Susan Interferes

Susan #4

by Jane Shaw

Stunningly illustrated dustjacket on this kids book from 1965, some tanning inside, will look very cool on your shelf.

Genres: Childrens

188 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Jane Shaw (1910-2000), born Jean Bell Shaw Patrick, was a children's book author. She was the daughter of Dr. John Patrick, and his wife, Margaret (née Shaw). Educated first by a governess, and then at the Park School in Glasgow, she went on to Glasgow University, where she graduated with Honors in English Literature and Language, in 1932. After taking a teacher training course in London, Shaw returned to Glasgow, where she worked for the publisher Collins, and where one of the editors encouraged her to write her own stories. Breton Holiday, published in 1939, was the result.

Shaw married accountant John Evans in 1939, settling with him in Dulwich, London, where they lived with their children - daughter Jane, son Ian - until they were bombed out during World War II. A job in Johannesburg took the family to South Africa, where they lived from 1952 to 1978, after which they returned to Scotland. Shaw, who is best remembered as the creator of the eleven-book Susan series, died in 2000.

Reviews

[Allison M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun and lovely descriptions of setting!

When I was young I read Crooks Tour by Jane Shaw - I can't really remember the story now, only that I absolutely loved it. So when I spotted this book in a 2nd-hand bookshop - and the cover looks very similar to how I remember the cover for Crooks Tour - I had to buy it. It seems that this is part of a series of 'Susan' books. I suspect that the jokes and Susan's bossy, interfering ways might just wear very thin over a series but, reading this book as a standalone story it was enchanting. I enjoyed the characters and their inter-relationships. And I swooned over the settings: this book is set in Switzerland in the Lake Lucerne area and the sense of place is vivid and beautifully drawn. There is also a fine, totally implausible adventure, with the children outwitting the baddies in fine style.

A delight.

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these Susan books were read to me when I was young and my memory is that I really enjoyed them, yet they were never ones which I read for myself as I got older, so as I read them now, after many years, they feel quite new to me. Here is another enjoyable adventure to while away a few hours.

[Laurel]

Mentioned by Val McDermid as one of her childhood favorites.