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The Exiles #2
The Exiles At Home
Hillary McKay returns with another hilarious and adventurous story of the four Conroy sisters as they come together to devise a plan helping Ruth sponsor a child in Africa.
When Ruth Conroy decides to sponsor a child in Africa, she is unprepared for just how difficult it is to find ten pounds per month. As any sister's next step would be, Ruth enlists the help of Phoebe, Naomi, and Rachel.
All too eager to help their sister, the four girls work together to come up with multiple hare-brained, fundraising schemes that are a bit too mischievous to be fruitful. From undisciplined babysitters to unhygienic caterers and fraudulent pavement artists, the Conroy sisters' hilarious projects never fail to cause chaos and mayhem.
When Ruth Conroy decides to sponsor a child in Africa, she is unprepared for just how difficult it is to find ten pounds per month. As any sister's next step would be, Ruth enlists the help of Phoebe, Naomi, and Rachel.
All too eager to help their sister, the four girls work together to come up with multiple hare-brained, fundraising schemes that are a bit too mischievous to be fruitful. From undisciplined babysitters to unhygienic caterers and fraudulent pavement artists, the Conroy sisters' hilarious projects never fail to cause chaos and mayhem.
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1994
5 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Hilary McKay
134 books387 followersHilary McKay was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and is the eldest of four girls. From a very early age she read voraciously and grew up in a household of readers. Hilary says of herself as a child "I anaesthetised myself against the big bad world with large doses of literature. The local library was as familiar to me as my own home."
After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew's University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.
One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them
Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.
After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew's University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.
One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them
Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
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December 7, 2024
Love it even more than the first one. The narrative smoothly flows from summer into the Christmas season.
"In the morning the ceilings were luminous with snow light."
Rachel and Phoebe were tiptoeing gingerly through the first fresh snow they marveled at, and making snowballs the girls wanted to bring home in their pockets was a cheerful fun. But the snowballs will probably going to melt, for the door happened to be locked...
full review to come
An AI generated picture by @zaffirogiulia11
February 7, 2013
This story just cracks me up. Sisters Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe get into trouble once again, this time by "adopting" an African boy and pledging ten pounds a month for his schooling. Though it's Ruth who makes the initial commitment, all the sisters gradually get sucked in and pull the most amazing stunts to earn enough money each month. I think my favorite one is when Rachel and Phoebe decide to sell extra lunches at their school, sandwiches made in a shed and occasionally contaminated with dog hair. I couldn't stop thinking--doesn't their mother notice that she's running out of bread three times as fast? But then my own son had a scheme of selling soda pop in the lunchroom, fifty cents each, and it was all so entrepreneurial.... Anyway, the girls are delightful as ever, and the ending is sweet and touching if slightly unbelievable; it made me cry a little.
August 26, 2008
Ruth impulsively uses her Christmas money to sign up to sponsor a child in Africa for a year. Now, she must come up with ten pounds a month and she is perennially short of cash. She lied about her age on the application and is terrified of letting her parents know what she has gotten herself into. Her sisters come to her aid, engaging in a number of inventive and harebrained schemes to raise money. They get help from unexpected quarters as their obsession with Africa grows with each letter they receive from the boy they are sponsoring.
August 13, 2018
This book so far eclipsed the first one I'd almost recommend reading it first except that you'd be disappointed when you went back and read the first. I was in stitches the entire way through. All the best parts of E. Nesbit's books without the generous helping of secondhand embarrassment.
August 3, 2009
If you liked _The Story of the Treasure Seekers_ by E Nesbit, you will like this book. Ruth, the oldest of a family of four girls, is captivated by an ad for an agency which supports young schoolchildren in Africa. She impulsively spends her entire Christmas gift money on the first month's support for a child, who turns out to be an endearingly grateful little Kenyan boy named Joseck. She enlists her sister Naomi in helping her (which for complicated reasons has to be kept secret from everyone else, but almost every plan they come up with ends in chaos and confusion. It is almost unflaggingly funny or touching--often both.
June 1, 2012
Oh, I love the Exiles. It gets a bit hard to keep the names straight (is this just me?) but I adore the way McKay knows the way kids think and feel. She manages to put it down on paper in a way that's sympathetic but also celebrates the innate hilarity of childhood.
August 30, 2015
The cover says "earnest", and also "heartfelt", maybe even "moving". What it doesn't say is "funny". It's the British Penderwicks, not a problem novel about a parent off at war. But just for fun, feel free to share what the cover image makes you think the book will be about.
Library copy
Library copy
March 11, 2009
I don´t remember the last book which made me laugh out loud so loud (maybe vintage Wodehouse. maybe). Perhaps my sense of humour is twisted but I found it hilarious. And moving.
June 27, 2022
Ruth Conroy, in one of her ditzy moments, has ended up sponsoring a small boy from Africa for which she will have to fish out 10GBP every month. But Ruth is not yet an adult with vast amounts of money at her disposable. As she frets about how she will raise the money, her nutty sisters rise, at first reluctantly and then rather valiantly, to the effort. In true Conroy sibling style, the most bizarre money-making schemes are hatched and deployed, often to disastrous results.
But the madcap girls with their eccentric individual personalities have kind, solid hearts. When one of their convoluted schemes brings them into the orbit of a lonely old couple, they inadvertently bring laughter and companionship along with them too.
I adore this series. The Conroy girls aren’t the most sensible siblings in the world. And yet, their silliness is finely tempered by their innate goodness. The dialogue, as always, is hilarious and engaging.
But the madcap girls with their eccentric individual personalities have kind, solid hearts. When one of their convoluted schemes brings them into the orbit of a lonely old couple, they inadvertently bring laughter and companionship along with them too.
I adore this series. The Conroy girls aren’t the most sensible siblings in the world. And yet, their silliness is finely tempered by their innate goodness. The dialogue, as always, is hilarious and engaging.
August 31, 2022
The shambolic and often shameless Conroy sisters return in this warm, sweet, funny sequel to The Exiles.
The novel centres Ruth's secret attempts to raise £10 a month to send to her sponsor child Josek, in Kenya. Before too long, Naomi, then Rachel and Phoebe are drawn into this clandestine charitable endeavour, which quickly devolves in petty crimes, property damage, and generally morally questionable behaviour.
Naomi's fund raising effort involves gardening for an elderly couple, Toby and Emma. The sisters soon recognise that Toby and Emma they cannot take money from the poor older couple, showing their true kindness, generosity and love by becoming the pair's friends instead.
The antics and honest sisterly interactions are laugh out loud funny, with a tender, hopeful core. An absolute corker on audiobook!
The novel centres Ruth's secret attempts to raise £10 a month to send to her sponsor child Josek, in Kenya. Before too long, Naomi, then Rachel and Phoebe are drawn into this clandestine charitable endeavour, which quickly devolves in petty crimes, property damage, and generally morally questionable behaviour.
Naomi's fund raising effort involves gardening for an elderly couple, Toby and Emma. The sisters soon recognise that Toby and Emma they cannot take money from the poor older couple, showing their true kindness, generosity and love by becoming the pair's friends instead.
The antics and honest sisterly interactions are laugh out loud funny, with a tender, hopeful core. An absolute corker on audiobook!
August 28, 2021
I just love the Conroy sisters and their shenanigans. In this book the girls are desperate to get cash to send to the boy, Joseck, whose education Ruth is sponsoring in Kenya by sending 10 pounds a month. Some of the ways they get cash are a little ... less than ethical, but they are all hilarious. I enjoyed this book at least as much as the first one and think it's even funnier than the first--I can't actually remember the last time I laughed out loud so much while reading. And the ending is way more touching than I expected based on the first book--I teared up a little.
A funny read and I think McKay really gets how kids think and act.
A funny read and I think McKay really gets how kids think and act.
August 18, 2018
It’s a comedy and a drama book, I loved the fact that it made me feel that the family that was in the book wasn’t imaginary it’s just the type of family that I would want in a book. I would want to read the whole series but I don’t really mind that much. It’s the type of book that I really would recommend to drama and comedy lovers.
June 25, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this hilarious follow-up to The Exiles. Again, I read it out loud to a 10 year-old and it worked perfectly. The adventures are different this time, as it is nearly all based, at home in everyday life, however the Conroy girls get up to even funnier hijinks, as well as there being unexpectedly touching moments too. Thoroughly recommend.
January 19, 2026
I thought two books in quick succession about the incorrigible Conroy girls might be a bit too much. But I was mistaken. I cackled just as often and as loudly at this set of exploits. Crazy and delightful! I love Emma and Toby and Big Grandma and all the bonus characters, particularly the Thin One. lololololol
September 6, 2017
So much fun. Such crazy characters. And lots of heart.
January 2, 2020
Funny in general and very realistic.
August 7, 2022
4.5 stars
August 25, 2022
The only thing that bothered me was that every character always said Africa instead of Kenya or the precise place Joseck is from.
September 12, 2022
The zoo!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Rachel not trusting the Post Office 🤣🤣 And taking the sledge to bed with her every night! 🤣
I wonder how many of these things actually happened in Hilary McKay’s life. 😂
I wonder how many of these things actually happened in Hilary McKay’s life. 😂
December 20, 2017
omg soo lustig!!!
February 17, 2022
Loved this, such a funny and wholesome tale, the best plot and totally recommend it.
Recommend-9.8/10
Recommend-9.8/10
May 3, 2012
This was a great book! Sequel to 'The Exiles', which I quite enjoyed, this is a great story of a somewhat bohemian family with four daughters aged from six up to thirteen. Life is chaotic in their household, and they're usually late for everything.
The story begins during the Christmas holidays, and snow. Rachel asks for - and is given - a sledge, which becomes her favourite possession. All too quickly school term begins; on the first morning, they're not just disorganised and late - Ruth and Naomi, the two older girls, have forgotten their books, their lunches and their PE kit. Then Ruth realises that she's still wearing her pyjama jacket with her school skirt...
It's not slapstick, although occasionally it approaches that state. It's a wonderful, warm-hearted, delightful family tale of generosity and inventiveness; of girls who are given a great deal of freedom, but who care about responsibility and commitments. They are not a wealthy family, so, when Ruth - in a moment of craziness - commits ten pounds a month to supporting a small boy in Africa, she and her sisters determine to continue this support all year, even though they have to discover new and unusual ways to earn what is, to them, quite a significant amount of money.
Written in 1993, this book reads almost like one of the beloved books from my childhood, set in a rather more trusting period when children could go out and about by themselves and there few concerns about getting to know strangers so long as they were sensible.
Definitely recommended to anyone from the age of about six or seven and upwards. Including adults.
The story begins during the Christmas holidays, and snow. Rachel asks for - and is given - a sledge, which becomes her favourite possession. All too quickly school term begins; on the first morning, they're not just disorganised and late - Ruth and Naomi, the two older girls, have forgotten their books, their lunches and their PE kit. Then Ruth realises that she's still wearing her pyjama jacket with her school skirt...
It's not slapstick, although occasionally it approaches that state. It's a wonderful, warm-hearted, delightful family tale of generosity and inventiveness; of girls who are given a great deal of freedom, but who care about responsibility and commitments. They are not a wealthy family, so, when Ruth - in a moment of craziness - commits ten pounds a month to supporting a small boy in Africa, she and her sisters determine to continue this support all year, even though they have to discover new and unusual ways to earn what is, to them, quite a significant amount of money.
Written in 1993, this book reads almost like one of the beloved books from my childhood, set in a rather more trusting period when children could go out and about by themselves and there few concerns about getting to know strangers so long as they were sensible.
Definitely recommended to anyone from the age of about six or seven and upwards. Including adults.
April 18, 2023
[Audiobook version]
4.5 stars. I read this as a child and it's always stuck with me! The relationship between the sisters is SO true to life, and Phoebe will always be my favourite. In the introduction to this audiobook version the author says she changed/rewrote parts -- I guess to make the story less patronising/colonial for a modern audience, idk?? But the bits taken out were the bits I most vividly remember, like the Conroy girls wondering if Joseck has ever had beans on toast (which to me says more about how daft (or hungry!) they are -- and how little information was available about other cultures in the pre-internet days -- rather than being actively offensive) or the reveal at the end that Okay, it's a little unbelievable, but this is a children's book? I thought the original ending was much more memorable and fun.
4.5 stars. I read this as a child and it's always stuck with me! The relationship between the sisters is SO true to life, and Phoebe will always be my favourite. In the introduction to this audiobook version the author says she changed/rewrote parts -- I guess to make the story less patronising/colonial for a modern audience, idk?? But the bits taken out were the bits I most vividly remember, like the Conroy girls wondering if Joseck has ever had beans on toast (which to me says more about how daft (or hungry!) they are -- and how little information was available about other cultures in the pre-internet days -- rather than being actively offensive) or the reveal at the end that Okay, it's a little unbelievable, but this is a children's book? I thought the original ending was much more memorable and fun.
January 7, 2021
Quotes:
“It was the beginning of a strange understanding between Phoebe and Emma. It was a friendship of equals, both seeming oblivious of the eighty and more years that separated them in time. Phoebe made no concession to Emma’s obvious frailty. If Emma fell asleep in the middle of a conversation, Phoebe did not hesitate to shake her awake again. She dragged Emma, willy-nilly, through her own complicated ideas and theories, and when Emma did not understand, Phoebe drew pictures to demonstrate her thoughts, and explained the pictures to Emma. Emma was just as bad. She ignored the fact that Phoebe was seven years old, completely poverty stricken, confined to school all day and hampered by a family who all attempted to bring her up in different directions.”
“It was the beginning of a strange understanding between Phoebe and Emma. It was a friendship of equals, both seeming oblivious of the eighty and more years that separated them in time. Phoebe made no concession to Emma’s obvious frailty. If Emma fell asleep in the middle of a conversation, Phoebe did not hesitate to shake her awake again. She dragged Emma, willy-nilly, through her own complicated ideas and theories, and when Emma did not understand, Phoebe drew pictures to demonstrate her thoughts, and explained the pictures to Emma. Emma was just as bad. She ignored the fact that Phoebe was seven years old, completely poverty stricken, confined to school all day and hampered by a family who all attempted to bring her up in different directions.”
December 24, 2010
If the Penderwicks were slightly psychologically disturbed I think they would be very much like the Exiles. :P
I enjoyed this book just as much as the first! The incredible and odd antics of these girls made me laugh out loud several times. They remind me of mischievous children such as the Bastables (The Story of the Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods) or various families from Noel Streatfeild's lesser known children's books.
I enjoyed this book just as much as the first! The incredible and odd antics of these girls made me laugh out loud several times. They remind me of mischievous children such as the Bastables (The Story of the Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods) or various families from Noel Streatfeild's lesser known children's books.
May 23, 2011
Hilary McKay invented four quirky sisters who individually try their parents' patience in this Exiles series. The English sisters sponsor a boy in Africa and must come up with 10 pounds every month to support him in school. Where do 4 children repeatedly acquire 10 pounds? Hilariously, I must say! My hardcover book has a different cover than the one shown. There were no other choices.
April 27, 2009
Is it fair to give it a star if I didn't make it through it? If I can get through a book, I automatically give it at least 2. but if I try at least three times to read and can't get hooked, I say it's no good.
July 30, 2016
Thinking about Phoebe and her zoo still makes me laugh almost 15 years later. As a kid, I remember wishing more than once that I could do the same. I always thought the ending of this book was a little crazy, but the rest of the story makes it worth overlooking.
November 28, 2021
This is a childhood favourite! It's still great, but I reread on kindle seeing as my physical copy is in two pieces, and it seems like a lot of stuff, including the last chapter has been rewritten or taken out.
September 16, 2010
Hilariously funny. I was rolling about in silent laughter the whole time (silent because there were people sleeping). I really need to get my hands on the third book! (Aug. 2010)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews