A Great Emergency and Other Tales

by Juliana Horatia Ewing

Collection of short stories first published in 1877 by the prolific author of children's stories. Her tales, which have hardly been excelled in sympathetic insight into childlife, still enjoy undiminished popularity.

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

Born in 1841, Juliana Horatia Gatty was the daughter of the Rev. Alfred Gatty, a Church of England vicar, and an author, and of Margaret Gatty, also an author. She was married to Major Alexander Ewing, of the British army pay department, in 1867, relocating with him to New Brunswick, Canada, for the first two years of their marriage. Although Major Ewing was posted abroad again, in 1879 and 1881, Mrs. Ewing was prevented from accompanying him by ill health. She moved to Bath in 1885, in the hopes that the change would improve her health, but she died there that same year.

Juliana Horatia Ewing - sometimes also styled Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing, or just "Mrs. Ewing" - is credited by Roger Lancelyn Green as being the author of the the "first outstanding child-novels" in English literature. In addition to her children's novels, Ewing also edited a number of magazines for young readers, including the Nursery Magazines (from 1856), the Monthly Packet and the monthly Aunt Judy's Magazine (both from 1866).

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect escapism in the year of Covid! The passionate feelings, perhaps more than the doings of these children, are so touching, so believable and so understandable that, although a hundred and fifty years must have passed, you can hear their voices crisply and clear in your ear.

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

June 2017 (3 stars)
A bit of a mixed bag. It's all okay, but none of it particularly outstanding. Madam Liberality was by far the best story - the most touching. A Great Emergency was readable but not particularly original. Our Field was sweet enough but too short to develop into anything of significance. And for some reason A Very Ill-Tempered Family rather irritated me. Overall the stories are fine, but not the best or most gripping examples of Ewing's work. I would only really have any desire to read Madam Liberality again.

August 2021 (3 stars)
My feelings probably haven't changed significantly in the four years since first reading this collection of short stories in another edition (See review for June 2017). By Goodreads standards I'd still have to give it that same three-star rating, but possibly I feel more favourably towards it this time round than when I first read it. I think this time I enjoyed A Great Emergency more than all the other stories.

May 2025 (4 stars)
My feelings have completely changed since 2017. A Great Emergency, comprising the first half of the volume, is engaging and makes for very easy reading, and is somewhat reminiscent of We and the World, or of an R.M. Ballantyne novel. The three shorter pieces in the second half of the volume are all good in themselves even if their titles are uninspiring. Our Field is sweet and idyllic. Madam Liberality is charming. A Very Ill-Tempered Family stirs up a lot of ill-tempered emotions - it's very easy to feel all the pains and frustrations of these children, and you don't come out of reading it feeling good about yourself! Yet another good collection of Ewing's writings.