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Semi-Autobiographical Novels of her Life #3
Beyond the Vicarage
Third volume of Streatfeild's autobiographical novels
214 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 1971
154 people want to read
About the author
Noel Streatfeild
167 books624 followersMary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children's books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes. She also wrote romances under the pseudonym
Susan Scarlett
.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 29, 2024
Streatfeild covers the 1930s-1960s in this volume, exploring how England changed from the Depression, WWII, and the following years. Quite a few really funny moments, some period details I hadn't read elsewhere, and all-too-brief reflections on her writing. It seems that she started out not liking to write for children, then grew to like it more than writing for adults (though she doesn't explain her writing life as Susan Scarlett!). Some of my favorite chapters were the ones that covered her research for books, including traveling with a circus.
It was neat to see how her character developed as a writer, and how she enjoyed growing older. Her family is less of a focus in this book. Though not estranged, she did not live near to them, and the family closeness her father cherished seems to have died with him. But I also got the sense that Streatfeild really was quite private. The wartime chapters would be a rich resource for folks writing about London in WWII. Overall, I enjoyed my time spent with Streatfeild, but I find I like her fiction more than her life-writing. I'd love to read a good biography about her. It's long overdue!
It was neat to see how her character developed as a writer, and how she enjoyed growing older. Her family is less of a focus in this book. Though not estranged, she did not live near to them, and the family closeness her father cherished seems to have died with him. But I also got the sense that Streatfeild really was quite private. The wartime chapters would be a rich resource for folks writing about London in WWII. Overall, I enjoyed my time spent with Streatfeild, but I find I like her fiction more than her life-writing. I'd love to read a good biography about her. It's long overdue!
August 3, 2016
I was a big Noel Streatfeild fan as a child and loved A Vicarage Family. Imagine my excitement a few years ago when I discovered she'd written two sequels. I finally got hold of a copy off Abebooks which arrived yesterday so naturally I had to read it straight away.
This book is autobiographical and Streatfeild calls herself Victoria. It covers the time when she finished her Austrailian tour as an actress in her early 30s and made the decision to try her hand at writing. I found this book as fasciniating as the others and loved her account of her growing up and taking more responsibility when some family matters interfered with her vision of an easy life. She also covers the 2nd world war and I felt admiration for the help she gave people by training as a warden and subsequently running a mobile cafe to feed people in shelters. She also had some brilliant anecdotes and insights in how the police and wardens dealt with missing persons.
After the war she focuses helping putting London back together, on her family and decides to write solely for children. I loved her funny stories. My favourite is when she was asked to open a library and the mayor hadn't done his homework and announced her as Miss Stratford.
A lovely nostalgic read which makes you realise how lucky we are not to be living in war time and how we should make the most of what we have got.
This book is autobiographical and Streatfeild calls herself Victoria. It covers the time when she finished her Austrailian tour as an actress in her early 30s and made the decision to try her hand at writing. I found this book as fasciniating as the others and loved her account of her growing up and taking more responsibility when some family matters interfered with her vision of an easy life. She also covers the 2nd world war and I felt admiration for the help she gave people by training as a warden and subsequently running a mobile cafe to feed people in shelters. She also had some brilliant anecdotes and insights in how the police and wardens dealt with missing persons.
After the war she focuses helping putting London back together, on her family and decides to write solely for children. I loved her funny stories. My favourite is when she was asked to open a library and the mayor hadn't done his homework and announced her as Miss Stratford.
A lovely nostalgic read which makes you realise how lucky we are not to be living in war time and how we should make the most of what we have got.
June 12, 2021
This is the third book in a trilogy of "autobiographical novels" about Noel Streatfeild and her life. The writing is quite straightforward, but she tells a great story and there were many times when I laughed out loud about some funny quip or story (like when she describes correcting proof pages on the floor flat on her stomach. I love knowing more about an author's life. It's so easy to think of an author's books as existing apart from her life. In a sense, they do, but they are also born out the chaos of a normal human life. Indeed, it was just a happenstance meeting with another publisher that set Noel on a path for writing for children instead. Now she's known almost only as a children's writer. It's hard to find any of her adult novels, except maybe The Saplings, which is published by Persephone.
I had no idea Noel had traveled so extensively, including to America. I enjoyed the travel chapters. After WWII, she spent a lot of her holidays in Ireland! This was fun because I just read her book Growing Summer last year, which is set in Ireland, so she was clearly writing from personal experience. Now I want to read that book again.
The most moving part of this book was a third of it in the middle-ish when Noel describes being a member of the WVS in London in the war. She also manned a mobile canteen in a poor London neighborhood called Deptford. Her descriptions of London during the war were heart-wrenching and vivid. What struck me the most was the incredible moral courage of ordinary citizens like Noel. The war was an incredible drain on her time and energy for six long years and yet she never wavered in her commitments. She has a lovely story about using money from a winning horse race bet to create a garden across from her flat where a building had been bombed. She has a short story about a child wanting to create a garden in London and how challenging it was. I can imagine it was challenging for Noel's garden as well, but she persevered.
I always love hearing about Noel's family, though this book was sad because her dad died right before the story opened. She had a push-and-pull relationship with him, but it was also deep and kept her anchored. I also love Noel's relationship with her older sister (Isobel in the book). I missed that relationship in this book since they're in middle age and older. Even though Noel's been dead for years, it was hard to think of her aging. Her voice in this trilogy is so sprightly and snarky.
I had no idea Noel had traveled so extensively, including to America. I enjoyed the travel chapters. After WWII, she spent a lot of her holidays in Ireland! This was fun because I just read her book Growing Summer last year, which is set in Ireland, so she was clearly writing from personal experience. Now I want to read that book again.
The most moving part of this book was a third of it in the middle-ish when Noel describes being a member of the WVS in London in the war. She also manned a mobile canteen in a poor London neighborhood called Deptford. Her descriptions of London during the war were heart-wrenching and vivid. What struck me the most was the incredible moral courage of ordinary citizens like Noel. The war was an incredible drain on her time and energy for six long years and yet she never wavered in her commitments. She has a lovely story about using money from a winning horse race bet to create a garden across from her flat where a building had been bombed. She has a short story about a child wanting to create a garden in London and how challenging it was. I can imagine it was challenging for Noel's garden as well, but she persevered.
I always love hearing about Noel's family, though this book was sad because her dad died right before the story opened. She had a push-and-pull relationship with him, but it was also deep and kept her anchored. I also love Noel's relationship with her older sister (Isobel in the book). I missed that relationship in this book since they're in middle age and older. Even though Noel's been dead for years, it was hard to think of her aging. Her voice in this trilogy is so sprightly and snarky.
January 2, 2009
In this third autobiographical novel, she has decided to leave acting and become a writer. I liked her descriptions of how she became a writer, always a subject I like to read about. And then during WWII she becomes a volunteer in London, bringing food to people in air raid shelters and doing other jobs during the Blitz. At the end of the books she's old and infirm but still interested in life.
October 22, 2010
It was good but not as good as A Vicarage Family (the first book in the trilogy). I have not read the book in the middle, Away From the Vicarage. So maybe I'd like this book better if I read the one in the middle. It was good though.
June 5, 2012
More autobiography covering the writing of her books and her work during WWII.
July 24, 2018
Third in Noel Streatfeild's slightly fictionalised autobiographical books. She writes in the third person about 'Victoria Strangeway', who she acknowledges is herself. In this volume, which stands alone, we meet her in her early twenties, returning from an international tour as an actress.
Victoria stops off in Thailand to see her brother, then returns to the UK and pre-war England. She becomes involved in her family again, despite an unexpected tragedy, and begins writing.
Most of the book either describes her experiences working for a voluntary aid organisation in London during the war, or gives insights into the writing process that surrounded each of her books. I hadn't realised she initially wanted to write novels for adults; she is best known for her children's fiction.
Somewhat rambling in places, with anecdotes and opinions that are not necessarily chronological. Still, this is a very readable account that's fascinating both from the personal viewpoint of working during the war, amidst some stark and unpleasant scenes, and also because of the background to some of her much-loved books.
Recommended if you're interested in wartime experiences, or in Noel Streatfeild as a writer. Three and a half stars would be fairer.
Victoria stops off in Thailand to see her brother, then returns to the UK and pre-war England. She becomes involved in her family again, despite an unexpected tragedy, and begins writing.
Most of the book either describes her experiences working for a voluntary aid organisation in London during the war, or gives insights into the writing process that surrounded each of her books. I hadn't realised she initially wanted to write novels for adults; she is best known for her children's fiction.
Somewhat rambling in places, with anecdotes and opinions that are not necessarily chronological. Still, this is a very readable account that's fascinating both from the personal viewpoint of working during the war, amidst some stark and unpleasant scenes, and also because of the background to some of her much-loved books.
Recommended if you're interested in wartime experiences, or in Noel Streatfeild as a writer. Three and a half stars would be fairer.
August 14, 2023
Fictionalized autobiography of the author. Portraying herself as "Victoria" seemed to me to place a distance between the reader and the author's character, which I never quite got a clear picture of. Victoria seemed incredibly naive at times, and extremely self-centered, with very little interest or understanding of world events. This did change during the Second World War, but even these recollections seem a little random and unordered. This book felt more like a catalog of "what I did" with little of "how I felt" included.
April 10, 2020
I came back to the second half of this book while I watch the world's reactions to staying home during a pandemic, so honestly a lot of the humor I find in her writing is because I feel like people and their reactions in WWII London are similar to what's going on in 2020.
I like many of her thoughts and her descriptions of Pierre are cute.
I like many of her thoughts and her descriptions of Pierre are cute.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews