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The Guardians of the House
Thomas slips into an eccentric old lady's house while she is out and finds a number of carved faces that lead him into a series of frightening adventures.
51 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Lucy M. Boston
34 books112 followersLucy M. Boston (1892–1990), born Lucy Maria Wood, was an English novelist who wrote for children and adults, publishing her work entirely after the age of 60. She is best known for her "Green Knowe" series: six low fantasy children's novels published by Faber between 1954 and 1976. The setting is Green Knowe, an old country manor house based on Boston's Cambridgeshire home at Hemingford Grey. For the fourth book in the series, A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961), she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.[1]
During her long life, she distinguished herself as a writer, mainly of children’s books, and as the creator of a magical garden. She was also an accomplished artist who had studied drawing and painting in Vienna, and a needlewoman who produced a series of patchworks.
During her long life, she distinguished herself as a writer, mainly of children’s books, and as the creator of a magical garden. She was also an accomplished artist who had studied drawing and painting in Vienna, and a needlewoman who produced a series of patchworks.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 28, 2019
Parts of this book I enjoyed greatly some chapters didn't work so well. I love Lucy Boston's writing and the atmosphere she creates. I love the way her stories get across the feel of history within a house and the feel of the lives and events that have happened there. This book felt like some early ifeas of the Children of Green Knowe. Lovely illustrations by Lucy's son Peter.
April 25, 2019
Displaying in this short novella (51 pages) the powerful sense of place that made
The Green Knowe Chronicles
such classics, L.M. Boston tells the story of Tom Morgan, a young Welsh boy transplanted from his rural home to a factory town. It is the Park, an undeveloped field in the center of town, and the ancient house attached to it, that present Tom with the one bright spot in this desolation of planned uniformity. It is here that Tom likes to fish, and it is here that he one day witnesses the owner - an eccentric old lady believed by the local children to be a witch - and her gardener depart. Seizing the opportunity, Tom lets himself into the unlocked house, where he has a series of amazing encounters with the masks and artifacts that act as "guardians." A Malayan goddess, a Roman triton-head, a worn Indian figure, all take Tom to another time and place, each teaches him a "lesson" of sorts...
It is difficult to know how to read this odd but enchanting book. As one reviewer has noted, it lacks a coherent and linear plot-line, seeming instead to be a series of linked vignettes. The structure of the story, with Tom's various "lessons," seems to hint that Boston had some end-goal in sight, but what was it? It is tempting to think that the ethical message of the story is that art will yield its full enchantment only to those who respect its power and appreciate it beauty, rather than those who attempt to conquer, master, or steal it. This seems born out by the fact that the first two "lessons" show the destructive nature of looters, and that Tom is twice prevented from stealing one of the house's treasures. But this argument in turn is undermined by the fact that these artifacts must necessarily have been severed most brutally from their natural homes, or they would not be present in the house, or in Britain for that matter, at all. Unlike some reviewers elsewhere, I do believe that this book represents more than Boston's surreal daydreams about the faces to be found in her own home (the inspiration for so many of her works), but like Tom, "the Secret is too hard" for me. Perhaps that is the point...
It is difficult to know how to read this odd but enchanting book. As one reviewer has noted, it lacks a coherent and linear plot-line, seeming instead to be a series of linked vignettes. The structure of the story, with Tom's various "lessons," seems to hint that Boston had some end-goal in sight, but what was it? It is tempting to think that the ethical message of the story is that art will yield its full enchantment only to those who respect its power and appreciate it beauty, rather than those who attempt to conquer, master, or steal it. This seems born out by the fact that the first two "lessons" show the destructive nature of looters, and that Tom is twice prevented from stealing one of the house's treasures. But this argument in turn is undermined by the fact that these artifacts must necessarily have been severed most brutally from their natural homes, or they would not be present in the house, or in Britain for that matter, at all. Unlike some reviewers elsewhere, I do believe that this book represents more than Boston's surreal daydreams about the faces to be found in her own home (the inspiration for so many of her works), but like Tom, "the Secret is too hard" for me. Perhaps that is the point...
May 8, 2017
One of the more odder of Boston's books yet just as short as Nothing Said. The story starts off, much like in Nothing Said with a child trapped within the confines of a concrete world. Whilst Libby is offered the chance to escape into the countryside, Tom, with a sense of loss over the landscape that his parents have torn him from, feels a pull towards an old house settled in the Park.
As he fishes by the gate of the house one day, he answers a calling within and enters the building. In there he encounters a series of carved, chiselled and woven faces and each of them have a story to tell. Here then is a tale of a young boy's search for something. His encounters lie deep within different faiths and beliefs and at the end he is left with more questions than he had when he first entered. Yet at the end, when he escapes, the house and its heads still call to him - hoping for his return perhaps, when he is better able to understand their secrets.
As he fishes by the gate of the house one day, he answers a calling within and enters the building. In there he encounters a series of carved, chiselled and woven faces and each of them have a story to tell. Here then is a tale of a young boy's search for something. His encounters lie deep within different faiths and beliefs and at the end he is left with more questions than he had when he first entered. Yet at the end, when he escapes, the house and its heads still call to him - hoping for his return perhaps, when he is better able to understand their secrets.
September 20, 2022
After many years of not understanding her work, I am increasingly obsessed with Lucy M. Boston. I found The Sea Egg a remarkable thing, and A Stranger At Green Knowe transformative. I think it is the stubborn strangeness of her work that appeals to me. They are not necessarily the easiest books to read nor those with the more straightforward of message but they are so fiercely and utterly themselves and I love them for that. They are persistent stories which tell the story that they want to tell, irrespective of the world about them. I like that. I like that a lot.
The Guardians Of The House is a slender story concerning a boy who breaks into a house and if you have read some of Boston's other work, you will have an idea of what happens next. But in a way, you really don't. This is a story where the familiar is made strange and paragraphs twist in and out of themselves, transporting you somewhere else within a heartbeat before even you or even they have quite realised what is happening. There are moments when this works better than others and a few moments that work stiffly from a modern perspective but all of them work in a way that only Boston (or perhaps Philippa Pearce) can do. This is a book that explores the edges of the world.
(I have always described myself as somebody who did not quite understand fantasy and now I wonder if it is because I have just been reading the wrong sort of fantasy, all along…)
The Guardians Of The House is a slender story concerning a boy who breaks into a house and if you have read some of Boston's other work, you will have an idea of what happens next. But in a way, you really don't. This is a story where the familiar is made strange and paragraphs twist in and out of themselves, transporting you somewhere else within a heartbeat before even you or even they have quite realised what is happening. There are moments when this works better than others and a few moments that work stiffly from a modern perspective but all of them work in a way that only Boston (or perhaps Philippa Pearce) can do. This is a book that explores the edges of the world.
(I have always described myself as somebody who did not quite understand fantasy and now I wonder if it is because I have just been reading the wrong sort of fantasy, all along…)
July 26, 2025
Creepy, atmospheric and a lot of layers for a children’s story
November 15, 2025
As a young child I thought this English House children's novel was ok. Children find strange wall carvings. Quaint.
March 23, 2015
I just read this in about half an hour's time. You might think it wouldn't have a big impact on a person, being such a short book, but I really still feel like I'm under its spell. It's hard to shake off good writing. L.M. Boston makes the world in her books come alive. She's very talented.
That said, I really didn't enjoy the story. It was slightly frightening, and dark. Pagan is the first word that came to mind, and after pondering it a little, I think it might very well be the best word. The book is full of illusions, and as the main character questions the reality of his experiences, it seems we are meant to also.
Altogether a different side of L.M. Boston than I've ever seen before. I did not enjoy it.
That said, I really didn't enjoy the story. It was slightly frightening, and dark. Pagan is the first word that came to mind, and after pondering it a little, I think it might very well be the best word. The book is full of illusions, and as the main character questions the reality of his experiences, it seems we are meant to also.
Altogether a different side of L.M. Boston than I've ever seen before. I did not enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews