and so the 'dressing down' he delivers her in the final chapter is just really wrong and detracts from the ensuing HEA .
I'm rating 'The Fledgling' a three-star vintage romance read; there's no way that I can rate it anywhere close to some of Cadell's other (four-and-a-half star) novels, e.g. The Yellow Brick Road, Canary Yellow and Shadows On The Water.
In fact, the aspect of the book that struck me most is how messed up the adult characters are:
- Heroine, Philippa, is still carrying a flame for the hero (Edmund) who jilted her 12 years before when be met and married in Macau, the Fledgling's (aka Tory's) mother. Mawkishly sentimental Philippa still keeps a photograph of Edmund on her bedside chest, with a Koala bear (they won at a fair) pinned to it. One of the first things she tells poor Tory - fresh off the 'boat train' from Paris and who she doesn't know from a bar of soap - is that she'd been engaged to her father.
- Hero Edmund is (in the heroine's words) 'a clam' who closed up completely after his wife was killed in a motor accident nine years previously. Shortly after her death, he handed their baby daughter, Tory, over to her ancient, noble Portuguese relatives. Only recently has he inserted himself into his daughter's life, deciding she's become 'too Catholic' and must attend an English boarding school.
- 'Other Man' Lord Tancred is a pompous businessman/politician who - in the mould of Margaret Thatcher - has clawed his way, from relatively humble origins, to a position as a 'parliamentary grandee'. His origins however 'haunt' him and make him resentful of anyone cast from a different mould (i.e. scion of wealthy merchant family Edmund)
The only person in the story, in fact, who isn't an obvious case for the psychologists chair is school-girl Tory. She is remarkably well adjusted for a child without a mother and whose father, Edmund, is emotionally and physically unavailable, to the extent he sends her off from Lisbon to London (via Paris) in the company of some bloke he met at his Estoril golf club . The heroine certainly has one thing right when she damns Edmund's notions of parenting.
Messed up adults aside, the plot line of this novel is a bit flimsy: Why does Philippa go to such lengths not to involve the police once Tory confides in her? Why doesn't she just 'phone absentee father (then in Lima) and tell him to sort out the small problem of the stolen statuette? What I found most jarring about the story though was the antagonism that Lord Tancred displays toward a 10-year-old-child. If Tory was cut from the same cloth as the precocious child in Nancy Mitford's The Blessing I may understand his behaviour slightly better, but she's not, and so the 'dressing down' he delivers her in the final chapter is just really wrong and detracts from the ensuing HEA .
I'm rating 'The Fledgling' a three-star vintage romance read; there's no way that I can rate it anywhere close to some of Cadell's other (four-and-a-half star) novels, e.g. The Yellow Brick Road, Canary Yellow and Shadows On The Water.
March 11, 2024
This was a wonderful story. Reminded me a bit of an Eva Ibbotson book. Very satisfying with likable characters.
December 4, 2015
4.5 Loved this book- Tory is a remarkable child and full of courage. Once I started this book, I didn't want to stop reading it.
November 16, 2021
This is the story of a journey of a most formidable and inscrutable 10-year-old girl. Tory lives a lonely restricted life with her elderly aunts and equally elderly governess in an ancient castle in Lisbon. Her widowed and still grieving father, whom she hardly knows, decides she must go to school in England to gain some balance in her life. On the way to England, she discovers her chaperone is a nasty drunk and a thief. They are together on a train until he “somehow” leaves the train in pursuit of his luggage he “somehow” thinks has been mistakenly off-loaded by the porter. Tory makes her way to London contentedly alone and, safely in her care, is a priceless gold figurine that had been stolen by the man from the chapel of her aunts.
She is to stop over with her father’s cousin, for a day, before making her way north to her boarding school. Phillipa is lively and lovely as well as frank to a fault. She is forthright and open and she wastes no time expressing her justified disapproval of Tory’s father and his failings as a parent. Even though, or maybe because Tory is quiet and prefers to watch and listen, she immediately feels a kinship and rapport with this distant cousin. Because of her trust and confidence, she confides in her about the figurine which she had meant to keep secret until she could get it back to Portugal. This sets off a chain of events that extends her stay with Phillipa and brings her father back from South America. She becomes acquainted with a boy and his dog, a wicked old lady, a nice old lady, and a suspicious but upright highly placed government official. To further add to the mix, both her father and the stern official both used to be engaged to the charming Phillipa. And Phillipa is still in love with one of them.
This is a thoroughly delightful novel starring one of the most intriguing children I have run across in a book. Let’s just say it would not be wise to oppose her. By the end of the book the people Tory likes or loves are happy and the ones she does not like are not happy. Her future is bright with the promise of newfound freedom and a new family.
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....
She is to stop over with her father’s cousin, for a day, before making her way north to her boarding school. Phillipa is lively and lovely as well as frank to a fault. She is forthright and open and she wastes no time expressing her justified disapproval of Tory’s father and his failings as a parent. Even though, or maybe because Tory is quiet and prefers to watch and listen, she immediately feels a kinship and rapport with this distant cousin. Because of her trust and confidence, she confides in her about the figurine which she had meant to keep secret until she could get it back to Portugal. This sets off a chain of events that extends her stay with Phillipa and brings her father back from South America. She becomes acquainted with a boy and his dog, a wicked old lady, a nice old lady, and a suspicious but upright highly placed government official. To further add to the mix, both her father and the stern official both used to be engaged to the charming Phillipa. And Phillipa is still in love with one of them.
This is a thoroughly delightful novel starring one of the most intriguing children I have run across in a book. Let’s just say it would not be wise to oppose her. By the end of the book the people Tory likes or loves are happy and the ones she does not like are not happy. Her future is bright with the promise of newfound freedom and a new family.
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....
December 16, 2017
The republishing of Elizabeth Cadell's books on kindle is the reason I bought a kindle. Her novels can be extremely funny. They describe an England of two generations ago, and have a sweet naiveté pictured so vividly in "The Fledgling." Victoria needs an adult to supervise her train journey from Portugal to England (There's a ferry in there somewhere.) and all the caring adults in her life choose a middle aged man they slightly know from the local golfing club.
Unsurprisingly, because Ms. Cadell's heroine's are very intrepid, Victoria has a lovely and safe journey, discovers an art theft, fakes a case of measles, and finally rearranges the two important adults in her life into a suitable couple.
Unsurprisingly, because Ms. Cadell's heroine's are very intrepid, Victoria has a lovely and safe journey, discovers an art theft, fakes a case of measles, and finally rearranges the two important adults in her life into a suitable couple.
June 17, 2025
I could gobble her books up
I want to say they are slice of life but they are so so inventive and out of the world in elements but are put to order when read.
I want to say they are slice of life but they are so so inventive and out of the world in elements but are put to order when read.
May 13, 2022
Years ago, perusing the library shelves I came across an incredibly large number of books by an author I'd never heard of — Elizabeth Cadell. I was soon hooked on these gentle, humorous romance novels. Sometimes there is also a mystery involved but they invariably have enjoyable conundrums of everyday living which must be figured out by the people in the books so that everything can come out ok in the end.
These are light and fun and I was delighted to see that there are now many of them available on Audible. This one is read by really well by Maddy Everington who is the author's great-granddaughter.
These are light and fun and I was delighted to see that there are now many of them available on Audible. This one is read by really well by Maddy Everington who is the author's great-granddaughter.
August 25, 2016
Tori's father has decided it is time to send her away to boarding school. Tori, who is ten, has lived in Portugal all of her life. She lives with her three elderly great-aunts and her governess with occasional visits from her father. Her lovely young mother died when she was an infant in an auto accident in England. When her travel companions have to cancel their trip she is given into the care of a middle-age man who had introduced himself to the father and the aunts. He is to deliver her to a distant cousin of her father.On the train trip Tori discovers something disturbing about her traveling companion. The rest of the book involves the events that surround Tori's discovery and the romance of the cousin with two very different men. I read this on openlibrary.org
September 30, 2017
This is a very light read about a 10 year girl who travels to England from Portugal to start boarding school. The train trip effects the rest of the story.
The story reminded me of Rumer Godden's books. I only gave this book 3 stars because I wasn't exactly blown away by it, maybe if I had read it when I was younger at 11 - 14 (when I read Rumer Godden's books), I would have enjoyed it more.
The story reminded me of Rumer Godden's books. I only gave this book 3 stars because I wasn't exactly blown away by it, maybe if I had read it when I was younger at 11 - 14 (when I read Rumer Godden's books), I would have enjoyed it more.
September 23, 2019
A delightful story... one of my top favorite Cadell books. It’s witty, it’s romantic (in a stiff upper lip British kind of way), it has a wonderful 10-year-old heroine, a cute dog, and a a satisfying ending.
As an added joy, Cadell’s great grand daughter is the narrator! Very enjoyable!
As an added joy, Cadell’s great grand daughter is the narrator! Very enjoyable!
August 29, 2020
3 stars for sheer nostalgia
October 25, 2011
Ten-yar-old, but very mature Vitorina finds herself carrying a stolen gold Saint Christopher statue while traveling to boarding school. She knows the thief but the adults in her life must trust her and discover who it is for themselves. As they do so, they renew old friendships that result in a new and exciting future family.
October 30, 2018
I liked the characters in this novel, but somehow it felt a bit disjointed in parts, as though some of the subplots didn't quite make as tight a fit as Cadell's usual masterful weaving together of threads. But a lovely depiction of a reserved, watchful, but very wise child and how her interactions with the grown people around her alters their lives....
September 10, 2013
I simply adored this book as a child. It made the possibility of flight seem plausible - if only one could find a Goose Prince to teach you how! I would recommend it for anyone with children, or looking to re-awaken your child-like imagination!
April 14, 2022
Ten year old Tory has led a strange life living in her ancestral home in Lisbon with her very religious great aunts and great grandmother, her worldly French governess, and her melancholy widowed English father, who is away in business most of the time. Now her father has decided Tory is to go to school in England, and has arranged for her to be met in London by Phillipa, a distant cousin of his to whom he was once engaged. Since the family Tory was to have travelled with can’t now go, a golfing acquaintance of her father, Mr Darla, offers to escort Tory to London. On the long train journey from Lisbon to London some disturbing and alarming things happen, which Tory copes with admirably. In London she is happy to find in Phillipa someone warm, outgoing, and very talkative, qualities she is not used to finding in adults she has known. But there are more difficulties ahead.
This is a very interesting story with a remarkable heroine - Tory has to deal with a number of unsatisfactory adults, and various situations which you wouldn’t want any ten year old child to have to cope with. The adults in the book, apart from Phillipa, are not very likeable (neither of Phillipa’s former fiancées, in my opinion, are at all satisfactory, I’d have liked someone nicer for her). But as the book is mainly about Tory this doesn’t really matter.
This is a very interesting story with a remarkable heroine - Tory has to deal with a number of unsatisfactory adults, and various situations which you wouldn’t want any ten year old child to have to cope with. The adults in the book, apart from Phillipa, are not very likeable (neither of Phillipa’s former fiancées, in my opinion, are at all satisfactory, I’d have liked someone nicer for her). But as the book is mainly about Tory this doesn’t really matter.
February 16, 2022
Another entertaining Cadell. This one is a bit darker than the others I've been reading, but only a bit. Tory is being sent to England for school, after growing up in Portugal with her aging great-aunts. Her father has accepted the offer of a golfing acquaintance to chaperone her. The day she leaves, her great-great-aunt stirs up a fuss by claiming that a golden statue of St. Christopher has disappeared from the chapel attached to their home, but her family is sure that she has taken it herself and hidden it, as she has done with other items in the past. Tory has to leave, but as her travels go on, she discovers a great loathing for Mr. Darlan, and is relieved when at some point, he gets off the train to chase what he thinks is his missing luggage, and is left behind. Now free, Tory manages the rest of the trip on her own, and is met in London by Philippa, to whom she takes an instant liking, and who turns out to have once loved Tory's father. Tory manages to extend her stay with Philippa and tells her about the missing statuette. It gets even more exciting from there.
June 20, 2020
I have recently rediscovered the novels of Elizabeth Cadell on Kindle. I hadn't read "The Fledgling" before and I loved reading it. Vitorina "Tory" is the plucky 10-year-old heroine of the story. Tory is put on a train from Lisbon for her eventual destination of boarding school in England. What follows is a series of disturbing and potentially dangerous situations. Tory, however, is no ordinary 10-year-old girl. She realizes the danger, shields herself from it, and ends up traveling to London alone. There she meets Philippa, her father's former fiancee, and an all-round lovely lady. Tory sets out to get her father and Philippa back on their former engaged footing. I loved the character of Tory. She reminded me a bit of my young self, not so powerful, but so quiet and overlooked.
October 17, 2025
Tory, a precocious ten-year-old girl from Lisbon, uses her wits to get rid of a rather loathsome travelling companion, who turns out to be a thief. She manages to carry the stolen icon with her to England, where she should attend an English boarding school.
In London she meets her father's distant cousin, Phillipa, and trusts her with the secret of the stolen icon. As the two of them work to see the icon returned, Tory learns that the cousin was her father's one-time-fiancee, and she still carries a torch for him.
In London she meets her father's distant cousin, Phillipa, and trusts her with the secret of the stolen icon. As the two of them work to see the icon returned, Tory learns that the cousin was her father's one-time-fiancee, and she still carries a torch for him.
June 9, 2020
I am not surprised that there is a difference of opinion about this one. More than one of the characters seems to have a sliver of ice in their heart and partly because of this the reader seems to be kept at a little distance from the events taking place. Tory is really a miniature adult rather than a child and I cannot believe that her character would ever change. Neither of the male leads seem a very enticing romantic partner and the story ends very abruptly.
Still I enjoyed reading it
Still I enjoyed reading it
October 21, 2022
Wonderful novel about the nuance and ambiguity of love.
This is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Cadell. I think it's set in 1949, the year I was born. In characterization and setting and pacing and plot, The Fledgling unfolds gently like a string quartet. Beautiful and tender.
This is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Cadell. I think it's set in 1949, the year I was born. In characterization and setting and pacing and plot, The Fledgling unfolds gently like a string quartet. Beautiful and tender.
August 9, 2018
I reread Cadell every so often when I want a breeze of uplift with some humor and some suspense. I'm so glad they are on Kindle now. Some titles I haven't read for years.
There is a unexpected suspense in this one.
There is a unexpected suspense in this one.
December 26, 2020
Delightfully interesting.
...intelligent, young protagonist; heart-warming healing and intrigue all wrapped up in one story. Feel good story where the good prevail and all is right with the world.
...intelligent, young protagonist; heart-warming healing and intrigue all wrapped up in one story. Feel good story where the good prevail and all is right with the world.
January 15, 2021
I enjoyed this book. Never underestimate a quiet intelligent little girl. She is placed in the company of a dishonest person who underestimates her abilities. Elizabeth Cabell is an excellent author.
December 6, 2024
I love her writing. Always a nice gentle story and her characters are always interesting.
This particular novel had a mystery to be solved and unpleasant, bad people to deal with:)
But as usual a wonderful ending:)
This particular novel had a mystery to be solved and unpleasant, bad people to deal with:)
But as usual a wonderful ending:)
November 29, 2017
A Cadell page turner. Somewhat predictable but it didn't matter because I found the characters so appealing.
May 12, 2018
B. fiction, Portugal, England, theft, family, Mom's stash, keep
April 11, 2021
My favorite Cadell
Delightful and unexpected heroine and a charming support cast. I have read many of her stories and this is still my favorite.
Delightful and unexpected heroine and a charming support cast. I have read many of her stories and this is still my favorite.
April 2, 2024
Another really fun book! Light but not silly.
April 7, 2024
Old-fashioned but charming and different. Tory is an excellent and believable child protagonist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews