Richard and the Golden Horse Shoe

Stormy Petrel #6

by Violet Needham, Joyce Bruce (Illustrator), Richard H.A. Cheffins (Introduction)

"For the past fifteen years thousands of readers have thrilled to the adventures of the Stormy Petrel, of Count Jasper and his troop of Black Riders, of Far Away Moses and of the young and lively Anastasia, Duchess of Ornowitza. Many have wondered what, later events befell these splendid characters and it is for this reason that Violet Needham has written Richard and the Golden Horse Shoe, This story tells of equally thrilling adventures, of plot and counterplot within the Empire, of sudden and hasty journeys, of pursuits and of escapes. A rebel party is planning to supplant Anastasia by the young Count Tancred Feradio. In this they are opposed not only by the Stormy Petrel himself but by young Richard, son of the Count Jasper who was once the Stormy Petrel's sworn enemy. The story of the adventures Richard encounters while bringing a message, vital to the safety of the Empire, through the lines of the enemy, makes inspired reading."

Genres: Childrens

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Author of 19 books for children published between 1939 and 1957. Although she came to writing late — she was 63 when her first book, The Black Riders, was published — her books achieved immediate and lasting popularity with young reader

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a patch on The Black Riders or The Emerald Crown, but I'm a completist.

[Christine Ottaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the Stormy Petrel series. It concerns a conspiracy to overthrow the Duchess of Ornowitza, Anastasia and replace her with her hapless cousin, Tancred. This conspiracy is driven by the wicked ex-Chancellor of the Duchy who had already tried this revolution in the The House of the Paladin.
The book starts with a series of devastating news, not just for the characters in the novel, but also for us the readers and fans of the series. Dick, the Stormy Petrel is dead, Count Jasper is injured and unable to walk again and the now Empress Judith has just lost a baby. Of course all is not as it seems and a convoluted tale in and out of The Empire, Flavonia and Ornowitza ensues with our key characters chasing around the countryside trying to stop this dastardly plot.
Given that all the Stormy Petrel series is unrealistic in that they concern times and places long since forgotten, this tale stretches credulity even more than usual and does not readily stand up to close inspection of the finer details of the plot.
However it's strong point is that all our favourite characters and locations from previous stories are present, with the notable exception of Far Away Moses, though many like Dick, the Emperor Carol and Empress Judith are now grown up but the story introduces two new characters, Richard and Carola, the children of Count Jasper and Wych Hazel. Indeed it is Richard who is the eponymous hero of the tale.
Unfortunately Violet Needham was becoming too old by the time of writing this book to develop further novels involving these newer characters and her final two books in the series were far less satisfactory with only brief appearances of our favourite characters.