Swan Feather

Sadler's Wells #10

by Lorna Hill

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Hill attended school in Durham and then went to Le Manoir in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She obtained a BA at Durham University, and there met her husband, a clergyman. They moved to the remote parish of Matfen, Northumberland, where she played the organ in church and ran a Sunday school.

Hill's career as an author began when her daughter Vicki, then about ten years old, found a story her mother had written as a child and asked for about its characters. The result was a series of eight books about Marjorie & Co, illustrating them herself. These began to be published in London in 1948. They were followed by the Patience series and several others.

When Vicki left home to be a ballet student at Sadler's Wells in London, Hill missed her and began to write her Dream of Sadler's Wells series. She eventually wrote a total of 40 children's books, as well as La Sylphide, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni, and two romances for adults, published in 1978. Hill was then obliged to stop writing by ill health. She is said to have been firm with publishers and to have earned more from her books than many of her contemporaries. Translations of some titles into several other languages appeared, including less usual ones such as Finnish (by Pirkko Biström, 1991), Indonesian (1994), Czech (1995) and Slovenian (by Bernarda Petelinšek, 1996).

More information at Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd love to know how modern readers find these books. I loved them so much when I was young that I can't be objective about them.

5 stars again, even though perhaps as a stand alone title this isn't one of the strongest. I adore her heroes, and her baddies! Here's the horrible Nigel Monkhouse, aristocratic, handsome, charming, but wrong! He's shot a swan to replace the heroine's lost mascot, a swan feather which he destroyed in a temper.

'He plucked a snowy feather from the dead swan's breast and offered it to her.
But Sylvia didn't react as he had expected. She stood looking at the dead swan, aghast.
'Where - where did you find it?' she almost whispered.
'Find it? I didn't FIND it. I shot it - especially for YOU.'
So little did Sir Nigel know if the girl's nature that he really thought he was pleasing her in thus offering her a trophy of the chase - just as one of his ancestors might have done.'

SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ ON if you don't want to know how it ends.

And of course the swan feather did act as a mascot because it opened her eyes to his true character. I think the characteristion is really good - there are still Nigels around today, and yet the book also has that fairy tale element to it that lifts the story into an enchanted realm.

The book is well structured. At the end, there's a scene where the real hero persuades her that relying on a swan's feather for luck is wrong, but he doesn't shout at her and destroy it, he offers her another one, which he picked up at the same time as he gave her the orginial one, and confesses that it's only a pigeon feather. So, there you go girls, a real hero can teach you what's right, but he does it through laughter, love, and support. Run a mile from those bullies.

REad again 10.01.12

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

10th in the Saddler's Wells series for teenage girls. Best read after the others in the series. Too many characters and viewpoints, and unlikely scenarios but more interesting (and moving at time) than the seventh book. Nowhere near as good as the first four in the series, however.

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Swan Feather’ is far more of a return to Lorna Hill’s original and imaginative overarching vision of the Wells series and Sylvia Swan is (almost) a heroine to die for. Okay, she’s not as tough as Veronica (who is?) but this is a welcome revisit to one of the best of the later Wells stories.

[Andro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je crois vraiment que ce que je préfère dans cette série de romans jeunesse écrits dans les années 50 (en tout cas pour les rares qui ont été traduits en français et dont j'avais hérités de ma mère à l'époque) c'est qu'on a constamment des héroïnes qui envoient chier leurs prétendants lorsque ceux-ci essaient de les faire renoncer à leur carrière et/ou de les culpabiliser parce qu'elles ne renoncent pas à tout pour eux. Elles font leurs choix, elles savent ce qu'elles veulent, ce qu'elles valent, et elles ont beau être amoureuses, elles font toujours le choix qui est d'abord le meilleur pour elles : leur propre avenir, et leur propre vocation. Soit le garçon finit par se sortir la tête du cul, comprendre qu'il avait tort, et dans ce cas là tout est bien qui finit bien ; soit il reste con et dans ce cas là tant pis pour lui, pas de réconciliation, et la jeune fille trouve quand même le bonheur en suivant la voie qu'elle a choisie. Pour l'époque c'est absolument énorme, et déjà quand j'étais petite ça m'avait beaucoup marquée.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this set as read - and bits of it seemed familiar as I came back to it, but not so much that I wasn't prepared to change its reading dates over. This is the story of Sylvia Swan and her struggle to become a ballerina. I don't think the 1990s paperback I borrowed from the library as a child had all the bits about the Teddy boys what happened to Sylvia's Mum. Certainly if it was there I missed the implications of what the Teddy boy's might have done to Sylvia. It struck me while reading this that there are a lot of orphaned children in this book, and a relatively high death count during the actual story. But that's not to say that these are sad books, because they're not.

This is also the book where Horrible Nigel gets his cummuppance - again - but in a slightly more final (not that final) way this time, after his bullying and nasty fortune hunting exploits across the series.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars. Young Sylvia Swan always wanted to dance. Despite her father's death, leaving her and her mother with very little, Sylvia just wanted to dance. And she was talented. When a neighbor boy gives her a feather, it becomes her most precious belonging, her mascot, her luck. Especially since her name is Swan, it seems it must be a sign. At first all goes well, despite her mother's unexpected death. Sylvia is accepted into Sadler's Wells where she makes friends with Vicki Scott, daughter of composer Sebastian Scott and ballerina Veronica Weston. Sylvia is thrilled to meet Vicki's family and friends — especially the dashing Sir Nigel. But there are clouds on the horizon — will Sylvia's luck continue or will she make an unfortunate mistake?

Very enjoyable, especially the glimpses of characters from previous books in the series.

[Rhona Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, we come across Sylvia Swan who with her mother lives in a poor district outside Newcastle. Originally from further out, after her father died they had to move. She befriends a neighbour but after a tragic happening she goes to the Royal Ballet School. She meets Vicki Scott and yet again it's set more in Northumberland than in London. She is successful, starting to have bigger roles but an injury required a month's rest enables her to meet Nigel now Sir Nigel Monkhouse. We all know his character and he hasn't got any better. But will she accept his offer of marriage?

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvia was fine. If it was only her in this story I would give this book 2 stars.

But the real show stealer:
Vicki Scott

I fell in love with Sebastian the first second he was introduced and my heart always skips a beat when he is mentioned in the later novels. I was always sad that we didn't get a book from Sebastians POV and I still think that this was the biggest mistake, that he doesn't have at least one novel dedicated to him.

But we have Vicki. History repeated. The second she was introduced I fell in love with her. She is now my second favourite character (right after her dad) and I think that we still in some way get to see some glimpse of Sebastian and it is my absolute favourite thing in the world.

1+ point for: Mariella showing Nigel who the boss is and Nigel being left again.

Have a good day!
25/08/21


hello again!

After rereading this I can confirm that i am in full agreement with the review stated above. Vicki Scott is amazing in this book and we love her also the reason I like her so much is that we are so much alike is crazy, I am literally Vicki Scott.

Sylvia is really dumb and naive but she learns and I guess that is what matters.

Also I FINALLY got closure with Mariella and Nigel and yes I am satisfied. Mariella wins this war and I am here for it.

character rank:
1. Sebastian Scott
2. Mariella Foster/Campbell
3. Vicki Scott
4. Veronica Weston/Scott

I love this series and I am beyond thankful for all the joy it has brought me,

farewell <3

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember very clearly discovering this book in our school library - and our school library never had my sort of books in it, so this was fairly momentous - because this is how I found out that LH had written more than the first 4 Wells books, which were all that I knew of her.

And I remember thinking, as I read it, well I remember Veronica, and Sebastian, and Nigel. But who are all these other people? Are there... are there MORE Sadlers Wells books?!

And here we are. Sylvia is a bit of a drippy heroine, but eventually we see some fire from her, and Nigel and his mum get their comeuppance (again - is that even possible?).

Meanwhile, Veronica and Sebastian's daughter Vicki continues to steal every scene she's in...