What do you think?
Rate this book
Blue Door #1
The Swish of the Curtain
The story of seven children who form The Blue Door Theatre Company, renovating a disused chapel and putting on plays. Despite opposition from parents and friends, they finally overcome all obstacles and win a drama competition. It is a tale of triumph over adversity.
293 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
20 people are currently reading
917 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Brown
115 books20 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
British writer, actress and television producer.
British writer, actress and television producer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
December 17, 2023
A reread of one of my absolutely favourite books. Even its history has its own idiosyncratic charm: written around 1938/1939 when Brown was fourteen and sent to publisher Thomas Nelson at the outbreak of the war, the manuscript emerged unscathed after their office were bombed in the Blitz and was published in 1941 after Brown sent a follow-up letter. They had no contact details for her.
Inventive and wonderfully funny, the book is as fresh and unaffected as its author, a-brim with deep knowledge of playmaking and its practice from conjuring up realistic sets and costumes on a shoestring budget to characterisation and dialogue.
Just beautiful.
An aside: The illustrations are by Newton Whittaker, not Whittaker Brown!
Inventive and wonderfully funny, the book is as fresh and unaffected as its author, a-brim with deep knowledge of playmaking and its practice from conjuring up realistic sets and costumes on a shoestring budget to characterisation and dialogue.
Just beautiful.
An aside: The illustrations are by Newton Whittaker, not Whittaker Brown!
Read
November 2, 2018My thanks to Steerforth Press/Pushkin Press and Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
The Swish of the Curtain is the first of the Blue Door series of books by Pamela Brown, first published in the 1940s. This is a series a goodreads friend of mine had been telling me about for years but I hadn’t so far been able to get my hands on a copy. When I noticed that this series was being brought out again, and this was being offered on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.
This is essentially the story of seven children between the ages of 9 and 17 (three sets of siblings, a pair among them twins) who are all interested in the stage, and are coincidentally talented in different ways in that direction. By accident, they discover a derelict place in their town of Fenchester where they can try out their talents, and form the Blue Door Theatre Company which stages amateur performances of various plays—from scenes from Shakespeare to pantomimes to plays that they write themselves, complete with songs and music. Lyn is a talented actress, Jeremy a violinist, Sandra designs and sews costumes, while Nigel does the sets (besides all of them acting of course)—the others, Maddy, the youngest, Bulldog, and Vicky too have different talents acting and dancing. Their parents are sceptical of their talents but the children soon prove that they have it in them. While this leads to praise and encouragement from their vicar and even the Bishop, their parents still want them to take up more conventional lines of work. The children, however, dream of going on the stage professionally. Will their dreams be realised, or will they have to give in to their parents’ diktats? To know you will have to read the story of course.
This book did take me a little while to get into (possibly my fault rather than the book) but after I got a little way in, I really began to enjoy it, and wanted to keep reading on to see how the children got on with things. The story of course is of their various adventures in getting their theatre together as well as putting up the various theatricals which they come up with or are asked to put on, but it is also about their ambitions to really do something on stage professionally, and how this leads to much unpleasantness with their parents, who don’t see things in the same way as they do. These parts of the story I thought were really well done. Obviously one finds oneself supporting the children, but one can see the point the parents have since their decisions come from their worries about their children’s future. Also enjoyable were the performances the children put up, since one goes through the whole process with them, from planning and writing the plays to set design, rehearsals, make-up and costumes, to the actual show, it is great fun seeing all of it play out. But aside from all of this, what had me in awe of this book was that it was written by Pamela Brown (who herself did go on stage as well) when she was 14 or 15, and it is remarkable how she has brought out not only the aspects of the performance, the writing of the plays, and songs, but also their parents worries about their future and their ‘clashes’ with the children, and even their dismal (or close to) performance at school—I mean even though the reader’s (and her) support is for the children, Brown does manage to still give a picture of all the characters’ viewpoints, and objectively assess the children themselves (their anger, jealousy, strengths, and weaknesses) and also in some ways, the grown-ups. Very enjoyable read. Four and a half stars.
This review also appears on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
The Swish of the Curtain is the first of the Blue Door series of books by Pamela Brown, first published in the 1940s. This is a series a goodreads friend of mine had been telling me about for years but I hadn’t so far been able to get my hands on a copy. When I noticed that this series was being brought out again, and this was being offered on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.
This is essentially the story of seven children between the ages of 9 and 17 (three sets of siblings, a pair among them twins) who are all interested in the stage, and are coincidentally talented in different ways in that direction. By accident, they discover a derelict place in their town of Fenchester where they can try out their talents, and form the Blue Door Theatre Company which stages amateur performances of various plays—from scenes from Shakespeare to pantomimes to plays that they write themselves, complete with songs and music. Lyn is a talented actress, Jeremy a violinist, Sandra designs and sews costumes, while Nigel does the sets (besides all of them acting of course)—the others, Maddy, the youngest, Bulldog, and Vicky too have different talents acting and dancing. Their parents are sceptical of their talents but the children soon prove that they have it in them. While this leads to praise and encouragement from their vicar and even the Bishop, their parents still want them to take up more conventional lines of work. The children, however, dream of going on the stage professionally. Will their dreams be realised, or will they have to give in to their parents’ diktats? To know you will have to read the story of course.
This book did take me a little while to get into (possibly my fault rather than the book) but after I got a little way in, I really began to enjoy it, and wanted to keep reading on to see how the children got on with things. The story of course is of their various adventures in getting their theatre together as well as putting up the various theatricals which they come up with or are asked to put on, but it is also about their ambitions to really do something on stage professionally, and how this leads to much unpleasantness with their parents, who don’t see things in the same way as they do. These parts of the story I thought were really well done. Obviously one finds oneself supporting the children, but one can see the point the parents have since their decisions come from their worries about their children’s future. Also enjoyable were the performances the children put up, since one goes through the whole process with them, from planning and writing the plays to set design, rehearsals, make-up and costumes, to the actual show, it is great fun seeing all of it play out. But aside from all of this, what had me in awe of this book was that it was written by Pamela Brown (who herself did go on stage as well) when she was 14 or 15, and it is remarkable how she has brought out not only the aspects of the performance, the writing of the plays, and songs, but also their parents worries about their future and their ‘clashes’ with the children, and even their dismal (or close to) performance at school—I mean even though the reader’s (and her) support is for the children, Brown does manage to still give a picture of all the characters’ viewpoints, and objectively assess the children themselves (their anger, jealousy, strengths, and weaknesses) and also in some ways, the grown-ups. Very enjoyable read. Four and a half stars.
This review also appears on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
January 14, 2021
This was my favourite book from age 10, so is beyond criticism. So obsessed with it was I that (a) we tried to put on our own version of their panto Cinderella (never happened) and (b) as my copy had no illustrations, I spent one summer holiday illustrating it on a small square notepad and tucking the pictures in between the pages. Oh, and (c) it was my specialist subject when I got to the final of my school's "Mastermind" competition. I won. I also desperately wanted to be an actress right up until the time at nearly 16 I appeared in our school play and had such bad stage fright I nearly threw up.
I cannot possibly put down on here how many times I've read it, because I don't know. I long ago lost count. I used to go into fits of giggles over Maddie's outrageous lies. As a plump child, I think I identified with her when I first read it, probably later identifying more with the conventional Sandra (although I can't dress-make and I only sing as well as her in my mind).
OK, I have one teeny criticism of it. My favourite book before this was The Box of Delights, so unlike Nigel and Mr Fayne, I knew a bishop should be addressed as "Your Grace".
It's also interesting that when the children go to see Twelfth Night, they and the rest of the audience laugh until they cry at the scene of Malvolio being taunted in his cell. I think modern audiences find the scene uncomfortable and cruel. Harsher times - much like Shakespeare's (it was first published during the war, after all).
I cannot possibly put down on here how many times I've read it, because I don't know. I long ago lost count. I used to go into fits of giggles over Maddie's outrageous lies. As a plump child, I think I identified with her when I first read it, probably later identifying more with the conventional Sandra (although I can't dress-make and I only sing as well as her in my mind).
OK, I have one teeny criticism of it. My favourite book before this was The Box of Delights, so unlike Nigel and Mr Fayne, I knew a bishop should be addressed as "Your Grace".
It's also interesting that when the children go to see Twelfth Night, they and the rest of the audience laugh until they cry at the scene of Malvolio being taunted in his cell. I think modern audiences find the scene uncomfortable and cruel. Harsher times - much like Shakespeare's (it was first published during the war, after all).
January 8, 2021
Yum, yum, yum.
If you like Noel Streatfield's books you'll love this. Very much in the line of Theater Shoes, it's the story of a group of friends from 9-15 who dream of "going on the stage." It's still wish-fulfillment fiction with its wonderful coincidences; the difference is that Brown herself was fourteen years old when she wrote it! This makes her kids utterly believable--she knew how kids thought, felt, behaved and expressed themselves. There's no condescension, no "cuteness", no adult winking over the kids' heads at adult readers or making sly jokes at her characters' expense.
If I have one complaint it's that seven friends is possibly too many. I know Brown chose that number so that she would have a whole "company" to do all the different jobs, but it got a bit confusing for me, remembering who was who and related to which other one. There was the faintest odour of Enid Blyton about the story but nothing overwhelming--and no sleuthing!
The manuscript of this book survived the London blitz, and I'm glad it did. I usually reserve children's classics for nighttime reading, but I simply couldn't put this one down until I'd eaten it all. I hope I can find more of Brown's output.
ETA: At second reading, different edition, the book is longer than I remember. It includes the description of a play contest, in which the villainess presents a one-act play that is exactly like the Broadway play/film "One Touch of Venus." This book was written several years before the play/film, leading one to postulate that some Hollywood script writer read the book and "got an idea." No credit given, of course! But back in those days the studio system got away with a lot of that kind of thing.
If you like Noel Streatfield's books you'll love this. Very much in the line of Theater Shoes, it's the story of a group of friends from 9-15 who dream of "going on the stage." It's still wish-fulfillment fiction with its wonderful coincidences; the difference is that Brown herself was fourteen years old when she wrote it! This makes her kids utterly believable--she knew how kids thought, felt, behaved and expressed themselves. There's no condescension, no "cuteness", no adult winking over the kids' heads at adult readers or making sly jokes at her characters' expense.
If I have one complaint it's that seven friends is possibly too many. I know Brown chose that number so that she would have a whole "company" to do all the different jobs, but it got a bit confusing for me, remembering who was who and related to which other one. There was the faintest odour of Enid Blyton about the story but nothing overwhelming--and no sleuthing!
The manuscript of this book survived the London blitz, and I'm glad it did. I usually reserve children's classics for nighttime reading, but I simply couldn't put this one down until I'd eaten it all. I hope I can find more of Brown's output.
ETA: At second reading, different edition, the book is longer than I remember. It includes the description of a play contest, in which the villainess presents a one-act play that is exactly like the Broadway play/film "One Touch of Venus." This book was written several years before the play/film, leading one to postulate that some Hollywood script writer read the book and "got an idea." No credit given, of course! But back in those days the studio system got away with a lot of that kind of thing.
July 7, 2017
A group of talented children comes together to form the Blue Door Theatre Company. I figured I would like this, because I do like backstage-type books (like Noel Streatfeild), and I did, though oddly, it took me a while to get into, perhaps because it took a while to get to know each of the characters. I did like how the group's experience with creating and acting their own plays turns into, possibly, actual careers, rather than just being a one-time or holiday thing, and it makes me particularly eager to track down and read the sequels. (Though since they're all out of print, I think that's going to take me forever.)
March 3, 2019
This classic series is being republished and reminded me of Ballet Shoes in its tone. In The Swish of the Curtain, seven children from three different families decide to form an amateur theater troupe. This first book shows the genesis of the group and their fledgling attempts to entertain their town. Nearly all of the parents have different ambitions for their children outside the theater arts and there is much angst in this volume over whether or not the teenagers will be able to follow their talents and dreams. Looking forward to the next two volumes. I hope that this series will gain a new following as the books are brought back to life.
Thank you to Pushkin Children's Books and Edelweiss for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Pushkin Children's Books and Edelweiss for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 1, 2021
This is one of the most charming books I've ever had the pleasure to read. A group of young friends form an amateur theatre company, and over the course of two years, work hard to entertain the little town that reside in and earn the respect of their parents. It has an old world feel to it, and a sense of representing a lifestyle which no longer exists. Somehow though it manages to seem remarkably fresh. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and it was so wonderful to read about a group of young people working together to achieve their shared but individual dreams. I'm glad there are sequels that I can lose myself in too.
November 9, 2014
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
A group of children all share one dream, to set up their very own theatre company. Pamela Brown's adventure stars James Lance and Caroline Harker
A group of children all share one dream, to set up their very own theatre company. Pamela Brown's adventure stars James Lance and Caroline Harker
March 11, 2019
This book is an absolute fairy-tale and one I am surprised I haven’t already read as a child. Neither the story nor the character development is particularly complex, but those things are unimportant here as it is such a beautifully told tale.
“The Swish of the Curtain” is the story of seven children who form The ‘Blue Door Theatre Company’, renovating a disused chapel and putting on plays. Despite opposition from parents and friends, they finally overcome all obstacles and win a drama competition. It is a heart-warming and magical tale of triumph over adversity.
Originally published in 1941, reading “The Swish of the Curtain” felt like reading something from a bygone world. The book is special as it is simply about growing up with no sense of time or awareness and it is about things being what you want them to be.
Now that I have discovered this book, I think it will be one that I will be reading again.
{Thank you to Edelweiss and Pushkin Press for the free copy of this book and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}
“The Swish of the Curtain” is the story of seven children who form The ‘Blue Door Theatre Company’, renovating a disused chapel and putting on plays. Despite opposition from parents and friends, they finally overcome all obstacles and win a drama competition. It is a heart-warming and magical tale of triumph over adversity.
Originally published in 1941, reading “The Swish of the Curtain” felt like reading something from a bygone world. The book is special as it is simply about growing up with no sense of time or awareness and it is about things being what you want them to be.
Now that I have discovered this book, I think it will be one that I will be reading again.
{Thank you to Edelweiss and Pushkin Press for the free copy of this book and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}
February 8, 2023
Fiercely adorable, deeply sophisticated, and just very, very lovely. There's something I need to unpack about how its aesthetic reminded me a lot of Sabre, the Horse from the Sea (both books by young authors, notable in many ways) but that will come. For now, this will do: The Swish of the Curtain is lovely and fiercely well written stuff and it kind of makes you feel that everything is possible.
April 6, 2019
I was so excited to write a review for this one! The Swish of the Curtain is strangely both as relevant as ever, and slightly dated at the same time. But it's a wonderful read!
First released in 1941, it talks about timeless things such as ambition, talent and... your parents not letting you do what you want with your life. Then again, something that has been written back when my grandmother was born has to be dated in some ways too, and they're not surprising. But let's talk about good things first!
If I had to place this book, I would say it's somehow both middle grade and YA. I think that's got a lot to do with the fact that children's age was understood very differently back then, and they had freedom where we don't right now (like walking around alone and doing whatever you want with your time), but also didn't where we assume we will have freedom now (pursuing a career we want, for example). All of these things that have changed or, on the contrary, stayed the same, are interesting to compare with today's times. And the main messages stay the same!
What's still relevant and inspiring in this book is that it's about kids with ambition and direction – and it's about kids who are willing to fight for their chosen career, instead of what their parents think would be a safe career for them. I don't know if this is a problem many teens still face today, but even if they don't, the topic of going forward to reach your dreams and figuring out your direction is a great one.
Come and read the full review here:
I thank the publisher for giving me a free e-copy of the book through Edelweiss in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
Read Post On My Blog | Themed Bookstagram | Quick Update Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
If I had to place this book, I would say it's somehow both middle grade and YA. I think that's got a lot to do with the fact that children's age was understood very differently back then, and they had freedom where we don't right now (like walking around alone and doing whatever you want with your time), but also didn't where we assume we will have freedom now (pursuing a career we want, for example). All of these things that have changed or, on the contrary, stayed the same, are interesting to compare with today's times. And the main messages stay the same!
What's still relevant and inspiring in this book is that it's about kids with ambition and direction – and it's about kids who are willing to fight for their chosen career, instead of what their parents think would be a safe career for them. I don't know if this is a problem many teens still face today, but even if they don't, the topic of going forward to reach your dreams and figuring out your direction is a great one.
Come and read the full review here:
I thank the publisher for giving me a free e-copy of the book through Edelweiss in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
Read Post On My Blog | Themed Bookstagram | Quick Update Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
December 28, 2019
This was my favourite book as a child and it's the comfort reading I return to at least once a year. This is my kind of fantasy really - a group of kids all have talents in a theatrical direction, stumble across an abandoned church hall, are given it by kindly vicar and rise to local fame putting on productions. Far more than magical lands and talking animals, this was the kind of highly improbable adventure I used to imagine would happen to me. I sometimes wonder if I'd love this book so much if I'd come across it for the first time as an adult, but actually I think I would - it's well-written, witty, and full of perfect characters, from the benevolent Bishop to the awful Mrs Potter-Smith. I can recite parts of this book off by heart but I know I'll keep reading it on at least an annual basis for years to come.
August 3, 2016
I think this is likely to be 'my' edition - the one with the BBC cast (including a very young Sarah Greene) on the cover.
I've always enjoyed this story. It's not exactly rooted in realism, and some of the dialogue is clumsy, and Maddie Fayne must be one of the most unappealing younger sisters ever written; but if you like the sort of fantasy that doesn't involve wizards, dragons or elves, this could be the story for you.
I've always enjoyed this story. It's not exactly rooted in realism, and some of the dialogue is clumsy, and Maddie Fayne must be one of the most unappealing younger sisters ever written; but if you like the sort of fantasy that doesn't involve wizards, dragons or elves, this could be the story for you.
October 19, 2009
I first read this book when I was about ten, and 'starring' in my own Brit neighborhood theater production--I fell completely in love with the book and actually carried it around with me in consequent (and frequent) moves till I was about 18 and in NYC! Today, I can't believe Pamela Brown started the book at age 14, finished it at 16!
December 27, 2018
Loved this one. Charmingly old-fashioned, but without being stale. I can understand why this book inspired so many thespians.
March 19, 2021
It's been a tough week. I needed a comforting, childhood read. I read this book at least three times as a child. It's dated now. But still enchanting. And I still got swept along in the same way as I did when I was 10!
December 31, 2021
For my full review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
As an avid Noel Streatfeild fan, I expected to love this. It’s about young people and theatricals and apparently inspired the stage ambitions of Dames Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins. But … I didn’t. It centres around seven children who renovate a disused chapel to put on plays, calling themselves the Blue Door Theatre Company. However, they are coming to the end of their compulsory education and their parents want them to get actual jobs so the pressure is on to make the theatre into a profitable proposition. I have a suspicion that if I had read The Swish of the Curtain as a nine, ten or even eleven year-old, I would have been captivated. But it was out of print back then and unfortunately it just didn’t engage me as an adult. The characters felt lifeless, the jargon around ‘vulgarity’ etc was very dated and even the happy ending felt forced and unrealistic. My main issue is that I didn’t just request the first book in the series, I also agreed to review all subsequent sequels. I wouldn’t rule this out for a stage-struck child or young adolescent but it just made me realise that unfortunately, I have grown up too much to enjoy it – sob!
As an avid Noel Streatfeild fan, I expected to love this. It’s about young people and theatricals and apparently inspired the stage ambitions of Dames Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins. But … I didn’t. It centres around seven children who renovate a disused chapel to put on plays, calling themselves the Blue Door Theatre Company. However, they are coming to the end of their compulsory education and their parents want them to get actual jobs so the pressure is on to make the theatre into a profitable proposition. I have a suspicion that if I had read The Swish of the Curtain as a nine, ten or even eleven year-old, I would have been captivated. But it was out of print back then and unfortunately it just didn’t engage me as an adult. The characters felt lifeless, the jargon around ‘vulgarity’ etc was very dated and even the happy ending felt forced and unrealistic. My main issue is that I didn’t just request the first book in the series, I also agreed to review all subsequent sequels. I wouldn’t rule this out for a stage-struck child or young adolescent but it just made me realise that unfortunately, I have grown up too much to enjoy it – sob!
September 2, 2017
This is a book that I first read when I was about 14 years old and didn't know my place in the world. I was at school, this book was out of print and I loved it so much I spent 2 weeks every night copying it out word for word into a notebook. I still have that first copy of the book at home.
This is a story about seven children 4 girls 3 boys who end up starting an amateur theater adventure after the youngest Maddy breaks a window of a church that was no longer being used. The children put on a variety of plays and grow in so many ways throughout allowing them to become truer to themselves throughout. A wonderful story of growth, accepting and using your differences, as well as your strengths and to fight for what you want in life. Just DO NOT forget to have fun while doing it.
As it was set in the late 40's some of the references may be lost on some people and many of the phrases used have changed in meaning but it is still a wonderful story that predates the world of Enid Blyton but keeps a similar strength to the robustness of characters.
This is a story about seven children 4 girls 3 boys who end up starting an amateur theater adventure after the youngest Maddy breaks a window of a church that was no longer being used. The children put on a variety of plays and grow in so many ways throughout allowing them to become truer to themselves throughout. A wonderful story of growth, accepting and using your differences, as well as your strengths and to fight for what you want in life. Just DO NOT forget to have fun while doing it.
As it was set in the late 40's some of the references may be lost on some people and many of the phrases used have changed in meaning but it is still a wonderful story that predates the world of Enid Blyton but keeps a similar strength to the robustness of characters.
November 14, 2018
I read this book when I was a child and it made me want to act. Although I never pursued my dream seriously as a young person, I did finally get involved in amateur acting in my 40s, and am still involved to this day (now 57). I have got to play some great Shakespeare characters such as Olivia in Twelfth Night, Bottom in a Midsummer Night's Dream, Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew and Trinculo in the Tempest. I bought it recently and read it again. At first I wasn't sure that it was as good as I remembered, but by the time I had finished it I was won over again. It is especially well-written considering Pamela Brown was only 14 when she wrote it. I am looking forward to reading the next three in the series.
June 28, 2016
My most treasured childhood book and handed down to me by my dad who like me adored the theatre. I went on to become an actress partly because of this wonderful story or a bunch of children who set up their own theatre. I will pass it on to my son and I know he will love it just as much despite the absence of digital media.
August 19, 2009
Loved this book! It was one of my favorites before starting to read adult literature.
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2024
Apparently, this 1941 novel was an ur-text for young people interested in theatre. I can see why. I would have been all over this if I'd read it as a teen (I worked stage crew for a decade or so, starting in high school). As an adult, I still did enjoy it.
It's the story of a group of intrepid, imaginative teens who establish an amateur theatrical group, with lengthy descriptions of their studies, technical efforts, acting approaches, and interactions with their parents and other local adults (most of whom are sympathetic and encouraging, but some less so). The author started it when she was a teen; she did work in theater, and it shows.
It dragged a bit in the middle but soon righted itself, and I just ordered the sequels (the five-book Blue Door series recently was reprinted by the worthy Pushkin Press).
(Funnily enough, at around the same time I was also reading Robertson Davies' adult novel, Tempest Tost, a deft character study about a Canadian amateur production of The Tempest, and I sometimes got the books confused.... Like when Freddy in Tempest Tost wants to go to a book sale that's limited to curates, I thought, "Why doesn't she just ask Mr Bell?" He's the kids' sponsor in Swish, lol.)
It's the story of a group of intrepid, imaginative teens who establish an amateur theatrical group, with lengthy descriptions of their studies, technical efforts, acting approaches, and interactions with their parents and other local adults (most of whom are sympathetic and encouraging, but some less so). The author started it when she was a teen; she did work in theater, and it shows.
It dragged a bit in the middle but soon righted itself, and I just ordered the sequels (the five-book Blue Door series recently was reprinted by the worthy Pushkin Press).
(Funnily enough, at around the same time I was also reading Robertson Davies' adult novel, Tempest Tost, a deft character study about a Canadian amateur production of The Tempest, and I sometimes got the books confused.... Like when Freddy in Tempest Tost wants to go to a book sale that's limited to curates, I thought, "Why doesn't she just ask Mr Bell?" He's the kids' sponsor in Swish, lol.)
September 10, 2020
It's hard to know quite what to do with this one. The writing is charming, but it's dated enough that I have no idea if it would hold the attention of a modern American kid. Three sets of siblings befriend each other in 1940's England. After one breaks the window of an old church building accidentally, they turn it into a theater where they can sing, dance, act etc., all having different talents. Of course, their families are opposed to stage careers, and their school certificates are looming. I enjoyed Maddy, the youngest, and all her mischief. BBC, please make this a season or two on Masterpiece.
November 3, 2018
This was a cute and endearing read, but I can't say that I was amazed by it. I really enjoyed the friendship between the characters and the fact that they went after what they wanted even if there were obstacles in their way, proving that, in the end, everything is possible if you believe in yourself. The writing was pretty decent and there wasn't really anything wrong with it.
This book wasn't really what I'm interested in, though. I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more if I read this when I was younger, but it didn't really stand out for me now.
This book wasn't really what I'm interested in, though. I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more if I read this when I was younger, but it didn't really stand out for me now.
February 9, 2023
My late grandmothers favourite book when she was young, this was very Blyton-ish with loads of ‘rather!’ and ‘do let us!’. Despite the old fashioned vernacular the stage scenes were really well written, especially considering it was written by a teenager. It was far too long but would have made a super wholesome children’s television series if it had ever been adapted. Interesting to visit that world for a while.
March 8, 2023
The author was 14 when she wrote this! Definitely of it’s time but a very fun read.
January 3, 2024
Pure nostalgia 🥰
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews