Felicity - Stands By

by Richmal Crompton

Felicity – Stands By is a delightful, charming set of short stories by Richmal Crompton, following the adventures (and misadventures) of a young woman, Miss Norma Felicity Montague Harborough.

Having finished school, Felicity returns to the family seat to live with her grandfather Sir Digby, sufferer of the infamous Harborough gout and the Harborough temper. Always well-meaning and often hapless, Felicity sets about to organize and matchmaker those around including rescuing her friend Sheila from the affections (and affectations) of local poet Marmaduke Eltham; joining travelling band ‘The Oranges’; and saving some rather important political papers from the clutches of a thief.

Her escapades are a series of witty, warm and entertaining vignettes, sure to enchant anyone who loved the bestselling Just William series.

Genres: Fiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Richmal Crompton Lamburn was initially trained as a schoolmistress but later became a popular English writer, best known for her Just William series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books.

Crompton's fiction centres around family and social life, dwelling on the constraints that they place on individuals while also nurturing them. This is best seen in her depiction of children as puzzled onlookers of society's ways. Nevertheless, the children, particularly William and his Outlaws, almost always emerge triumphant.

Reviews

[Anne]

Light af but well-written and well-characterized.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted and amusing.

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felicity has much in common with William. She is, in many respects, his upperclass 16-year-old female counterpart. Set in Marleigh, with characters with names such as Moult and French and Drewe, one even feels like one is in the same neighbourhood as William. For Felicity however, things tend to go right - in other words, she doesn't get into trouble at the end of the day. William often got punished for doing good things. Felicity does the same things and manages to get away with it. The text doesn't have quite the same flow as the William stories, and it lacks a degree of originality when you are constantly thinking that William would have also done this, but it's still enjoyable, and for anyone who has exhausted all the William books and wants yet more, this could safely be classed as belonging to the same world.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felicity is sixteen, beautiful and high spirited. She lives with her grandfather and aunt, and assorted siblings come and go. She is a bit similar to William Brown in character - always doing unexpected things to help people, or get rid of tiresome relatives, or just for fun. Some of her exploits are fairly amusing, but she is not such a vivid character as William and her adventures are on the whole not as memorable as his.

[Maarten Van Krimpen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book if only for its beautiful cover. The heroine, Felicity, is also a nice character - cheerful, intelligent. But the stories felt flat, with every ending I felt: okay, so this is it? I skipped the last 30 pages. Felicity really deserves a better book.

[Chriss Corkscrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this charming book of short stories.

Written by Richmal Crompton who was made famous by her Just William stories, Felicity Stands By is written on similar lines but with a 16-year-old heroine.

Warm, gentle and entertaining.

[Deepa Kamat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felicity Stands by is like a breath of fresh air. Felicity like William gets involved in various plots, but solves the same. A series of short stories, the book is filled with humour, which keeps us, entralled.