Stephen Barker's Blog - Posts Tagged "green-knowe"
The enduring magic of Green Knowe
The enduring magic of Green Knowe
I must have been about eight or nine when I first read The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston, and this extraordinary story has been with me ever since. There are not many memories that we can be certain of, but I do remember the mysterious opening illustration by Peter Boston and Tolly’s delicious, dark arrival at the old manor house – delivered by rowing boat through the swirling floodwaters.
Though the earliest ‘Green Knowe’ story was published in 1954 and the last of the six in 1976, the books are timeless. I re-read them with my children at a similar age – their reaction of intrigued excitement releasing a satisfying bout of nostalgia.
There’s something understated and beautiful about Boston’s writing that treads a certain fine line: The poetry and lyricism never preventing the page from speaking directly to the reader in the way that the very best children’s stories do.
In the lazy buzz of the late English Summer of 2004 we were privileged to visit the setting of the stories, ‘The Manor’ in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. The visit exceeded expectations; indeed something about that magical, literary place, must have finally triggered me to begin to write in earnest. I came home and determinedly wrote the story that had been germinating in my head for some time, The Secret of Spirits Bay, already knowing that I would pay tribute to Lucy Boston in writing its sequel - my ‘De Vere House’ in The Riddle of The Stones is based on her ancient home.
Here’s a photograph of the garden…
(...if this doesn't come out I will post the photo - and the one of the mouse ! - on my facebook page)
Yes, there are giant topiary chess pieces!
And my writing companion…
The ebony mouse
I must have been about eight or nine when I first read The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston, and this extraordinary story has been with me ever since. There are not many memories that we can be certain of, but I do remember the mysterious opening illustration by Peter Boston and Tolly’s delicious, dark arrival at the old manor house – delivered by rowing boat through the swirling floodwaters.
Though the earliest ‘Green Knowe’ story was published in 1954 and the last of the six in 1976, the books are timeless. I re-read them with my children at a similar age – their reaction of intrigued excitement releasing a satisfying bout of nostalgia.
There’s something understated and beautiful about Boston’s writing that treads a certain fine line: The poetry and lyricism never preventing the page from speaking directly to the reader in the way that the very best children’s stories do.
In the lazy buzz of the late English Summer of 2004 we were privileged to visit the setting of the stories, ‘The Manor’ in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. The visit exceeded expectations; indeed something about that magical, literary place, must have finally triggered me to begin to write in earnest. I came home and determinedly wrote the story that had been germinating in my head for some time, The Secret of Spirits Bay, already knowing that I would pay tribute to Lucy Boston in writing its sequel - my ‘De Vere House’ in The Riddle of The Stones is based on her ancient home.
Here’s a photograph of the garden…
(...if this doesn't come out I will post the photo - and the one of the mouse ! - on my facebook page)
Yes, there are giant topiary chess pieces!
And my writing companion…
The ebony mouse
