After Candlemas

by Ruth M. Arthur, Margery Gill (Illustrator)

When Harriet goes to stay with a schoolfriend on the Dorset coast, she finds herself becoming involved with a young runaway named Birney, an escapee from a reform school who is hiding out in the sea-caves nearby. As the two become closer, leading to shared confidences and feelings, Harriet also attempts to discover the meaning and history behind an inscription she discovers on a memorial slab near the caves. But when the story of Ambrose Briddle, who died "After Candlemas" in 1890, seems to be replaying itself with Birney, Harriet knows she must act...

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

121 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1974

About the author

Working name of UK writer Ruth Mabel Arthur Huggins, long active as a children's author, her career beginning with Friendly Stories (collection, 1932). Most of her early work, like the Brownie sequence -- The Crooked Brownie (1936), The Crooked Brownie in Town (1942) and The Crooked Brownie at the Seaside (1942) -- is for younger children, but with Dragon Summer (1962) and A Candle in her Room (1966) she began to write the haunting fantasy-tinged adolescent novels for which she became best known. Often featuring first-person narratives spanning multiple generations filled with echoes of centuries past.

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly eerie, vintage children’s book by Scottish writer and teacher Ruth M. Arthur, whose work’s been out of print for years but still attracts a dedicated cult following. Like other novels by Arthur, this blends a more realist story about a teenage girl with supernatural elements. Set in the depths of winter, this one centres on Harriet, lonely and isolated at her austere boarding school, she’s unexpectedly liberated by an invitation to stay in Dorset with Nancy, the most popular girl in school. Once there Nancy’s stuck in bed with glandular fever so Harriet’s left to explore on her own. She becomes mixed up with a runaway boy, and hears strange stories about local witches who roam the coastline at Candlemas in celebration of its ancient association with pagan beliefs. It’s an atmospheric, absorbing piece even though it felt rushed at times and doesn’t quite hang together: Arthur introduces plot strands that don’t fully develop, and the boy who's a fugitive from a brutal reform school, is a slightly stock figure. Overall, not as striking or satisfying as her best-known work A Candle in Her Room but still worth the time. It’s accompanied by a series of memorably evocative images by the Scottish artist, and prolific children’s book illustrator, Margery Gill.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Although I didn't love this book as much as A Candle in her Room by Ruth M Arthur we still enormously enjoyed this atmospheric mystery with wonderful Margery Gill illustrations.

Harriet goes to stay at a friend's house for a while as the boarding school heating has broken. When Nancy catches glandular fever she is sent to bed and Harriet gets to explore her surroundings alone. Soon all sorts of interesting characters are introduced, and Harriet finds a mysterious plaque that tells of a boy drowned 'after Candlemass'. Harriet talks to 'Gramma' who remembers all that went on in the village and what goes on now. Harriet makes a friend with a secret we thought the friends secret was a bit of a drastic thing to do to someone who had only been kind and forgiving, we would rather he hadn't done something so extreme!

We began to wonder who was to be trusted and what was still going on, we did suspect that all the village members were witches, and we were slightly dissapointed that out of the characters we got to know, none turned out to be witches, I thought this was going to be a childrens version of The Wickerman for a bit! The story reached a dramatic conclusion, and a happy ending about giving people the chance of a new start, finding acceptance in your community and no longer feeling an outsider.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Harriet goes to stay with a schoolfriend on the Dorset coast, she finds herself becoming involved with a young runaway named Birney, an escapee from a reform school who is hiding out in the sea-caves nearby. As the two become closer, leading to shared confidences and feelings, Harriet also attempts to discover the meaning and history behind an inscription she discovers on a memorial slab near the caves. But when the story of Ambrose Briddle, who died "After Candlemas" in 1890, seems to be replaying itself with Birney, Harriet knows she must act...

The supernatural elements in this novel are minimal, serving as a means of exploring the issue of "belonging," or as Gramma Cobbley would put it, of being "inside." Arthur seems to imply that those who participate in ancient celebrations like Candlemas, or who turn to "witchcraft," do so because they are "outside;" and the story as a whole functions as a narrative about bringing someone from the "outside" - Birney - to the "inside." This is accomplished through friendship and love, acceptance and forgiveness. Although I have become a great fan of Arthur, and do like the theme of acceptance, I couldn't rate this title as highly as some of her others. I felt that the "witch's sabbat" theme lacked any real suspense, and was troubled by the implication that all those who take interest in pagan rituals are somehow dysfunctional (and no, I am NOT a pagan, neo- or otherwise). Of course, it's Ruth M. Arthur, so it's still worth reading, but I think that the tension between pagan and Christian themes is far better explored in Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard .

[Jossalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this author. discovered her when I had the ambition to read all the titles in the children's section of the library and started at A. love the Margery Gill illustrations about as much as the books.

[Carolynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a sort of recognizable formula to many of Arthur's books: I call them gentle Gothic romances: Our young heroine visits or moves to a new environment where she discovers something mysterious is going on, possibly triggered by some ancient custom or legend of the (usually rural or small town, British or Welsh) district. Sometimes she is stymied by the simple but kind country folk, who speak a local dialect. After a few frightening but somehow exciting moments, she figures out the cause of the untoward happenings, or helps in some other way, making at least one new friend (male) in the process. Light is often shed on the dark doings, sometimes altering the region or village forever. At least 20 times they were decorated by the evocative, poignant drawings of Scottish illustrator Margery Gill (who died in 2008 at 83).

This book is like that.

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other's can explain the plot. I read this over 30 years ago. Ruth M Arthur's work is worthy of finding, very much out of print, and EXTREMELY expensive!! If you can find her work buy them up!! Your children/grandchildren will thank you for having found them. Her work is tight, well written and reads like a current novel, allowing for the dated story be brought current. If I could afford her works, I would buy them all up, believe me.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/2011 Stet.

2/2009 Yesterday was Candlemas, so of course I had to pull this down from the shelves. I think it's one of Arthur's weaker books- not goose-bump-inducing spooky, not sweeping over generations- but it's a solid meditation on belonging. That being said, I was struck again by the decidedly intolerant feel of this piece where the witches are unrelievedly evil. I adore Margery Gill's illustrations. Arthur's sure hand with setting, as well as her precise ear for dialog, redeem the book for me.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good late middle-grade early ya novel from the mid-20th c. Pleasantly atmospheric, unusual reference to juvenile carceral system, sympathetic to victims.