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An Episode of Sparrows
A much-loved English novel reminiscent of The Secret Garden
Someone has dug up the private garden in the square and taken buckets of dirt, and Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of boys from run-down Catford Street must be to blame. But Angela's sister Olivia isn't so sure. Olivia wonders why the neighborhood children—the “sparrows” she sometimes watches from the window of her house —have to be locked out of the garden. Don't they have a right to enjoy the place, too? But neither Angela nor Olivia has any idea what sent the neighborhood waif Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of “good, garden earth.” Still less do they imagine where their investigation of the incident will lead them—to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and at the heart of it all, a hidden garden.
Someone has dug up the private garden in the square and taken buckets of dirt, and Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of boys from run-down Catford Street must be to blame. But Angela's sister Olivia isn't so sure. Olivia wonders why the neighborhood children—the “sparrows” she sometimes watches from the window of her house —have to be locked out of the garden. Don't they have a right to enjoy the place, too? But neither Angela nor Olivia has any idea what sent the neighborhood waif Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of “good, garden earth.” Still less do they imagine where their investigation of the incident will lead them—to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and at the heart of it all, a hidden garden.
247 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
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2024 people want to read
About the author
Rumer Godden
154 books556 followersMargaret Rumer Godden was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews
January 6, 2011
I read An Episode of Sparrows when I was a child growing up in post-World War II Liverpool. It was first published in 1955 when I was eight-years-old. It's said you can't go back, but I'm convinced this book is as good as I remember it. I've ordered a copy and look forward to immersing myself in it as I did as the ten-year-old searching for a bright future among the bomb sites and food shortages of post-war U.K.
AFTER RE-READING
I couldn’t have been more than ten-years-old when I first read 'An Episode of Sparrows', but I remembered with great fondness the feisty waif, Lovejoy, and her gargantuan efforts to make a secret flower garden in a hidden corner of a London bombsite in a downtrodden section of the British capital. I remembered her temporary guardian, Vincent, with his impractical ideas of running a “first-class restaurant” and his epic struggles to prevent it from sinking into bankruptcy in an area where people could barely afford a few pence to buy fish and chips wrapped in newspaper let alone pay for a three-course French dinner. I remembered the two wealthy unmarried sisters who lived in the posh square that lay at the border of Lovejoy’s working-class neighbourhood. I remembered the clash of class and culture when the sisters’ and Lovejoy’s worlds collided.
But I hadn’t remembered the subtle sophistication of ideas flying off the pages concerning morality, religion, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. Like all good novels — written for readers of any age — those issues are understated. I certainly can’t remember being conscious of them as a ten-year-old. However, like any effective work of fiction, those underlying issues and ideas must certainly have made an impression. I obviously can’t know for sure, but I couldn’t help feeling as I re-read ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ some fifty years later that the book must have had a profound effect on me. I recognized in Rumer Godden’s story my own abomination of class discrimination in any form and a derring-do style of determination that sometimes misfires and/or backfires. I think I must have related very closely to the children in the book because I was reminded of the misery of growing up poor, However I was also reminded of moments of intense joy in small events that made life seem not only worthwhile but wonderful.
Apart from lucid realism coupled with a sophistication of ideas in ‘An Episode of Sparrows,’ the book has a suspenseful plot that sweeps the reader along. Every one of the disparate characters is finely drawn, and the descriptions of post-war London — from rubble strewn bombed-out houses to the sparkling exclusive shops of Bond Street — bring the 1950s city vividly to life. The book is also a lesson in excellent writing, including vocabulary that might challenge some adults. Although written for children, ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ makes for an engaging and thought-provoking experience for everyone.
AFTER RE-READING
I couldn’t have been more than ten-years-old when I first read 'An Episode of Sparrows', but I remembered with great fondness the feisty waif, Lovejoy, and her gargantuan efforts to make a secret flower garden in a hidden corner of a London bombsite in a downtrodden section of the British capital. I remembered her temporary guardian, Vincent, with his impractical ideas of running a “first-class restaurant” and his epic struggles to prevent it from sinking into bankruptcy in an area where people could barely afford a few pence to buy fish and chips wrapped in newspaper let alone pay for a three-course French dinner. I remembered the two wealthy unmarried sisters who lived in the posh square that lay at the border of Lovejoy’s working-class neighbourhood. I remembered the clash of class and culture when the sisters’ and Lovejoy’s worlds collided.
But I hadn’t remembered the subtle sophistication of ideas flying off the pages concerning morality, religion, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. Like all good novels — written for readers of any age — those issues are understated. I certainly can’t remember being conscious of them as a ten-year-old. However, like any effective work of fiction, those underlying issues and ideas must certainly have made an impression. I obviously can’t know for sure, but I couldn’t help feeling as I re-read ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ some fifty years later that the book must have had a profound effect on me. I recognized in Rumer Godden’s story my own abomination of class discrimination in any form and a derring-do style of determination that sometimes misfires and/or backfires. I think I must have related very closely to the children in the book because I was reminded of the misery of growing up poor, However I was also reminded of moments of intense joy in small events that made life seem not only worthwhile but wonderful.
Apart from lucid realism coupled with a sophistication of ideas in ‘An Episode of Sparrows,’ the book has a suspenseful plot that sweeps the reader along. Every one of the disparate characters is finely drawn, and the descriptions of post-war London — from rubble strewn bombed-out houses to the sparkling exclusive shops of Bond Street — bring the 1950s city vividly to life. The book is also a lesson in excellent writing, including vocabulary that might challenge some adults. Although written for children, ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ makes for an engaging and thought-provoking experience for everyone.
March 9, 2022
4.5★
I just love Rumer Godden!
One of the reasons is, like with Elizabeth Goudge, Godden's children (the sparrows of the title) are so well depicted. But all the characters (like the adults in my quote above) are very vivid) & easy to keep track of)
The unwanted waif (& kleptomaniac) Lovejoy has learned that if she wants something she has to get it herself - which is why she stole a packet of flower seeds. This leads to a passion for gardening, new friendships & a raft of unexpected consequences.
I did have to knock half a ★ off, because the relationship between Tip & Lovejoy
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
You are making a mountain out of a molehill," said Angela.
Olivia was suddenly inspired to answer, "A molehill can be a mountain to a sparrow."
I just love Rumer Godden!
One of the reasons is, like with Elizabeth Goudge, Godden's children (the sparrows of the title) are so well depicted. But all the characters (like the adults in my quote above) are very vivid) & easy to keep track of)
The unwanted waif (& kleptomaniac) Lovejoy has learned that if she wants something she has to get it herself - which is why she stole a packet of flower seeds. This leads to a passion for gardening, new friendships & a raft of unexpected consequences.
I did have to knock half a ★ off, because the relationship between Tip & Lovejoy
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
September 30, 2016
Whenever I read a book by Rumer Godden I’m reminded why I like her so much. She writes about ordinary life with the insight of a mystic. Her novels are the fictional counterpart of Caryll Houselander’s inspirational prose.
An Episode for Sparrows took me a couple of tries to get into but I blame that on me rather than the book. I was mentally distracted at the time.
Sparrows may well be my favorite by Godden. It certainly contains one of the most memorable anti-heroines ever, impossible little Lovejoy, ironically named because she is unloved and without joy. Yet she is passionate and utterly endearing.
As her devoted Reader Lovejoy captured my heart as was undoubtedly Godden’s intent. Perhaps I should qualify my statement about Lovejoy too. She has been left by her mother with a Mrs. Combie and her horrid sister, Cassie. Yet Mrs. Combie is not without some concern for her young charge, although the interest tends more toward economic than filial. Mrs. Combie’s flighty husband, George/Vincent (which is real name?)—who leaves us constantly wondering at his sanity—a sometime restaurateur, shows the most genuine affection for Lovejoy but who knows if this is a good thing?
Some of the rest of the cast include: the spinster sisters, Angela and Olivia; the ever vigilant Sparkey (who watches everything happening on Catford Street) and his mother; Tip Malone and the large family of Irish Malones and Father Lambert, the local pastor. Tip also befriends Lovejoy, an even more unlikely association, yet how can this friendship do either miscreant any good, especially since their motives are at such cross-purposes?
The ‘sparrows’ in the title refer to the street children. As the story opens some ‘earth’ has been stolen. Can one ‘steal’ ‘earth’? Well yes, if by ‘earth’ you mean the soil from the village green. The suspects are the village urchins or children. The Misses Angela and Oliva refer to the street children as ‘sparrows’ but mean very different things in their use of the term. To Miss Angela it is derogatory. When Miss Olivia thinks of it, she means as it is used by Jesus; each sparrow that falls to the earth is precious in the eyes of the Lord.
Rumer has done it again. The characters are vivid and real. The strength of the plot is its simplicity. Her An Episode for Sparrows will stay with me. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a story this much! I'd give it 5.5 stars if I could.
An added bonus was learning how Godden was inspired to write the story. It came about due to a minor misfortune in her own life, which is always one of the best inspirations. Oh! Then there is the significance of the cover, which is Lovejoy, of course. The full meaning will only be revealed if you read the story.
An Episode for Sparrows took me a couple of tries to get into but I blame that on me rather than the book. I was mentally distracted at the time.
Sparrows may well be my favorite by Godden. It certainly contains one of the most memorable anti-heroines ever, impossible little Lovejoy, ironically named because she is unloved and without joy. Yet she is passionate and utterly endearing.
As her devoted Reader Lovejoy captured my heart as was undoubtedly Godden’s intent. Perhaps I should qualify my statement about Lovejoy too. She has been left by her mother with a Mrs. Combie and her horrid sister, Cassie. Yet Mrs. Combie is not without some concern for her young charge, although the interest tends more toward economic than filial. Mrs. Combie’s flighty husband, George/Vincent (which is real name?)—who leaves us constantly wondering at his sanity—a sometime restaurateur, shows the most genuine affection for Lovejoy but who knows if this is a good thing?
Some of the rest of the cast include: the spinster sisters, Angela and Olivia; the ever vigilant Sparkey (who watches everything happening on Catford Street) and his mother; Tip Malone and the large family of Irish Malones and Father Lambert, the local pastor. Tip also befriends Lovejoy, an even more unlikely association, yet how can this friendship do either miscreant any good, especially since their motives are at such cross-purposes?
The ‘sparrows’ in the title refer to the street children. As the story opens some ‘earth’ has been stolen. Can one ‘steal’ ‘earth’? Well yes, if by ‘earth’ you mean the soil from the village green. The suspects are the village urchins or children. The Misses Angela and Oliva refer to the street children as ‘sparrows’ but mean very different things in their use of the term. To Miss Angela it is derogatory. When Miss Olivia thinks of it, she means as it is used by Jesus; each sparrow that falls to the earth is precious in the eyes of the Lord.
Rumer has done it again. The characters are vivid and real. The strength of the plot is its simplicity. Her An Episode for Sparrows will stay with me. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a story this much! I'd give it 5.5 stars if I could.
An added bonus was learning how Godden was inspired to write the story. It came about due to a minor misfortune in her own life, which is always one of the best inspirations. Oh! Then there is the significance of the cover, which is Lovejoy, of course. The full meaning will only be revealed if you read the story.
April 8, 2015
A deceptively simple story set in London in the early 1950s. "Mortimer Square, gracious and imposing, with its big houses, stood, like many other London Squares, on the edge of a huddle of much poorer streets." Catford Street is the one that quiet, reflective Olivia Chesney thinks about as she gazes out of her window, comparing the quiet square with the bustling life on the nearest of the poorer streets.
The worlds of Catford Street and the Square begin to intersect when one neglected but feisty little girl named Lovejoy steals a packet of cornflower seeds and becomes determined to plant a garden in a bombed out lot on Catford Street. Lovejoy makes garden plans and finds allies among the children and grownups of Catford Street and gradually, through her eyes, we learn the dreams and struggles of life in this little neighborhood.
There are so many wonderful characters--a whole glorious world of them. The adults: Mr. Isbister, the taciturn old man who lives in a basement flat and grows sweet peas; Mrs. Cleary and Miss Arnot who keep feral cats happy on fish heads; Father Lambert, pastor of Our Lady of Sion, who knows how to really see; and Vincent Combie, the chef who dreams of bringing fine Italian cuisine to Catford Street and knows how to listen and to hope.
And then there are the children, each with a distinctive voice and personality--something few authors can do well. Little Sparkey, who hero-worships the boy-gangs who play in the bomb rubble; Tip Malone, the boy-gang leader who befriends Lovejoy; and Lovjoy herself whose cocky attitude and pride cover longing for a mother who has abandoned her.
The story is full of life and humor, small miracles and sudden tears and--when the world of Catford Street collides with the world of the Square and the formidable Angela--the story grows dark with potential tragedy. Then, in the story's final act, quiet, perennially overlooked Olivia becomes a catalyst.
Content rating G: a clean read.
"It was always Catford Street she saw in contrast to the square...but nowadays neither was as rich or poor as Olivia thought. The Square had gone down, its big houses were mostly divided into flats....while the poor streets had come up; Catford Street though drab and shabby with children playing in the street, an open air market at the river end on Saturdays, and the Canal Works behind it, was proud and respectable. That did not prevent those same children from being a small plague in the Square."Olivia lives in the shadow of her endlessly energetic sister, Angela--de facto, albeit self-appointed, ruler of the Square and the Square's garden committee.
The worlds of Catford Street and the Square begin to intersect when one neglected but feisty little girl named Lovejoy steals a packet of cornflower seeds and becomes determined to plant a garden in a bombed out lot on Catford Street. Lovejoy makes garden plans and finds allies among the children and grownups of Catford Street and gradually, through her eyes, we learn the dreams and struggles of life in this little neighborhood.
There are so many wonderful characters--a whole glorious world of them. The adults: Mr. Isbister, the taciturn old man who lives in a basement flat and grows sweet peas; Mrs. Cleary and Miss Arnot who keep feral cats happy on fish heads; Father Lambert, pastor of Our Lady of Sion, who knows how to really see; and Vincent Combie, the chef who dreams of bringing fine Italian cuisine to Catford Street and knows how to listen and to hope.
And then there are the children, each with a distinctive voice and personality--something few authors can do well. Little Sparkey, who hero-worships the boy-gangs who play in the bomb rubble; Tip Malone, the boy-gang leader who befriends Lovejoy; and Lovjoy herself whose cocky attitude and pride cover longing for a mother who has abandoned her.
The story is full of life and humor, small miracles and sudden tears and--when the world of Catford Street collides with the world of the Square and the formidable Angela--the story grows dark with potential tragedy. Then, in the story's final act, quiet, perennially overlooked Olivia becomes a catalyst.
Content rating G: a clean read.
December 6, 2021
An Episode of Sparrows (1955) is a story of friendship and love, of family and belonging, of dreams and dreamers, understanding and misunderstanding, and one that is essentially uplifting and warm, and brought a smile to my face (even if there were some heart-wrenching moments).
Set in post-war London, where the impacts of the war are still on the surface, the book opens not with the main characters but in the imposing Mortimer Square, inhabited by a fairly well-off segment of society, and overlooking the main focus of our novel, the working-class Catford Street. In Mortimer Square, we meet two of the characters whose lives end up intertwining within those of our main characters, and who end up influencing the course of these as well. The Misses Chesney—Angela the younger sister has been an accountant but now works for various charities, is energetic and also well looking while Miss Olivia, the elder is quite her opposite, but blessed with a sympathetic outlook that enables her to truly see and sympathise rather than jump to conclusions and judge.
Just behind Mortimer Square is Catford Street, bustling, noisy, full of life, though also of smoke and dirt. Here were meet Lovejoy Mason, eleven years old, who lives with Mrs Combie and her husband, George/Vincent while her mother Bertha is away on the stage. Lovejoy in many ways must take care of herself, from dressing herself immaculately with what little she has (taught to do so by her mother), going and coming from school and also looking after the room they lease from Mrs Combie. She has a friend in Vincent, who runs a small restaurant, in which he aims to entertain the best clientele but so far this is a dream that remains unrealised.
With a mother who is almost always away, no friends, and none who really wants or cares for her, one day Lovejoy finds a packet of cornflower seeds that someone has dropped and this creates in her the desire to have her own garden. Soon, this idea of a garden takes root and begins to become her solace and the focus of her life. While initially she embarks on the project on her own, soon Tip Malone who leads a ‘gang’ of local boys begins to sympathise with her and take an interest in the project. Before he knows it, Tip is part of it and at Lovejoy’s beck and call. But while he points her to a site for the garden in an old bombed out church, when they need good earth for the garden, it is to Mortimer Square that they turn, and thus begins a bit of trouble for the children and their dream.
While heart-wrenching in parts, this story is largely a heartening one, with warmth, hope and little miracles playing a role all through.
The book has been compared to the Secret Garden, and I can see where that comes from for here too, we have children who find solace, joy and friendship through their own secret garden—the little blades of green that sprout from the earth, the colour from the flowers, and the war time rubble they use to decorate it. The garden for Lovejoy is the one thing she has to hold on to in a world where she finds little love, sympathy and understanding.
Lovejoy isn’t the most likeable of characters; in fact, even after the garden begins to come together, and she finds a friend in Tip Malone, she does things that make one rather annoyed at her. However, all through the book, one really feels for her. At just 11, she is only a child after all, and one who has literally nothing. Her mother doesn’t seem to care about her, has pretty much left her to look after herself; not only that, when she does make her short visits, Lovejoy is usually constantly waiting on her or put out of the house while she entertains her boyfriends; she sees little kindness from others (although Mrs Combie is by and large a nice person, she too disappoints Lovejoy at a crucial time), and even the children around her are not particularly sympathetic.
While on the one side we have Lovejoy, Angela Chesney who is may be too rigid and ready to jump to conclusions for us to like, or the sharp-tongued Cassie, Mrs Combie’s sister who hurts often with her words, in Tip, Olivia and Father Lambert, we find sympathy and kinder hearts. All of Godden’s characters are very real, their actions and motivations understandable and preventing us from judging them too harshly, even where we wish they had acted differently
Dreams play a part in this story, as do small (and perhaps not so small) ‘miracles’. We have Lovejoy’s dreams, initially of having her mother with her, and later of the garden. Vincent wants to run an elegant and classy restaurant in a working-class neighbourhood; both these dreams seem to put upon others—Tip and Mrs Combie, but Lovejoy and Vincent are lucky in having people who do in essence sympathise with these dreams. What shape they take and whether they come true, you will have to read the book to see.
The book brings alive not just the various characters that we soon become interested in, but Catford Street itself—life as it unfolds there everyday; St Botolph’s Home for Compassion, an orphanage from which 26 little girls go out for walks in twos (very like Madeline); the newspaper stand and the owner’s little son Sparkey who longs to be in Tip’s gang; Mrs Cleary and Miss Arnot with their many cats; people walking dogs, as also others busily bustling about. This background too was lovely to see, and makes us feel like we are very much there, on Catford Street, watching the story unfold.
This was a lovely lovely read, and I am really glad to have picked this as my first Rumer Godden.
Set in post-war London, where the impacts of the war are still on the surface, the book opens not with the main characters but in the imposing Mortimer Square, inhabited by a fairly well-off segment of society, and overlooking the main focus of our novel, the working-class Catford Street. In Mortimer Square, we meet two of the characters whose lives end up intertwining within those of our main characters, and who end up influencing the course of these as well. The Misses Chesney—Angela the younger sister has been an accountant but now works for various charities, is energetic and also well looking while Miss Olivia, the elder is quite her opposite, but blessed with a sympathetic outlook that enables her to truly see and sympathise rather than jump to conclusions and judge.
Just behind Mortimer Square is Catford Street, bustling, noisy, full of life, though also of smoke and dirt. Here were meet Lovejoy Mason, eleven years old, who lives with Mrs Combie and her husband, George/Vincent while her mother Bertha is away on the stage. Lovejoy in many ways must take care of herself, from dressing herself immaculately with what little she has (taught to do so by her mother), going and coming from school and also looking after the room they lease from Mrs Combie. She has a friend in Vincent, who runs a small restaurant, in which he aims to entertain the best clientele but so far this is a dream that remains unrealised.
With a mother who is almost always away, no friends, and none who really wants or cares for her, one day Lovejoy finds a packet of cornflower seeds that someone has dropped and this creates in her the desire to have her own garden. Soon, this idea of a garden takes root and begins to become her solace and the focus of her life. While initially she embarks on the project on her own, soon Tip Malone who leads a ‘gang’ of local boys begins to sympathise with her and take an interest in the project. Before he knows it, Tip is part of it and at Lovejoy’s beck and call. But while he points her to a site for the garden in an old bombed out church, when they need good earth for the garden, it is to Mortimer Square that they turn, and thus begins a bit of trouble for the children and their dream.
While heart-wrenching in parts, this story is largely a heartening one, with warmth, hope and little miracles playing a role all through.
The book has been compared to the Secret Garden, and I can see where that comes from for here too, we have children who find solace, joy and friendship through their own secret garden—the little blades of green that sprout from the earth, the colour from the flowers, and the war time rubble they use to decorate it. The garden for Lovejoy is the one thing she has to hold on to in a world where she finds little love, sympathy and understanding.
Lovejoy isn’t the most likeable of characters; in fact, even after the garden begins to come together, and she finds a friend in Tip Malone, she does things that make one rather annoyed at her. However, all through the book, one really feels for her. At just 11, she is only a child after all, and one who has literally nothing. Her mother doesn’t seem to care about her, has pretty much left her to look after herself; not only that, when she does make her short visits, Lovejoy is usually constantly waiting on her or put out of the house while she entertains her boyfriends; she sees little kindness from others (although Mrs Combie is by and large a nice person, she too disappoints Lovejoy at a crucial time), and even the children around her are not particularly sympathetic.
While on the one side we have Lovejoy, Angela Chesney who is may be too rigid and ready to jump to conclusions for us to like, or the sharp-tongued Cassie, Mrs Combie’s sister who hurts often with her words, in Tip, Olivia and Father Lambert, we find sympathy and kinder hearts. All of Godden’s characters are very real, their actions and motivations understandable and preventing us from judging them too harshly, even where we wish they had acted differently
Dreams play a part in this story, as do small (and perhaps not so small) ‘miracles’. We have Lovejoy’s dreams, initially of having her mother with her, and later of the garden. Vincent wants to run an elegant and classy restaurant in a working-class neighbourhood; both these dreams seem to put upon others—Tip and Mrs Combie, but Lovejoy and Vincent are lucky in having people who do in essence sympathise with these dreams. What shape they take and whether they come true, you will have to read the book to see.
The book brings alive not just the various characters that we soon become interested in, but Catford Street itself—life as it unfolds there everyday; St Botolph’s Home for Compassion, an orphanage from which 26 little girls go out for walks in twos (very like Madeline); the newspaper stand and the owner’s little son Sparkey who longs to be in Tip’s gang; Mrs Cleary and Miss Arnot with their many cats; people walking dogs, as also others busily bustling about. This background too was lovely to see, and makes us feel like we are very much there, on Catford Street, watching the story unfold.
This was a lovely lovely read, and I am really glad to have picked this as my first Rumer Godden.
December 2, 2024
Whether this is a children's book or an adult read doesn't matter. A good story is a good story. There were some definite villains in this one, (all adults) and some really good, kind people. Eleven year old Lovejoy just wants to grow a garden and doesn't care how she does it.. She needs dirt, good garden earth. 12 year old Tip, who is a gang leader, is more or less bullied into helping her get it. Neither of them minds the work involved, but Lovejoy is not above stealing. Tip is scrupulously honest and isn't having it. Aside from that basic plot, we see inside a community of haves and have-nots, needs and desires, do-gooders and strivers.
According to the street, Tip is a scallawag headed for jail, Lovejoy is a difficult and unlovable hellion who can't be controlled. The beauty of being a reader means that we get to know their reasons, see inside their heads, and feel their emotions. Child or adult, you will be rooting for these two.
Another excellent addition to my Rumer Godden library.
According to the street, Tip is a scallawag headed for jail, Lovejoy is a difficult and unlovable hellion who can't be controlled. The beauty of being a reader means that we get to know their reasons, see inside their heads, and feel their emotions. Child or adult, you will be rooting for these two.
Another excellent addition to my Rumer Godden library.
November 3, 2022
As a writer, I would like to be Rumer Godden. She writes deceptively simple books that can be read and appreciated by children but have subtle riches enough to satisfy readers of all ages. Thematically as well as stylistically they are inclusive and steeped in humanity.
This was my first reading of An Episode of Sparrows, and I wish I had been exposed to it when I was young because it would certainly have spoken to the child I was. Set in London in the aftermath of World War II, it depicts a world of physical and emotional privation; many parents today would not want their children reading about the harshness of such a world, and that’s a loss. Children’s emotional landscape is very intense, and to my mind they respond well to books that don’t whitewash or dumb down the world they are struggling to understand.
The story begins with a pair of aging spinsters still living in a mostly vanished world of gentility. Angela is all about good works and committees; Olivia has never really connected with life and drifts through it like a ghost. Angela is self-confident and judgmental, a bit of a tyrant; Olivia wistfully watches the outside world through the window of her old schoolroom.
The world she watches is that of Catford Street, a melting pot of immigrants and families clinging desperately to the edges of getting by, their perilous condition echoed by the bombed-out landscape around them. From Olivia’s observation point the story zeroes in on one of the Catford Street children, Lovejoy Mason. Lovejoy is the daughter of a vaudeville performer who used to include her little daughter in her act, but as both age, there is no place for Lovejoy on the road with her mother anymore. Mrs. Mason rents a room from a nice couple and goes out on the road; her visits to her daughter, like her payments for the room, are getting scarcer and scarcer.
Because of the itinerant life Lovejoy has led, she has little education and a narrow understanding of life; she knows a bit about clothes but little else. She still idolizes her mother but the reader can see clearly the deficiencies of her upbringing and the risks she faces. She is a classic unwanted child, hard-shelled but desperate underneath for someone or something to attach to. The Combies, the couple in whose house she lives, are kind but not really keen to take on the parental role thrust on them, and they have problems of their own. The husband, Vincent, is a dreamer who feels crushed if he doesn’t have a connection to the finer things in life, and he has no discipline when it comes to inviting in beauty that he can’t afford. All their lives are fragile and the threat of dissolution hovers over them like a shroud.
Lovejoy finds a packet of seeds dropped on the sidewalk and sets about doing the impossible—making a garden in the blighted landscape she inhabits. She has no idea how to go about it and stumbles her way into learning, with many setbacks. But the idea of the garden is an obsession; something in her needs to create, to own, to be in the presence of regenerating life. She gains an ally in a boy from the neighborhood, and together they set about trying to realize her vision. Even though the boy can’t really see or understand her vision, he sees her need for it and becomes protective.
Their efforts lead them into trouble, trouble from which a few enlightened and observant adults seek to rescue them when it threatens to sweep them away like so much trash. This is an unsentimental story about finding hope amid despair, and the kind of courage it takes to pursue dreams in a dehumanized world. As such it is a classic postwar novel, but its themes and the way they are played out make it rise above its moment to achieve universality. It is a classic.
This was my first reading of An Episode of Sparrows, and I wish I had been exposed to it when I was young because it would certainly have spoken to the child I was. Set in London in the aftermath of World War II, it depicts a world of physical and emotional privation; many parents today would not want their children reading about the harshness of such a world, and that’s a loss. Children’s emotional landscape is very intense, and to my mind they respond well to books that don’t whitewash or dumb down the world they are struggling to understand.
The story begins with a pair of aging spinsters still living in a mostly vanished world of gentility. Angela is all about good works and committees; Olivia has never really connected with life and drifts through it like a ghost. Angela is self-confident and judgmental, a bit of a tyrant; Olivia wistfully watches the outside world through the window of her old schoolroom.
The world she watches is that of Catford Street, a melting pot of immigrants and families clinging desperately to the edges of getting by, their perilous condition echoed by the bombed-out landscape around them. From Olivia’s observation point the story zeroes in on one of the Catford Street children, Lovejoy Mason. Lovejoy is the daughter of a vaudeville performer who used to include her little daughter in her act, but as both age, there is no place for Lovejoy on the road with her mother anymore. Mrs. Mason rents a room from a nice couple and goes out on the road; her visits to her daughter, like her payments for the room, are getting scarcer and scarcer.
Because of the itinerant life Lovejoy has led, she has little education and a narrow understanding of life; she knows a bit about clothes but little else. She still idolizes her mother but the reader can see clearly the deficiencies of her upbringing and the risks she faces. She is a classic unwanted child, hard-shelled but desperate underneath for someone or something to attach to. The Combies, the couple in whose house she lives, are kind but not really keen to take on the parental role thrust on them, and they have problems of their own. The husband, Vincent, is a dreamer who feels crushed if he doesn’t have a connection to the finer things in life, and he has no discipline when it comes to inviting in beauty that he can’t afford. All their lives are fragile and the threat of dissolution hovers over them like a shroud.
Lovejoy finds a packet of seeds dropped on the sidewalk and sets about doing the impossible—making a garden in the blighted landscape she inhabits. She has no idea how to go about it and stumbles her way into learning, with many setbacks. But the idea of the garden is an obsession; something in her needs to create, to own, to be in the presence of regenerating life. She gains an ally in a boy from the neighborhood, and together they set about trying to realize her vision. Even though the boy can’t really see or understand her vision, he sees her need for it and becomes protective.
Their efforts lead them into trouble, trouble from which a few enlightened and observant adults seek to rescue them when it threatens to sweep them away like so much trash. This is an unsentimental story about finding hope amid despair, and the kind of courage it takes to pursue dreams in a dehumanized world. As such it is a classic postwar novel, but its themes and the way they are played out make it rise above its moment to achieve universality. It is a classic.
August 13, 2016
I really did enjoy this book, although Lovejoy was quite unlovable for the most part. I do believe she was her own worst enemy. Her life was extraordinarily hard and she tried to make things beautiful in her small world, she was determined and that saw her through many scrapes. Her friend Tip was endearing as he became so important to her, her life-line. Miss Olivia who saw these poor children as sparrows was a wise woman who needed to speak out for herself and stand up to her sister sooner.
July 19, 2020
I do love Rumer Godden and wish she were better known. I hadn't read this before and was charmed by it: a lovely secret garden novel set in London, with spot-on characterization.
June 3, 2024
I feel fortunate to have a to-be-read list that is quite long and also to have a public library that offers many of those books for me to borrow. I think I am somewhat willy-nilly in my choice of books - Christmas books at Christmas time, Victober, seasonal books at the appropriate time, a good non-fiction, a mystery story thrown in for good measure but other than that; I think my choices are haphazard. But recently I've had the feeling that my books are choosing me.
I moved house in December, 2023. It was an upheaval for me. Part of me would like to behave like a drama queen (quick, get the smelling salts!) but guess what? There are boxes to unpack and items to be sorted and organized. At the time right after I moved, a GR friend wrote a review of 'The Proper Place' by O. Douglas and mentioned that it was a comfort read. I needed a comfort read so I read it. And yes, it is a comfort read but it is also about MOVING HOUSE. How perfect for me. The three women in the story survived an upheaval move of their own and did it with dignity. I loved it. Did the book choose me?
Now I'm on to 'An Episode of Sparrows'. I chose this because Rumer Godden has been recommended by other GR friends. My choice of books by her was somewhat determined by what was available at my library... so this was it. I thought this was a book about children- and it is but it is also about so much more. It is about people, and how we treat each other, it's about having a dream, and it is about building a garden. When I moved (see above) I had to leave my garden. The garden I had tended for years. It wasn't a showpiece but the birds liked it and the butterflies swarmed all around and I was happy and content in my garden. And I had to leave it... (yes, I sobbed). But in my new place, I have 'a bit of earth' (Secret Garden) and am learning to build a new garden. The same way Lovejoy learns (and then marvels!) at her garden. It seems this book chose me.
This was my first Rumer Godden and I will certainly read more. I highly recommend.
I moved house in December, 2023. It was an upheaval for me. Part of me would like to behave like a drama queen (quick, get the smelling salts!) but guess what? There are boxes to unpack and items to be sorted and organized. At the time right after I moved, a GR friend wrote a review of 'The Proper Place' by O. Douglas and mentioned that it was a comfort read. I needed a comfort read so I read it. And yes, it is a comfort read but it is also about MOVING HOUSE. How perfect for me. The three women in the story survived an upheaval move of their own and did it with dignity. I loved it. Did the book choose me?
Now I'm on to 'An Episode of Sparrows'. I chose this because Rumer Godden has been recommended by other GR friends. My choice of books by her was somewhat determined by what was available at my library... so this was it. I thought this was a book about children- and it is but it is also about so much more. It is about people, and how we treat each other, it's about having a dream, and it is about building a garden. When I moved (see above) I had to leave my garden. The garden I had tended for years. It wasn't a showpiece but the birds liked it and the butterflies swarmed all around and I was happy and content in my garden. And I had to leave it... (yes, I sobbed). But in my new place, I have 'a bit of earth' (Secret Garden) and am learning to build a new garden. The same way Lovejoy learns (and then marvels!) at her garden. It seems this book chose me.
This was my first Rumer Godden and I will certainly read more. I highly recommend.
May 28, 2009
What I learned from this book--how very much can be said, how much 'mood' conveyed, without overwriting. This author will never look as if she was paid by the word. I found most of her stories moving, well-written, true to the era and culture they were set in. She sometimes has her books classified as children's books because she often writes about children...which just gives me one more reason to hate categorizing books as children's books.
This was the first book I read by Rumer Godden. The best was probably Thursday's Children--I'll have to go find that ISBN so I can get it on the site.
This was the first book I read by Rumer Godden. The best was probably Thursday's Children--I'll have to go find that ISBN so I can get it on the site.
April 23, 2012
I read and loved this book when I was thirteen, and picked it up again because my daughter is reading it. I loved it even more this time. It's a wry, compassionate, and wholly beautiful book that uses a seemingly simple "episode" (a desire for a garden) to explore the beauty of hope in environments hostile to the imagination and the potential that human relationships have when we set aside our prejudices and open ourselves to each other.
July 14, 2015
What a lovely book.
Lovejoy finds some seeds which she sows in the bombed ruins of post war London.
The gang destroy it but Lovejoy finds the ruins of a church where she then grows her garden with the help of Tip and Sparkey.
Beautifully written and reminds me of The Secret Garden.
Lovejoy finds some seeds which she sows in the bombed ruins of post war London.
The gang destroy it but Lovejoy finds the ruins of a church where she then grows her garden with the help of Tip and Sparkey.
Beautifully written and reminds me of The Secret Garden.
January 25, 2015
I have seen An Episode of Sparrows referred to as a young adult or even a children’s book, although Wikipedia lists it in amongst Rumer Godden’s adult novels, and having read it I think it fits there more comfortably. To me it certainly doesn’t read as a children’s book (although nothing in the content would preclude a child reading it) but more, as a book for adults about children. As such it was chosen by the Librarything Virago group as one of the books for the childhood section of the Seven Ages of Women theme read. Rumer Godden’s depiction of children and childhood is particularly good as I have found in other novels by her. She understands acutely the heartbreaks and frustrations of children, how so often adults misunderstand them, and let them down.
Full reiew: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
Full reiew: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
March 28, 2022
What a wonderful book!
Godden has such a sure touch when writing young characters. These are real children, in all their unsentimental glory. I loved our waif: Lovejoy Mason is so focused, so determined to have a real garden. She managed to co-opt poor Tip Malone into assisting her. He may have been the leader of a boys' gang, but he was no match for Lovejoy's driven, forceful personality.
The adults were treated with good deal of acceptance and compassion. The crankiest (Cassie, Angela) were not vilified; Vincent (with his dreams of restaurant glory) was not scorned. The author made sure that we saw Olivia and appreciated her, even as her sister Angela dismissed her.
The whole neighborhood came to life for me--the clamor of Catford Street, the quiet gentility of The Square, the bombed-out Catholic church--a richly detailed picture of one small slice of post-WWII London and the people who lived there.
Godden has such a sure touch when writing young characters. These are real children, in all their unsentimental glory. I loved our waif: Lovejoy Mason is so focused, so determined to have a real garden. She managed to co-opt poor Tip Malone into assisting her. He may have been the leader of a boys' gang, but he was no match for Lovejoy's driven, forceful personality.
The adults were treated with good deal of acceptance and compassion. The crankiest (Cassie, Angela) were not vilified; Vincent (with his dreams of restaurant glory) was not scorned. The author made sure that we saw Olivia and appreciated her, even as her sister Angela dismissed her.
The whole neighborhood came to life for me--the clamor of Catford Street, the quiet gentility of The Square, the bombed-out Catholic church--a richly detailed picture of one small slice of post-WWII London and the people who lived there.
August 14, 2016
When my daughters and I found a used bookstore in an out of the way village, I picked up a few of Rumer Godden’s hardcovers. Now I wish I had gotten all of her titles!
“An Episode of Sparrows” is just one episode in the aftermath of the London bombing from the life of a young child, Lovejoy Mason, that will eventually have a huge impact upon Olivia, an older woman living in her sister Angela's shadow. If put in simple terms, this novel is about Lovejoy's wish to have a garden of her own, but this novel is anything but simple. Drawing the reader into the everyday lives of London characters, "An Episode of Sparrows" examines human pretensions, survival, resilience, law and order and what constitutes real compassion versus true justice, and whether we are going to live as an 'Angela' or an 'Olivia'.
Lovejoy comes across a packet of seeds, and her imagination is sparked.
“I want a garden,” said Lovejoy. If she had wanted the moon or a diamond tiara it would have been as easy to get in Catford Street.”
Aided by Tip Malone, a street gang boy, she finds a small place behind a bombed church that is almost inacessible to the public and totally private. But how to get the necessary materials, a spade (small trowel), a digging fork, and seeds? Because Lovejoy for all intents and purposes seems to have been abandoned by her mother and given into the care of her landlady, Mrs. Combie.
“It was queer to think of people in Catford Street owning gardens. Lovejoy had lived there all these years but she had not seen what she saw now, the flowers – but they must always have been there, thought Lovejoy. Now, in almost every window, she saw pots with plants growing in them; pots of red and pink flowers, of yellow ones, daffodils – she knew them – and hyacinths, as well as green things, ferns, palms, rubber plants; Sparkey’s mother grew fuschsias in her flat window.”
Growing up in the streets of London has, if nothing else, made Lovejoy resilient, tough and creative. With Tip to help her and Sparkey, a small hero-worshipper of Tip’s, Lovejoy begins the difficult task of fulfilling her dream.
What a poignant story. I wanted to take Lovejoy in, give her new dresses and shoes and a new coat (she has grown out of her clothes and the written pleas to her absent mother garner no help). I wanted to give Lovejoy’s mother a good scolding (at the very least), and buy a gardening apron, tools and flats of pansies for Lovejoy. I wanted to send customers to Vincent’s restaurant. Vincent who is kind to Lovejoy and takes her for Sunday walks, is struggling and fighting his own battles to subsidize his restaurant. I wanted to encourage Olivia to stand up to her (bossy) sister Angela, and I wanted to slap Cassie!
“It’s not old fashioned to say God is good. Remember, not one sparrow can fall to the ground –“
“But they fall all the time,” said Olivia. “We knock them down. We knock them, crush them – carelessly or carefully, it doesn’t matter which, and they fall. That’s what humans do to humans, so don’t talk to me about God.”
I had initially read “Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Godden and enjoyed it but it didn’t have the impact this book had.
“An Episode of Sparrows” is just one episode in the aftermath of the London bombing from the life of a young child, Lovejoy Mason, that will eventually have a huge impact upon Olivia, an older woman living in her sister Angela's shadow. If put in simple terms, this novel is about Lovejoy's wish to have a garden of her own, but this novel is anything but simple. Drawing the reader into the everyday lives of London characters, "An Episode of Sparrows" examines human pretensions, survival, resilience, law and order and what constitutes real compassion versus true justice, and whether we are going to live as an 'Angela' or an 'Olivia'.
Lovejoy comes across a packet of seeds, and her imagination is sparked.
“I want a garden,” said Lovejoy. If she had wanted the moon or a diamond tiara it would have been as easy to get in Catford Street.”
Aided by Tip Malone, a street gang boy, she finds a small place behind a bombed church that is almost inacessible to the public and totally private. But how to get the necessary materials, a spade (small trowel), a digging fork, and seeds? Because Lovejoy for all intents and purposes seems to have been abandoned by her mother and given into the care of her landlady, Mrs. Combie.
“It was queer to think of people in Catford Street owning gardens. Lovejoy had lived there all these years but she had not seen what she saw now, the flowers – but they must always have been there, thought Lovejoy. Now, in almost every window, she saw pots with plants growing in them; pots of red and pink flowers, of yellow ones, daffodils – she knew them – and hyacinths, as well as green things, ferns, palms, rubber plants; Sparkey’s mother grew fuschsias in her flat window.”
Growing up in the streets of London has, if nothing else, made Lovejoy resilient, tough and creative. With Tip to help her and Sparkey, a small hero-worshipper of Tip’s, Lovejoy begins the difficult task of fulfilling her dream.
What a poignant story. I wanted to take Lovejoy in, give her new dresses and shoes and a new coat (she has grown out of her clothes and the written pleas to her absent mother garner no help). I wanted to give Lovejoy’s mother a good scolding (at the very least), and buy a gardening apron, tools and flats of pansies for Lovejoy. I wanted to send customers to Vincent’s restaurant. Vincent who is kind to Lovejoy and takes her for Sunday walks, is struggling and fighting his own battles to subsidize his restaurant. I wanted to encourage Olivia to stand up to her (bossy) sister Angela, and I wanted to slap Cassie!
“It’s not old fashioned to say God is good. Remember, not one sparrow can fall to the ground –“
“But they fall all the time,” said Olivia. “We knock them down. We knock them, crush them – carelessly or carefully, it doesn’t matter which, and they fall. That’s what humans do to humans, so don’t talk to me about God.”
I had initially read “Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Godden and enjoyed it but it didn’t have the impact this book had.
September 18, 2022
rating 3.5
This is not a typical children's book. (Who was Godden's audience? Perhaps this targets adults.) The first 50 pages are mainly description with lots of names; we're introduced to characters who may or may not be essential to the story. Fifty pages ... that's a lot to read without much in the way of action. This example of the setting is from p 48:
Even in Catford Street there were signs of spring; spring sun shone on the pavements, windows were opened, and front doors were sometimes left wide; there was a strong smell of spring greens cooking, of soap and dampness from spring cleanings, of new paint.
That paints a vivid picture - and has one semi-colon. Godden likes the semi-colon.
Here's a sentence that addresses children; it's also on p 48:
Children, playing, left their coats open and they seemed to have a new energy; they played hopping games in squares and oblongs chalked on the pavement; they skipped—skipping ropes were suddenly fashionable this year—and some of the boys had scooters, painted scarlet.
Not only is the writing fairly sophisticated, some of the topics are, too. I had to re-read the paragraph about Lovejoy's mother entertaining male friends in their one room rental. While this encounter was going on, young Lovejoy sat forlornly outside the door on one of the steps.
Only someone raised under the mantle of Catholicism can fully appreciate Lovejoy's interpretation of how she viewed the church and its parishoners.
I kept wondering how I would have responded to the text when I was a child -- would I have given up, or been intrigued? Would I have appreciated Lovejoy's spunk? Could I have understood her passion for growing flowers in a 'real' garden? (Now, gardening is one of my favorite fair-weather activities, but when I was younger, I dreaded the task of pulling weeds.)
Finally, I gave up second-guessing what kids would think and let myself be carried away. The book never "called" to me. It didn't keep me reading late into the night. But it will stay with me. The plot is complex; the characters are motivated by their life circumstances, and the setting is distinctive. The whole story takes place within an area of only a few blocks.
This is not a typical children's book. (Who was Godden's audience? Perhaps this targets adults.) The first 50 pages are mainly description with lots of names; we're introduced to characters who may or may not be essential to the story. Fifty pages ... that's a lot to read without much in the way of action. This example of the setting is from p 48:
Even in Catford Street there were signs of spring; spring sun shone on the pavements, windows were opened, and front doors were sometimes left wide; there was a strong smell of spring greens cooking, of soap and dampness from spring cleanings, of new paint.
That paints a vivid picture - and has one semi-colon. Godden likes the semi-colon.
Here's a sentence that addresses children; it's also on p 48:
Children, playing, left their coats open and they seemed to have a new energy; they played hopping games in squares and oblongs chalked on the pavement; they skipped—skipping ropes were suddenly fashionable this year—and some of the boys had scooters, painted scarlet.
Not only is the writing fairly sophisticated, some of the topics are, too. I had to re-read the paragraph about Lovejoy's mother entertaining male friends in their one room rental. While this encounter was going on, young Lovejoy sat forlornly outside the door on one of the steps.
Only someone raised under the mantle of Catholicism can fully appreciate Lovejoy's interpretation of how she viewed the church and its parishoners.
I kept wondering how I would have responded to the text when I was a child -- would I have given up, or been intrigued? Would I have appreciated Lovejoy's spunk? Could I have understood her passion for growing flowers in a 'real' garden? (Now, gardening is one of my favorite fair-weather activities, but when I was younger, I dreaded the task of pulling weeds.)
Finally, I gave up second-guessing what kids would think and let myself be carried away. The book never "called" to me. It didn't keep me reading late into the night. But it will stay with me. The plot is complex; the characters are motivated by their life circumstances, and the setting is distinctive. The whole story takes place within an area of only a few blocks.
April 5, 2022
Might I have a bit of earth?
This is a question that burned in the hearts of both Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden and Lovejoy Mason, so in some respects their stories are quite similar, and needless to say I love both their stories and these two female protagonists, love, love, love them. They might not seem like girls one would like to adopt but I would definitely; they have spark, they are resourceful, impulsive, reckless, at times inconsiderate🥴yep, definitely charming😄, and they both want a garden, Lovejoy taking great pains (and Tip even greater; I have to say both Tip and Dickon are wonderful) to gather the necessary dirt and seeds to plant, because she is poor, left in charge of friends by her artistic (ahem) mother, unlike Mary who's got plenty of pocket money and not many other cares in the world. There are adventures, more or less successful, there is some thievery, some very pretty flowers, a good many characters and none of them, by the end of the book, is unchanged, a man with big dreams and no means, a boy who wants to be in a gang, and a very very very good ending.
Charmed by this book, I love it so much!
*One quick thing to add: the structure of the book is a bit peculiar, never read anything like it, only maybe in modernist novels. You have to read quite carefully as there are times when the author jumps from one character's doing to another's, moving from future to present and vice-versa with ease for her and a bit of work for us, but once you get used to that there should be no frustrations.
This is a question that burned in the hearts of both Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden and Lovejoy Mason, so in some respects their stories are quite similar, and needless to say I love both their stories and these two female protagonists, love, love, love them. They might not seem like girls one would like to adopt but I would definitely; they have spark, they are resourceful, impulsive, reckless, at times inconsiderate🥴yep, definitely charming😄, and they both want a garden, Lovejoy taking great pains (and Tip even greater; I have to say both Tip and Dickon are wonderful) to gather the necessary dirt and seeds to plant, because she is poor, left in charge of friends by her artistic (ahem) mother, unlike Mary who's got plenty of pocket money and not many other cares in the world. There are adventures, more or less successful, there is some thievery, some very pretty flowers, a good many characters and none of them, by the end of the book, is unchanged, a man with big dreams and no means, a boy who wants to be in a gang, and a very very very good ending.
Charmed by this book, I love it so much!
*One quick thing to add: the structure of the book is a bit peculiar, never read anything like it, only maybe in modernist novels. You have to read quite carefully as there are times when the author jumps from one character's doing to another's, moving from future to present and vice-versa with ease for her and a bit of work for us, but once you get used to that there should be no frustrations.
May 1, 2022
I didn’t write a review of this when I finished it on Easter 2022. I’m not sure why except that I think it’s the kind of novel that invites reflection and re-reading to explore the complexity of the story and its characters. Lovejoy is a fascinating heroine, and her determination to plant a garden is just one sliver of her remarkable resilience. Godden captures so well how a child used to poverty and neglect would approach a garden with minimal tools and instruction. There’s something beautiful about a garden here too: it can be anything from Lovejoy’s delight in pansies to the grandest formal garden.
The title is a reference to Matthew and Luke’s recording of Jesus’ speech: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” Luke 12:6 There is something profound in this allusion from one of the adult characters in the novel, Olivia. Compared to her robust, intelligent, ambitious, organized sister, Olivia, a middle aged spinster, is retiring, shy, slow, and sickly. And yet she is the observant one, the compassionate one, the one whom the children trust. Is that because she herself is like a sparrow? Of little account to the world, but of great account to God…
The style of this novel is so recognizably Godden’s style. As I read more, I’m curious to see if that style continues in her other novels. I’m not even sure how to describe it and yet I think I could read a novel without knowing it was Godden’s and guess correctly. Her narrative voice and her fluid timelines are distinct.
I know I’ve only scratched the surface of this novel. What joy when I pick it up for a second time!
The title is a reference to Matthew and Luke’s recording of Jesus’ speech: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” Luke 12:6 There is something profound in this allusion from one of the adult characters in the novel, Olivia. Compared to her robust, intelligent, ambitious, organized sister, Olivia, a middle aged spinster, is retiring, shy, slow, and sickly. And yet she is the observant one, the compassionate one, the one whom the children trust. Is that because she herself is like a sparrow? Of little account to the world, but of great account to God…
The style of this novel is so recognizably Godden’s style. As I read more, I’m curious to see if that style continues in her other novels. I’m not even sure how to describe it and yet I think I could read a novel without knowing it was Godden’s and guess correctly. Her narrative voice and her fluid timelines are distinct.
I know I’ve only scratched the surface of this novel. What joy when I pick it up for a second time!
May 17, 2011
This is a gritty, post-WW2 version of The Secret Garden. It deals with tough social issues, like abandoned children, mothers who sleep around, and gangs -- so may not be appropriate for some younger children (under 12 years old?).
The story centers on the residents of a neighborhood in London. Following WW2, the rich people on the square no longer have an iron fence to "protect" their lovely garden from the poor children. The poor children play in the street and in the rubble of bomb ruins where buildings were destroyed and have not been replaced.
Lovejoy Mason, a young girl left in the care of a poor restauranteur and his wife while her mother follows a stage career, is tough. She steals when she doesn't get what she wants, and she only cares about her distant mother and herself. However, after grabbing a fallen pack of seeds from a sick little boy, Lovejoy discovers gardening and, over time, how to care about people as well as plants. Her life intersects with other neighbors -- rich and poor alike -- and they all are changed.
Rumer Godden not only has a great name but also has a beautiful writing style. I love that this book, unlike Secret Garden (but like many post-WW2 books), does not have a sickly sweet all-better fairytale ending. People die, gardens are bulldozed, dreams end in disaster, kids get hurt -- and yet goodness prevails in a way that makes you feel more as if you grew up while hearing the story than that you got a quick, artificial fix.
The story centers on the residents of a neighborhood in London. Following WW2, the rich people on the square no longer have an iron fence to "protect" their lovely garden from the poor children. The poor children play in the street and in the rubble of bomb ruins where buildings were destroyed and have not been replaced.
Lovejoy Mason, a young girl left in the care of a poor restauranteur and his wife while her mother follows a stage career, is tough. She steals when she doesn't get what she wants, and she only cares about her distant mother and herself. However, after grabbing a fallen pack of seeds from a sick little boy, Lovejoy discovers gardening and, over time, how to care about people as well as plants. Her life intersects with other neighbors -- rich and poor alike -- and they all are changed.
Rumer Godden not only has a great name but also has a beautiful writing style. I love that this book, unlike Secret Garden (but like many post-WW2 books), does not have a sickly sweet all-better fairytale ending. People die, gardens are bulldozed, dreams end in disaster, kids get hurt -- and yet goodness prevails in a way that makes you feel more as if you grew up while hearing the story than that you got a quick, artificial fix.
September 9, 2016
This is one of those books that we all love, where children have freedom to roam (the reasons they have this freedom might not be so good – but there it is all the same) and act for themselves in a way that always seems to make for good stories. I loved the idea of a secret garden in the city, made out of the refuse of war, created out of the longings of an abandoned girl (she was, really, on her own, even if she did have a home). That combination of themes – destruction, abandonment, smallness, helplessness, friendship, passion, and hope – is potent. I liked that it wasn’t a perfect fairy-tale, I liked (and hated) the realism of the inability of many adults to love as they should, and others to do as they longed to do. The supreme irony of a woman running charity committees galore not being able to act in charity herself – wonderful! I loved Vincent, and hated him as well – why couldn’t he do something for Lovejoy?! So many things frustrated me. But at the core – the human drive for love and beauty can make a garden in a wasteland.
May 19, 2007
Even though this is classified as a children's book here -- and even though Rumer Godden is primarily known as a children's author (I don't know how popular she is in the States but Celeste had read her) -- I think this is actually a book *about* children that isn't intended *for* children. Not that there's anything racy in it, but it's much, much more subtle than her children's books (which I also love). Some people might find this a bit saccharine, but if you want to read a beautifully written but still very uplifting (eek -- I don't usually use that word!) novel peopled by very real children, here it is.
May 7, 2016
This was a reread. It's a simple and yet deeply described tale of just post-WWII London's children in the ruins. Such a difference between "trouble" for urban kids now to then. It's similar to The Secret Garden and it would be a delightful youth read, IMHO.
June 19, 2024
This is my first book by Godden. I lucked up and found what appears to be a first edition of it in a thrift store years ago. It was a lovely told story about post WW2 London. It is as others have said somewhat like The Secret Garden. Times are still hard for folks in the lower classes of society after the war. Lovejoy is a young girl who is for all practical purposes an orphan; a child left in the care of older couple Mr & Ms Combie who are struggling themselves. Garden society socialite Angela Chesney is disturbed by some holes left in the city gardens and will not give up until the criminals are caught. Lovejoy befriends young boy gang leader Tip when she needs help to start a garden. Little 6 year old neighborhood lookout Sparkey is too young to be in the gang but too sickly to do much else. The “episode” occurs and the story is told and unraveled. Angela’s sister Olivia witnesses part of the episode and is able to sympathize with the street children, especially Lovejoy. Almost perfect story of many things I love to read about. This one is not necessarily a children’s book as it is sometimes mislabeled. With that being said a young child could read it as it has a message for old and young alike. I loved it! Almost 5 stars- and I might bump up my rating if it lingers on much longer!
March 26, 2024
Delightful. I always love children and a garden in books. It reminds me a little of The Secret Garden, with a hardened little girl who discovers the joy and beauty of making a garden in a barren and ugly place. It's not as deep and thought-provoking as others of hers, but very good just the same.
July 27, 2008
I would have said that I'm not sure that this is really a children's book. I did read it as a child, though, and really loved it. The main plot is about a young girl growing up in post-Blitz London, who almost by chance, decides to make a garden in one of the bombed-out sections in her neighborhood. There are a few other subplots, but the the book's theme is that of making something beautiful out of imperfect beginnings. One of my favorite books ever.
October 13, 2013
This was one of my favorite, favorite books as a child. In fact, I'm so surprised I don't still have my copy from that time as I have most of the others of my favorites.
I'm so afraid to reread it for fear of finding it not what it was. But I'm feeling more confident with it being published by the NYRB as they have only been bringing out the best.
I remember mainly a feisty waif, a bombed out area, and a garden.
ETA Still as good as I remembered. Truly lovely book.
I'm so afraid to reread it for fear of finding it not what it was. But I'm feeling more confident with it being published by the NYRB as they have only been bringing out the best.
I remember mainly a feisty waif, a bombed out area, and a garden.
ETA Still as good as I remembered. Truly lovely book.
October 25, 2012
I read this book very early in my writing career and loved the way the author moved through time. "As Jenny was to find out later...." was a sentence I never forgot. Sets the narrator apart from the character in one way, but draws the reader in. It's as if the author is whispering secrets in the reader's ear, but never with malicious intent. I love authors who love their characters, despite their faults, and Rumer Godden always does.
October 24, 2023
I usually enjoy Rumer Golden but this book wasn't to my taste at all. It is about the intrigues of a group of poor children in South London in the 1950s. I felt removed from the children and frustrated with the long drawn out scenes. I feel that the story would have been better as a long short story rather than a novel but this is just my opinion at the time of reading. Others may feel differently. Abandoned at page 124. Two and a half stars.
February 6, 2018
That moment when something exceeds your expectations...
4.5 stars
This book feels a tiny bit like the urban version of The Secret Garden. Although it's taken as a 'children's book', I think it's far more gritty. The plot takes place in post WW2 London, a time where there were only a few green spots on the streets. 11-year-old Lovejoy Mason finds a packet of cornflower seeds, which gets her interested in gardening. She proceeds to build a secret garden in a bombed-out churchyard and ends up transforming the lives of the people around her.
I started slow and the writing was also hard for me to get into at first, but I ended up loving it. The characters are so unforgettable, I think I'm going to reread this story when I have the time. What I like about Lovejoy is that she isn't your typical goody-two-shoes with innocent doe eyes and a naive and sweet nature; she can be selfish, feisty and difficult. I understand why she's unlikable to some readers and dubbed an anti-heroine. She's a flawed character, and that's what makes her so special to me.
Her friend Tip won my heart from the start. You wouldn't expect a boy-gang leader to be such a sweetheart. Even though they had their squabbles and arguments, I was glad that Lovejoy had someone she could actually turn to, even if he found her hard to understand sometimes. Their dynamic and chemistry was just...I feel like I need to create a shelf for it or something.
Also, *slow claps* for the pastor.
This book did a great job of making me sit back and have thoughts about compassion, religion and the ability of individuals to make a difference in the world.
4.5 stars
This book feels a tiny bit like the urban version of The Secret Garden. Although it's taken as a 'children's book', I think it's far more gritty. The plot takes place in post WW2 London, a time where there were only a few green spots on the streets. 11-year-old Lovejoy Mason finds a packet of cornflower seeds, which gets her interested in gardening. She proceeds to build a secret garden in a bombed-out churchyard and ends up transforming the lives of the people around her.
I started slow and the writing was also hard for me to get into at first, but I ended up loving it. The characters are so unforgettable, I think I'm going to reread this story when I have the time. What I like about Lovejoy is that she isn't your typical goody-two-shoes with innocent doe eyes and a naive and sweet nature; she can be selfish, feisty and difficult. I understand why she's unlikable to some readers and dubbed an anti-heroine. She's a flawed character, and that's what makes her so special to me.
Her friend Tip won my heart from the start. You wouldn't expect a boy-gang leader to be such a sweetheart. Even though they had their squabbles and arguments, I was glad that Lovejoy had someone she could actually turn to, even if he found her hard to understand sometimes. Their dynamic and chemistry was just...I feel like I need to create a shelf for it or something.
Also, *slow claps* for the pastor.
This book did a great job of making me sit back and have thoughts about compassion, religion and the ability of individuals to make a difference in the world.
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