No Friend of Mine

by Ann Turnbull

Lennie's family lives in a poor English mining town in 1937, and when he and the son of the wealthy mine owner become friends, Lennie's feelings of camaraderie are complicated by class conflicts and envy

Genres: Historical Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 1995

About the author

Ann Turnbull is an English author of numerous books for young readers, including No Shame, No Fear and Forged in the Fire. She was born in Hertford, was brought up in southeast London, and now lives in Shropshire, England.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The same characters and family from Pigeon Summer return for the book 'No Friend of Mine', ten years further on from their introduction in 'Pidgeon Summer'. It is now the turn of Lennie, the only boy in the family, to grow up and finally understand his place within a working class background. Lennie like Mary is about to take on more adult responsibilities. He is a shy, retiring boy who is easily bullied because of his interest in art and his apparent 'delicate' health.

Lennie is a loner and when he meets Ralph he is at first hesitant. However, they slowly become friends, even if Lennie is suspicious about some of Ralph's behaviours. When he learns and encounters Ralph's family he gets more nervous, particularly with how everyone he knows will react. It is worse than all of his expectations; Ralph is Upper Class. The class division does not seem to touch Ralph at first but Lennie quickly learns how it impacts on his life, especially materially.

When money is introduced, it quickly becomes a wedge between the two boys. There is a confrontation and Lennie is left bitter and disappointed with Ralph. He comes to understand how different their lives are and that sometimes you can only depend on yourself. However, the disappointment helps Lennie to stand up for himself with regards to the bullies in his life. It allows him to develop confidence in himself and to broaden his horizons beyond what he has grown up with.

This book is very similar to the previous book 'Pigeon Summer'. The bullying sequences are graphic and affecting. However, I found it more difficult to relate to Lennie's story, particularly with regards to his relationship with his family. It is still a good coming of age story within a historical setting. I just found Lennie himself lacking in comparison to Mary.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was quite a good novel aimed at children. It touched on the class system, the union movement, pre-WW2, honesty, betrayal, friendship and bullying.