The Mountain of Magic

Magic Woodland #3

by Beverley Nichols, Peggy Fortnum (Illustrator)

This is the third book in a fantasy trilogy first published in the 1940s. This volume features Jack and Jill, the children of Judy from "The Tree That Sat Down". Jack and Jill set off to climb the distant Magic Mountain, but the wicked witch Miss Smith and her accomplice Sam are determined to turn the adventure into a tragedy. They disguise themselves as treasure seekers and plan an elaborate trap – but they reckon without the Imp of the Mountain and the courage of the crows.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Adventure

185 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

John Beverley Nichols (born September 9, 1898 in Bower Ashton, Bristol, died September 15, 1983 in Kingston, London), was an English writer, playwright, actor, novelist and composer. He went to school at Marlborough College, and went to Balliol College, Oxford University, and was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.

Between his first novel, Prelude, published in 1920, and Twilight in 1982, he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries, and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six plays, and no fewer than six autobiographies.

Nichols is perhaps best remembered as a writer for Woman's Own and for his gardening books, the first of which Down the Garden Path, was illustrated — as were many of his books — by Rex Whistler. This bestseller — which has had 32 editions and has been in print almost continuously since 1932 — was the first of his trilogy about Allways, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire. A later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956 documents his travails renovating Merry Hall (Meadowstream), a Georgian manor house in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956. These books often feature his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield". Nichols's final trilogy is referred to as "The Sudbrook Trilogy" (1963–1969) and concerns his late 18th-century attached cottage at Ham, (near Richmond), Surrey.

Nichols was a prolific author who wrote on a wide range of topics. He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba’s "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (1925), and in 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of William Somerset Maugham and Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, which was highly critical of Maugham. Father Figure, which appeared in 1972 and in which he described how he had tried to murder his alcoholic and abusive father, caused a great uproar and several people asked for his prosecution. His autobiographies usually feature Arthur R. Gaskin who was Nichols’ manservant from 1924 until Gaskin's death from cirrhosis in 1966. Nichols made one appearance on film - in 1931 he appeared in Glamour, directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes, playing the part of the Hon. Richard Wells.

Nichols' long-term partner was Cyril Butcher. He died in 1983 from complications after a fall.

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start, weak middle, strong finish. This is the final book in the Magic Woodland Trilogy. The books have little to do with one another (and there is, in fact, a fourth book Wickedest Witch in the World) and I must say that in the weak middle the narrative seemed forced and sloppy (though Nichols' prose is always good). There was a bit with zebras and polar bears that didn't make much sense and actually detracted from the story. The book was too long - it would have been stronger had some purely superfluous plot details been jettisoned. Still, the end was so strong and suspenseful and poignant that you could almost forgive how hard you worked to get there.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the other two. I see my edition (Lions 1975) is abridged, which might explain why some parts are a bit choppy and why some plot points don't really make sense. I'm not sure why they would have abridged it, but whoever did it doesn't seem to have done a very good job.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the first two. Oh well.
Miss Smith and Sam are still great, well, horrible actually, but they're supposed to be.
And I liked the Imp.

That's about it.
Just read this one once and then go back to the first two. They're much more worth re-reading.

[Julie Round · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing conclusion to the trilogy with unanswered questions at the end. Maybe the older we get the less able we are to think like children. Like " The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe"meeting the characters for the first time makes for a more engaging story. Even the witch did not seem as fascinating as in "The Tree that Sat Down." It would be interesting to find out what made the author continue.

[Emkoshka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eeek, it shouldn't have taken me two weeks to read this; I should've been able to blitz through it in a weekend. But unfortunately, I found it a little tedious and the plot of Sam and the Witch to kill the children and then the whole woodland creature community so convoluted and ridiculous that I had to force myself to finish. The first book in the trilogy remains magical; the second and third, not so much.

[Cassidy Brinn]

I was hoping this would be one of those delightful oldfashioned children's books in which lively brothers and sisters romp through the countryside struggling with, enjoying and eventually conquering strange magical forces. Sadly, no. The brother/sister protagonist team, Jack and Jill, are as dull as their names suggest. One gets no traces of any life in them whatsoever. The whole book long all they do is get entirely duped by the somewhat more colorful villains, Sam and the witch. There are a few anti-capitalist pro-nature connotations, but otherwise this book is a dud.

[Cindy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be a cute book. Nice series, very sweet.