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The Scottish Sequence #1
Goblin Island
The Colquhoun family had suffered a great loss when
Mrs. Colquhoun died.
Peggy, who was eighteen at the time, and the eldest daughter, returned from boarding school to play the role of mother. Shortly afterwards their father also died and they were left in a very serious financial position.
To economise was absolutely necessary; but how were they to do it? It was decided that they should live in a cottage on a small island which luckily was their own property.
Read this intriguing story for yourself, which is Elsie Oxenham at the top of her form, and share the fun and adventures of this courageous little family.
Mrs. Colquhoun died.
Peggy, who was eighteen at the time, and the eldest daughter, returned from boarding school to play the role of mother. Shortly afterwards their father also died and they were left in a very serious financial position.
To economise was absolutely necessary; but how were they to do it? It was decided that they should live in a cottage on a small island which luckily was their own property.
Read this intriguing story for yourself, which is Elsie Oxenham at the top of her form, and share the fun and adventures of this courageous little family.
- GenresRomance
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1907
About the author
Elsie J. Oxenham
117 books27 followersA celebrated English girls’ school story writer, Elsie J. Oxenham's was born Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley in 1880 in Southport, Lancashire, She was the daughter of writer John_Oxenham, born William John Dunkerley, who had chosen the pseudonym ‘John Oxenham’. And Elsie decided to adopt the same surname for her writing career.
Her father was a clear influence upon her own writing. Her brother, Roderic Dunkerley, was also an author (published under his own name), as was her sister Erica, who also used the 'Oxenham' name.
She grew up in Ealing, West London, where her family had moved when she was a baby, living there until 1922, when the family moved again, to Worthing. After the deaths of her parents, Oxenham lived with her sister Maida. She died in 1960.
Oxenham, whose interests included the Camp Fire movement, and English Folk Dance traditions, is primarily remembered as the creator of the 38-book 'Abbey Girls' series. In her lifetime she had 87 titles published, and another two have since been published by her niece, who discovered the manuscripts in the early 1990s.
She is considered a major figure among girls' school story writers of the first half of the 20th century -- one of the 'Big Three,' together with Elinor Brent-Dyer and Dorita Fairlie Bruce.
Her father was a clear influence upon her own writing. Her brother, Roderic Dunkerley, was also an author (published under his own name), as was her sister Erica, who also used the 'Oxenham' name.
She grew up in Ealing, West London, where her family had moved when she was a baby, living there until 1922, when the family moved again, to Worthing. After the deaths of her parents, Oxenham lived with her sister Maida. She died in 1960.
Oxenham, whose interests included the Camp Fire movement, and English Folk Dance traditions, is primarily remembered as the creator of the 38-book 'Abbey Girls' series. In her lifetime she had 87 titles published, and another two have since been published by her niece, who discovered the manuscripts in the early 1990s.
She is considered a major figure among girls' school story writers of the first half of the 20th century -- one of the 'Big Three,' together with Elinor Brent-Dyer and Dorita Fairlie Bruce.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 8, 2024
Quite snobby, I thought it would be written later in EJO's career than 1907! But really interesting view into potentially ordinary mindsets.
So odd to read a kids book where someone genuinely thinks cats are gross and bad and witchy, even if the cat is an adorable fluffy white kitten who everyone else loves.
Also, what is with her attempts at transcribing a highland accent? I kept reading it as Afrikaans or German! Has the accent changed that much? Were the unvoiced /v/ and /s/ really more salient than the vowels, or Scots words that characterise modern attempts at transcribing Scottish accents? Did Highland Scots differ that substantially than Lowland Scots (well, I know it did, but didn't think it was the consonants)
So odd to read a kids book where someone genuinely thinks cats are gross and bad and witchy, even if the cat is an adorable fluffy white kitten who everyone else loves.
Also, what is with her attempts at transcribing a highland accent? I kept reading it as Afrikaans or German! Has the accent changed that much? Were the unvoiced /v/ and /s/ really more salient than the vowels, or Scots words that characterise modern attempts at transcribing Scottish accents? Did Highland Scots differ that substantially than Lowland Scots (well, I know it did, but didn't think it was the consonants)
November 30, 2021
This is a rather odd adventure story with some added romance. When the Colquouns rent out their house for the summer, two of the children, Jack and Jill, swear a feud against the new occupants. But the story is supposedly told by Jean, one of those occupants, who wouldn't have known or understood everything as it was happening. Not entirely believable, but still enjoyable.
April 14, 2022
Well!!
This is very different from the Abbey Girls series. A family falls on hard times and rents out their home for the summer, moving themselves to a small cottage (sounds modern). But two of the children resent the renters, and spend their time playing increasingly nasty tricks.
On the one hand, it's more realistic and much less moralistic... the children have fun and don't worry about what's "done". But the children who are the main characters, while inventive, are basically sneaks and thieves.
This is very different from the Abbey Girls series. A family falls on hard times and rents out their home for the summer, moving themselves to a small cottage (sounds modern). But two of the children resent the renters, and spend their time playing increasingly nasty tricks.
On the one hand, it's more realistic and much less moralistic... the children have fun and don't worry about what's "done". But the children who are the main characters, while inventive, are basically sneaks and thieves.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews