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The Mantlemass Chronicles #2
The Lark and the Laurel
When her father goes into exile after the fall of Richard III, a sheltered sixteen-year-old girl is sent to stay with an unconventional aunt.
Hardcover
First published April 1, 1970
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About the author
Barbara Willard
99 books23 followersBarbara Mary Willard was a British novelist best known for children's historical fiction. Her "Mantlemass Chronicles" is a family saga set in 15th to 17th-century England. For one chronicle, The Iron Lily (1973), she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by panel of British children's writers.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and abandoned acting in her early twenties. She wrote numerous books for adults before she turned to children's literature.
Very little about the author was written during her lifetime, because of her private nature. She died at a nursing home in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, on 18 February 1994.
The Grove of Green Holly (1967), which was a story about a group of 17th century travelling players who were hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, spawned her most famous work, the Mantlemass series (1970–1981) including her Guardian Prize-winning book. Some other books were Hetty (1956), Storm from the West (1963), Three and One to Carry (1964), and Charity at Home (1965).
One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex, published by Sweethaws Press in 1989, gives a detailed account of Ashdown Forest. In the introduction to the book, Christopher Milne notes that Willard had moved from her home on the Sussex Downs to the edge of Ashdown Forest in 1956 and that her new surroundings had provided the inspiration and setting for ten of her children's historical novels (eight in the Mantlemass series and two others). It is evident by her own account in her book that she actively involved herself in the affairs of the forest. She was a representative of the forest Commoners elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975, and she remained in that capacity for ten years. She tells how she was later heavily involved in the fundraising campaign which enabled East Sussex County Council to purchase the forest in 1988, enabling it to remain as a place of beauty and tranquility open to the public.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and abandoned acting in her early twenties. She wrote numerous books for adults before she turned to children's literature.
Very little about the author was written during her lifetime, because of her private nature. She died at a nursing home in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, on 18 February 1994.
The Grove of Green Holly (1967), which was a story about a group of 17th century travelling players who were hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, spawned her most famous work, the Mantlemass series (1970–1981) including her Guardian Prize-winning book. Some other books were Hetty (1956), Storm from the West (1963), Three and One to Carry (1964), and Charity at Home (1965).
One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex, published by Sweethaws Press in 1989, gives a detailed account of Ashdown Forest. In the introduction to the book, Christopher Milne notes that Willard had moved from her home on the Sussex Downs to the edge of Ashdown Forest in 1956 and that her new surroundings had provided the inspiration and setting for ten of her children's historical novels (eight in the Mantlemass series and two others). It is evident by her own account in her book that she actively involved herself in the affairs of the forest. She was a representative of the forest Commoners elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975, and she remained in that capacity for ten years. She tells how she was later heavily involved in the fundraising campaign which enabled East Sussex County Council to purchase the forest in 1988, enabling it to remain as a place of beauty and tranquility open to the public.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 9, 2021
If your favorite parts of Little House are the ones describing ways of life, The Lark and the Laurel has a lot to love. Aunt Elizabeth FitzEdmund is a real Titus 2 woman, "busy at home." In the world of ancient Rome, as in most pre-industrial history, the home was the locus of economic production, with sales and labor taking place in the same address where the family lived. Women were often entrusted with overseeing production, from managing finances to training enslaved laborers to quality control. Even if the household did not sell their goods, running a home in the ancient world was a lot of work! Over a millennia later in rural England, Aunt Elizabeth's life was remarkably like that, as she managed a large household and industry while teaching her niece a new way of life. Aunt Elizabeth was, for the most part, a thoroughly enjoyable character, and I kept picturing her as Colleen Dewhurst, probably because of the effect she gave as a Stern, Successful Lady.
Cecily's character arc was a little bland for me. The sullen child thrust into a new, rural environment is done to death (and much better) in books like The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Secret Garden. Her romantic arc is cute but underdeveloped, though I did not see that twist coming! It is satisfying to see her grow, but her character often changes instantaneously and she doesn't struggle very much to get there.
The Lark and the Laurel was so second-wave feminist I half expected an ERA button to fall from its pages. Several chapters present a woman-in-control, nearly male-free (or at least, all the males are subservient) household, that gets more texture as the novel goes on. The Lark and the Laurel subverted my expectations by making the best of and providing a large cast of well-rounded characters, with more attention to class than I expected from a YA novel published in the early 1970s. The "villain," however, was paper-thin, without clear motives. Also, Aunt Elizabeth roofies Cecily twice. The second time was totally counterproductive to the aunt's plans, but oh well, that's what you get when you roofie children, I guess! Neither time did I feel a sleeping potion administered to an unsuspecting girl warranted. The second time was just confusing. Cecily was not past reason and the poison was at a dangerous level, so the calming effect Aunt Elizabeth hoped for prevented her from communicating some crucial information. The symptoms of an overdose of foxglove poison in the novel were consistent with reality, however, and did spur the narrative.
I liked Barbara Willard's writing enough to try another novel of hers, but unfortunately The Lark and the Laurel was a bit of a bland reading experience for me. Except for the roofies. My word, woman, why is drugging a child even an option for you when you have options like explaining things to her or locking her in a room for the night so she doesn't run after her abusive father?
Content warnings: domestic abuse (references to beating children and servants); aforementioned roofies
Cecily's character arc was a little bland for me. The sullen child thrust into a new, rural environment is done to death (and much better) in books like The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Secret Garden. Her romantic arc is cute but underdeveloped, though I did not see that twist coming! It is satisfying to see her grow, but her character often changes instantaneously and she doesn't struggle very much to get there.
The Lark and the Laurel was so second-wave feminist I half expected an ERA button to fall from its pages. Several chapters present a woman-in-control, nearly male-free (or at least, all the males are subservient) household, that gets more texture as the novel goes on. The Lark and the Laurel subverted my expectations by making the best of and providing a large cast of well-rounded characters, with more attention to class than I expected from a YA novel published in the early 1970s. The "villain," however, was paper-thin, without clear motives. Also, Aunt Elizabeth roofies Cecily twice. The second time was totally counterproductive to the aunt's plans, but oh well, that's what you get when you roofie children, I guess! Neither time did I feel a sleeping potion administered to an unsuspecting girl warranted. The second time was just confusing. Cecily was not past reason and the poison was at a dangerous level, so the calming effect Aunt Elizabeth hoped for prevented her from communicating some crucial information. The symptoms of an overdose of foxglove poison in the novel were consistent with reality, however, and did spur the narrative.
I liked Barbara Willard's writing enough to try another novel of hers, but unfortunately The Lark and the Laurel was a bit of a bland reading experience for me. Except for the roofies. My word, woman, why is drugging a child even an option for you when you have options like explaining things to her or locking her in a room for the night so she doesn't run after her abusive father?
Content warnings: domestic abuse (references to beating children and servants); aforementioned roofies
March 8, 2018
The books in Barbara Willard's Mantlemass series are highly regarded as some of the best historical fiction for children, and they are certainly the sort of historically literate and sympathetically written novels that don't seem to feature in contemporary children's literature. The Lark and the Laurel is set in the immediate aftermath of the battle of Bosworth; there is a new king on the throne and who knows where that may lead. It's certainly not good news for men like Cecily Jolland's father who had deserted the Lancastrian side when it seemed that the Yorkists were most likely to offer advancement and wealth. Fleeing to France he leaves his cosseted daughter with his estranged sister in the Sussex Weald. There she discovers a more meaningful life, liberated from the stultifying expectations of how a young woman should behave in courtly society.
The story of Cecily's new life is well told although a central love story drags a little. Nevertheless, the descriptions of life in the forest and the natural world, and the portrayal of late medieval subsistence living is fascinating and there is enough jeopardy and action to keep the reader involved. It will be interesting to see how the sequence develops over succeeding volumes which take the story of Mantlemass through to the Civil War.
The story of Cecily's new life is well told although a central love story drags a little. Nevertheless, the descriptions of life in the forest and the natural world, and the portrayal of late medieval subsistence living is fascinating and there is enough jeopardy and action to keep the reader involved. It will be interesting to see how the sequence develops over succeeding volumes which take the story of Mantlemass through to the Civil War.
September 13, 2008
First in the Mantlemass Chronicles, a series that follows a British family from the time of Richard II to the end of the English Civil War. Highly recommended to fans of historical fiction!
March 16, 2017
Read for school, but really enjoyed it, surprisingly enough. ;)
January 4, 2020
'The Lark and the Laurel' is a YA historical fiction set in 1485, after the defeat of Richard III at Bosworth Field. Cecily Jolland's pampered life as the daughter of a Yorkist lord is suddenly thrown into turmoil when her father decides to flee to France and leave his only child with his sister Elizabeth at her estate, Mantlemass. Cecily is confused and desperately unhappy by the sudden change. But soon, with the help of her strong-willed aunt, she learns that there is a whole other life that can open to her. She learns the details of running a farm, from being able to milk alongside the maids to tallying the preparations for the winter. She also meets a young man, Lewis Mallory, who is in similar circumstances. Lewis was disowned by his father and sent to live with a cousin who runs a horse farm. As they become better acquainted, their liking turns to love and a promise of commitment. Little do they know or understand that secrets about their pasts could keep them apart. But Dame Elizabeth is determined to mend the past and bring about a happy ending.
The romance takes precedence over the history, a bit too much for my taste. There are also some fudgings of the historical record concerning the Wars of the Roses. This is the first in a series of books that follow the Mallory family at Mantlemass over several generations.
The romance takes precedence over the history, a bit too much for my taste. There are also some fudgings of the historical record concerning the Wars of the Roses. This is the first in a series of books that follow the Mallory family at Mantlemass over several generations.
September 2, 2022
A little coming-of-age novel aimed at young readers (upper primary or early teens?) set at the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. Cecily Jolland begins the story a spoiled, pampered girl whose father has fallen afoul of politics. He must flee England and so she is dumped hastily with her aunt. Thus begins Cecily's transformation.
Cecily's aunt pushes freedom and self-reliance onto her reluctant niece. Cecily begins to take part in the running of a farm. The detailed description of the farm's workings and its forest surroundings is the strength of this book. Willard provides amazing, convincing detail of farming rabbits for their furs, of the local dialect, and household tasks. Less strong is Cecily's character development and her falling in love with Lewis, a neighbour with a dark past. In part, I'm not convinced by the character arc because the book and time period covered in it is so short. In part also, it is because Willard relies so much on 'telling' character development and feelings. I understand that this is in line with writing conventions of the time, but it just doesn't work for me!
Cecily's aunt pushes freedom and self-reliance onto her reluctant niece. Cecily begins to take part in the running of a farm. The detailed description of the farm's workings and its forest surroundings is the strength of this book. Willard provides amazing, convincing detail of farming rabbits for their furs, of the local dialect, and household tasks. Less strong is Cecily's character development and her falling in love with Lewis, a neighbour with a dark past. In part, I'm not convinced by the character arc because the book and time period covered in it is so short. In part also, it is because Willard relies so much on 'telling' character development and feelings. I understand that this is in line with writing conventions of the time, but it just doesn't work for me!
May 23, 2023
I did enjoy The Lark and the Laurel, a historical novel for children. It's a sweet and simple story of Cecily Jolland and Lewis Mallory, two youngsters who have essentially been abandoned by their fathers and left with relatives in the Sussex countryside. It is a straightforward love story, not one of much passion and conflict though. It's gentle and perhaps a bit slow to get started, but the end of the story picks up pace with a marriage, a chase, and what seems like a "happy ever after" ending.
February 16, 2018
Now that the love-story has been wrapped up, I hope the following books offer more historical action. This one wasn't bad, but the couple were rather weedy and tiresome.
April 26, 2019
Wonderful children’s historical fiction. I’m so glad there are many more in the Mantlemass series for me to enjoy.
October 31, 2022
Just did not hold my.. interest.
August 15, 2024
I saw this on a list of great historical fiction, but I found it trite and predictable.
January 31, 2024
Cecily Jolland had been bred for the useless life of an aristocratic matron. Suddenly she is taken to her aunt's manor house in the wild English countryside. Her father must flee the country after the defeat of King Richard at the hand of Henry Tudor. Dame Elizabeth promises to make Cecily happy and to restore to her that which was taken away. Her aunt's way of life is entirely opposite of what she had been taught so Cecily feels confused and out of place. As time goes by, however, she warms to the freedom. Cecily meets and falls in love with Lewis Mallory from Ghylls Hatch. By snowfall she dreads her father's return. When spring's thaw comes Cecily and Lewis pledge their love. Then Sir Jolland returns threatening to snatch their happiness from them. Just in time Cecily understands the meaning of a recurring dream. Lewis and she had been married when they were children. Dame Elizabeth knew about the marriage and determined to reunite Cecily and Lewis despite their father's efforts to hide the union. Dame Elizabeth is successful.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
August 1, 2008
This is a charming young adult novel set in Tudor England. There is some sense of manor life, but lots of anachronism, allowing for a kind of feminism that likely did not exist the late 15th century--though there were certainly independent women squires. The history was something of a light backdrop to a simple story--it was fun to revist a childhood favorite but it would never be the kind of children's book that I would read over and over again.
December 18, 2014
This is a fun and gripping historical fiction novel, part of a series set during the reigns of Henry VIII through Queen Elisabeth (or later...I haven't read the last few yet). I read this aloud to my kids and we all enjoyed it and the others of the series. There is a touch of romance, lots of description of the age in which it took place, and a real feel for the lives of people of that day.
September 26, 2012
I liked the detail of the setting, but found the characters rather clichéd. The plot was good and the style kept me reading, but there was one little spark missing that could have made the whole book far more exciting.
October 1, 2012
This book contained all of the cliches of great and wonderful stories but it had none of the wonder or greatness. Some stories are extremely cliche but they're so magical and wonderful and classic that they pull it off. This was not one of those stories.
February 23, 2009
Set in the 1400s. A prissy noble girl learns to work & help people when she gets left with her aunt. She also learns the answer to some family mysteries. Very good, not modernized.
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August 7, 2013Enjoyable historical romance with just the right amount of suspense. A bit slow getting started.
July 3, 2016
Read this book (in Dutch translation) when I was a teenager in the 80's. I remember I liked it a lot and read the whole Mantlemass series.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews