Rereading: FRIEND MONKEY by P. L. Travers

Best known for her Mary Poppins books, this novel is long for her, and not as good, but has its moments.

Friend Monkey is a curious ape living on a small island, and when a sailor lands there to collect coconuts, he stows away inside the sack and finds a new home on the ship. Friend Monkey can’t talk, but he wants to be friends with and help everyone. Unfortunately, his help often goes overboard or does more harm than good. Eventually he ends up in London in the household of shipping clerk Alfred Linnet, who lives with his wife and three children in the home of her grumpy uncle. A neighbor, Mrs. Brown-Potter, takes to Friend Monkey right away, and when a fire causes the Linnets to abandon their house, she takes them all in. Friend Monkey has all kinds of adventures in London, and finally the Linnet and Brown-Potter families decide to bring him back to Africa by boat. Mrs. Brown-Potter has been there before and knows a village where they all can live. But then things on the boat become even stranger, and the group finds themselves going in a different direction.

I can see several reasons why this was not as successful as the Mary Poppins books. For one, the title character never speaks, nor do we know his exact thoughts, keeping him somewhat remote. Also, there’s lots of social satire that tends to bog down the story, and none of the magical adventures of Poppins. Still, I found this an interesting reread, and at times charming and funny. Mildly recommended.

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