The Key to Flambards

by Linda Newbery

Grace Russell, at fourteen, has already had to adjust to a devastating accident from which she’ll never recover. Now she and her newly single mother are leaving their suburban home for Flambards house, out in the Essex countryside. The house has a long history, and Grace’s mother is to work there for the summer – an exciting new opportunity. But, for Grace, everything feels wrong. She’s doesn’t want yet another change.

However, in spite of herself, she find herself becoming involved with two boys: Jamie, who leads her down a path of thrilling freedom, and the deeply troubled Marcus, who is dealing with his difficult, potentially violent father. Over time, Grace discovers her own links to the house and landscape she has just arrived in, and in turn, her own place in the world.

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Historical, Fiction

310 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2018

About the author

Linda Newbery's latest novel for adults is THE ONE TRUE THING. She has published widely for readers of all ages, and is a Costa Prize category winner with SET IN STONE, a young adult Victorian mystery. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with THE SHELL HOUSE and SISTERLAND.

With friends Adele Geras and Celia Rees, Linda hosts the literary blog WRITERS REVIEW, which features reviews, recommendations, interviews with authors and insights from booksellers.

Linda is an active campaigner on animal and environmental issues and has published a guide to compassionate living: THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE - ANIMALS AND US.

She lives in rural Oxfordshire.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't recommend reading this book unless you've already read K.M. Peyton's Flambards and its sequels. Firstly because this authorized continuation of sorts, set many generations later, spoils every plot point, and secondly because I'm not sure anyone who hasn't read the series would find Grace's preoccupation with her ancestors interesting. I myself have hardly given any thought at all to any of my own sixteen great great grandparents, but I dare say that would be different if one set of them had lived in a stately home where I was lucky enough to spend a summer as a teenager...Perhaps thoughtful introspective teenagers today are more likely to feel connected to distant forebears than was the case when I was young, because there are more likely to be photographs and other records?

On the other hand, if you have read the Flambards books, you will enjoy making the return visit under Linda Newbery's capable guidance. Ideally, the book is best enjoyed if you know someone who's also a Flambards fan so you can chew over Newbery's choices together. I find myself wondering if she shares most readers' dislike of Flambards Divided, and if that affected how she made Christina's story line play out. There's an afterword by K.M. Peyton (who is now in her 90s and still writing), but unfortunately she doesn't say what she made of it!

[Kathryn Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good coming-of-age-that-summer narrative somewhat lacking in narrative tension or drama, and fails to really utilise its main character to tie together the themes and plot threads that make up the novel.

I haven't read the Flambards series but I don't think it presents a problem in terms of understanding or caring about that history in terms of this book. Personally I looked up the Wikipedia summaries of the original series, and it helped keep the story of Christina and her several husbands clear as the family tree was referenced in this book.

The connection between new character Grace's story and her forebear's is tenuous. It's never quite clear why she feels such a connection to Christina and is so fascinated by the history. Nor does it occupy her quite enough to become any kind of through-line. Grace simply has a few things that she thinks about a lot - her ancestors, her new disability, her new relationships, and the future. but rarely do these threads actually weave together to form any kind of wider story.

It was nice to read that rare thing, a disabled narrative, and I thought Newbery handled the arc well without it feeling like patronising moralising. Grace's learning to find freedom and an outdoorsiness she can enjoy was the clearest and most successful arc. But even there, there were frustrations. It read less like an arc, with individual events making an impact, and more like a continuing litany of self-doubt and longing until the end where she suddenly feels differently.

There was no real tension. That is, there were various jeopardies established (will Flambards start paying for itself and survive intact; how will Grace reconcile her love of Flambards with the need to go back to London; how can she carry on riding away from the place).

And it's not just that the way in which these resolve and solve each other is perfectly obvious from the start; surprise in narrative is very overrated. It's that there's very little tension built into these plot point and they are eventually resolved both without drama and without Grace having much agency in them. Grace's internal conflicts don't really interact with the external conflicts at all.

I sense that Newbery was intentionally subverting expectations (ones set up both by the original Flambards book/s and more generally this kind of story) by having Grace befriend two eligible male locals, neither of whom turn out to be a suitor. It's always nice to have a story about a teenage girl where romance isn't an end goal or even a real plot-thread.

But the boys' relationships with Grace feel all subversion and no real meat of their own. The friendships are meant to be quite significant, a big part of what makes this summer and place so important and life-changing, but the feel severely undercooked.

In addition, the decision not to end either relationship thread with romance leaves some uncomfortable ideas hanging about unresolved: through the novel Grace toys with the idea of fancying or being fancied by at least one of the boys only for it to drag up some serious self-image issues for her. The resolution of the story-line/s never actually does anything to address that idea.

Ultimately the novel feels more like just a bunch of stuff that happened (and none of it terribly inherently interesting) rather than a coherent and cohesive story. The pieces here are all solid and could have been reshuffled into a much more satisfying narrative (e.g. wouldn't Grace be more interested in Will than Christina, with whom she shares the disability that preoccupies her, and wouldn't that make more sense of the novel's epilogue including a visit to his war grave?) but this just meanders along, and does it for a little too long.

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a lot of time for the work of Linda Newbery, and KM Peyton is something of a legend for me, and so the thought of them coming together on this project was something special. The Key To Flambards is 'Flambards in the present day'; a novel written by Linda Newbery which ties intimately into the remarkable original books by KM Peyton. I have always enjoyed both writers intensely. Newbery has this gift of strangeness to her work, the everyday made unusual, and nobody can write love quite like KM Peyton. Messy, truthful, painful, perfect love. Newbery working with Peyton's themes and world should have been perfect.

I wonder if that 'should have' has given away where I am going with this review. I suspect it has, but let's carry on for a moment here. Return To Flambards is a sequel, of sorts, to an iconic series. And sequels are hard. They are also incredibly prevelent in contemporary children's literature; I could name a dozen or more titles in the recent years that have attempted to respin a classic into the contemporary world and remake it for today's readers. It's a hard thing to do and sometimes, I think, more indicative of an adults need to shape and make children's stories than ever thinking about what children may like, want or need. One of the few titles that worked, I think, was the powerful Five Children On The Western Front by Kate Saunders, and it worked because Saunders was not afraid of her text. I think sometimes that loving a story can make you afraid of it. It might not be a conscious fear, or even one that keeps you awake at night, but it is still a fear and it is still there. You do not want to touch that which you love. You do not wish to break the spell. You do not wish to challenge the beauty of something held so intimately inside yourself.

And so, sequels - reimaginings - continuations - whatever to call them, do they work? Sometimes, yes, but I think you must be fearless with them. You must try to respond, to echo, but not to continue. You must try to write something that feels - so perfectly - of that which you love, but that could stand without it. An in-joke, perhaps, that still works for people who don't pick up on the nuance. And as much I wanted it to, I do do not think that The Key To Flambards quite does it. There is the kernel of something potent here but there is also a lot of heavy lifting - and the first few chapters are hard, hard work. There is the threads of something magical but also a lot of laboured exposition. It is well done stuff, well told and well structured, but it's just a little - flat. A little too neat. A little too straightforward. And if the world of Flambards was anything, it was not that.

It's important to recognise that even though it takes a while to get there, The Key To Flambards is written well; beautifully at points, and there is a definite power at the heart of this book. Newbery shines when writing of the natural world, and she finds magic so easily in this space. The problem comes in the turn away from this, and the look towards one of the central themes in the book: family history. It's at this point that the story becomes less about metaphorically finding yourself in the world and adopts a baldly literal tone. Grace - our protagonist - is suffering a crisis of identity. Learning about her family connections will help resolve that. And it does, but it does so at the expense of all of Newbery's immense skill and all that Flambards kind of is - was - forever will be. Family history is important. I'm not sure it makes for a good book. It is an odd, bald step.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with the blessing of K M Peyton - who wrote the original Flambards series - this is truly in the right authorial voice and a thoroughly enjoyable read - it made me nostalgic for all the original novels and I may just have to go and reread all of them now!

Although I found it nostalgic today's readers can happily tackle this as a standalone novel as it is complete in itself and requires no prior knowledge about the earlier books.

[Mary-Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed seeing how Linda Newbery picked up the threads of Flambards and brought them to the present day. A bold choice, seeing as the original quartet were so loved by so many! It's nicely worked in, and the hook of the 100 year anniversary of WWI was a good way to bring the original characters back into the story in a way that made sense. I wasn't wild about Mark's storyline, that's my main negative, but I can see what Newbery was thinking.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

giving this five stars because it was such a lovely trip back to Flambards; so much so that I cannot be certain if those new to Flambards will like it....or if they will find all the references to the past characters to be pointless to the story at hand. But I enjoyed it lots!

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me of the books Jem and I would share when she was younger, and I adored the Flambards books when I was a teenager. But Mark, why do that to him 😪

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off promising, but went downhill as the story went on. I found myself losing interest as the story dragged on, with not much happening and no change of scenery.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this continuation of the Flambards series, written by Linda Newberry with the permission of KM Peyton. It's set in the present time, and follows Grace as she both comes to terms with the result of an accident and discovers her Flambards ancestors and their history.

[Debbie Gascoyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a curious kind of double-narrative here: one layer is the story of Grace, who is coping with a physical challenge after a horrible accident, whose mother gets a job as a publicist at at country estate. Encounters with two families who live at the estate and a growing love of the countryside help Grace learn to accept the new reality of her life and move on. With well-developed characters, believable relationships, and the author's skill at conjuring up the pleasures of the countryside, this would be a satisfying middle-grade novel on its own.

Then we add the fact that the country estate is "Flambards" - the setting of K.M. Peyton's well-known and highly regarded series - and that Grace herself and indeed all the principle characters are descended from the characters in those novels. This layer of the novel would be meaningless to anyone not familiar with Peyton's books, but adds a great deal of enjoyment for anyone who is. Written with the blessing of Peyton, this is at once an homage to and a continuation of the story. We learn the fates of all the principle characters (resolving what was for me an extremely ambiguous ending of the fourth novel in the series). One aspect that I liked, and one place where Newbery provides a little resistance to a plot point in the series, is that she puts the relationship between Will and Christina back into the centre; I always found the Mark/Christina relationship that develops at the end of the series to be a bit unbelievable. Otherwise, Newbery is perhaps a little too respectful of her source text; I think that some of the class and gender portrayals that were very much of their time could have been shaken up rather more than they are here.

I loved the originals (although they were not my favourite of Peyton's books - I adored the Pennington series), and was not disappointed or let down by anything here. I liked the notion of bringing the family up-to-date, of finding out what happened next. Newbery writes well and captures something of the spirit of the originals. I don't think it would work for anyone not familiar with the original series, though, which does make it something that might appeal only to a certain audience. Even the TV series based on the novels must be quite dated now. So, overall, a slightly mixed review. Because I fall into the correct demographic, I enjoyed it for its own merits and as a continuation of the original, but I wonder what appeal it would have for a wider audience.

[Ruth Saberton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just finished this book and I loved it so much that I'm going to read it again. It was a wonderful return to the landscape of my childhood and, like Grace in the story, I now see Christina, Mark and Will as they were. The modern storyline was woven through familiar yet unfamiliar territory with a lightness of tough and sympathy for the original. Wonderful.

[L.M. Clancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit like hearing a cover version of a classic song - this just reminded me how good the original novels were. Disappointed that the hunting, which was such a central & well-written factor in the original books, was treated so dismissively.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Cross-posted from Nightjar's Jar of Books.]

Still reeling from her parents' divorce, and the accident that lost her her leg, Grace Russell heads to Flambards house with an uncertain future, just as her ancestor Christina did a hundred years before. But waiting for her at Flambards are two potential new friends – cheerful Jamie and troubled Marcus – and a whole family history just waiting to be discovered.

K.M. Peyton's Flambards series, published in the 60s (apart from a controversial fourth book that came out in 1981), followed a young girl called Christina who's summoned to live with her grouchy uncle, who cares about horses and hunting, and not at all about his new ward's wellbeing. While she's there, however, she befriends the younger of her two cousins, Will, and the stablehand Dick, and comes to love the decrepit old house and its equine inhabitants. The series is set in the early 1900s, and as it goes on, the shadow of World War I begins to loom, but the main focus is always on Christina as she grows up, and learns to navigate life, and love, and the world.

I would not recommend The Key to Flambards to anyone who hasn't already read the main series. It's not a sequel, exactly, and its story stands very well on its own, but much of Grace's (our new heroine) inner monologue is taken up by wondering about Christina's life, and many of the conversations that she has with side characters (particularly the adult ones) are about the history of Flambards and its inhabitants… all of which would probably be fairly tedious to a reader who isn't already emotionally invested.

Beyond that, I found it to be a fun read, though lacking in narrative tension. The story centres on, at various times: Grace re-learning how to love the outdoors through horse riding; her concerns about returning to school; Marcus' troubled relationship with his father; and the struggle to get enough funding for Flambards – now an artists' retreat, of sorts – to stay open, and not be sold to make room for housing developments. And although none of these storylines take any particularly surprising or dramatic turns (except for Marcus' story, in places), they all wrap up very satisfyingly. Grace made for an interesting protagonist – struggling (understandably so), but resilient – and her relationships with both Marcus and Jamie (and even the bossy Charlie) developed naturally, and were both very sweet.

Overall: Nostalgia was obviously a huge factor in my enjoyment of this book, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else who grew up with Flambards (the books or the TV series). To everyone else, I recommend Flambards. With great insistence.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of the original Flambards trilogy, I enjoyed this modern-day sequel. The protagonist gets to go live at Flambards and ride a horse called Plum (a reincarnation of Strawberry)! What could be better?

The novel takes place in the present day—Grace is a great-great-granddaughter of Christina. Everything’s a bit calmer (tamed down) compared to the original stories, and that might disappoint some people. But such is life in the 21st century, after all. Like Grace, I’ve often felt the old days were more "epic" than modern life, at least in some ways. That feeling of awe and admiration for one's ancestors, looking at old sepia photographs and wondering “What was it like to be them?” is captured beautifully in this book.

The style is rather classic, and I enjoyed that. I appreciate a snarky “middle grade voice” as much as the next person, but here I just relaxed and enjoyed old-fashioned, well-crafted writing. For example, I relished this description of a horse: “As the horse came nearer, up the brow of the slope, she briefly saw the mass of its chest, its legs reaching forward as if to eat up the ground, eyes eager and nostrils flared.”

I suppose my one criticism is that Grace is a bit passive. It’s realistic that a 14-year-old does not end up saving the day, I suppose, but fiction is more fun when the hero or heroine is wrestling with momentous decisions. In the original Flambards, Christina makes choices (to try to save Strawberry, for example) that have real consequences and affect the course of events for everyone.* I wished Grace’s decisions were more pivotal to the plot, but mostly I just relaxed into this book on my beach vacation and really ended up loving it.

*It’s true that Christina is rather passive in The Edge of the Cloud, but there her inaction is kind of the point – the whole book is built around the question of “What is it like to be in love with someone more assertive than you, who pulls you out of your comfort zone and out of your own loves, life and interests and into theirs?”

[Morag · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed the Flambards trilogy (I loved those books) and/or the Yorkshire Television series then I think you will really like this book. It was written with permission and approval from KM Peyton (author of the originals and friend of Linda Newbery). KMP herself had written a follow-up to the trilogy after the TV series - the actors were sure that another series would be commissioned but unfortunately it wasn't!
The original stories were set before and during the First World War whereas The Key to Flambards is set in 2018 (100th anniversary of the end of WW1). The great-great-granddaughter of Christina (heroine of the original trilogy) - Grace Russell, aged thirteen - arrives at Flambards with her mother. The house is now owned by a trust and is under threat of being turned into flats and the extensive and beautiful grounds covered with expensive houses. Grace's mother is employed for the summer to bring her marketing experience to the challenge of finding a new use for Flambards in order to preserve it and inject new life into it.
Many different themes are explored and I found an article about the book which explains it all much better than I can. I include a link below.
I thought the book really preserved the spirit of the originals and loved all the links to memories of the past. LN drew parallels between the two eras and brought the past to life. Characters were well drawn with attention to detail - even the minor characters lived on the page.
I know it's only the 14th of January but this is definitely the best book I've read this year so far!!
(You would not need to have read the originals to enjoy this book but it would bring everything to life so much more)

https://www.lindanewbery.co.uk/the-ke....

[Johanna ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace is a 14 yo girl who is trying to figure out life after an accident leaves her without a leg. Her and her mom go and stay at Flambards, the home of their ancestors, where Grace's mom must up the publicity or they will be forced to sell off property which will ruin the natural habitat. This is Grace's journey to find friends, adventure and ultimately home.
This is the first contemporary that I have read in a while and it was OK. I had seen based on other people's reviews that it's better to read Flambards by K.M Peyton before reading this book but, as libraries are closed due to Covid-19 and I didn't want to have to order the series I decided just to go ahead and read it. Grace's ancestors play a big role in this book and I found out after some research that the ancestors she kept talking about were the characters from Peyton's Flambards. One thing that I disliked was that we find out Marcus is gay right at the end, I felt that it was rushed and didn't fit well with the ending. I would have liked it more if he and Grace had ended up together. Overall a pretty good, light read. Thanks to Linda Newberry and K.M Peyton!

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Linda Newbery and the original Flambards series by K.M Peyton and was delighted to stumble across this.

Even though K.M Peyton had given Newbery her blessing to write this book, I was dubious about how it was going to work. Thankfully, I have recently re-read the orginal Flambards quartet and that certainly helped me to enjoy this book.

In this book we meet 14 year old Grace who is staying at Flambards for the summer while her mum is doing a temporary job. Grace has recently been through a difficult time as her parents have recently divorced and she was involved in an accident. Throughout the book she discovers a lot about Flambards and her ancestors and also works through her own problems.

Well, I absolutely loved this book. It was exactly what I needed right now. I thought Newbery did a great job in telling us what happened to the original characters in Flambards as well as writing about the current time including issues such as Brexit, the environment and mental and physical health. It made me laugh, cry and gave me hope which I think we all need at the moment.

A lovely book which I raced through. Newbery has done a great job writing a sequel which rings true and covers many relevant topics to today. Definitely read the Flambards Quartet first for maximum enjoyment.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Key To Flambards by Linda Newbery is a wonderful contemporary tale following on from K.M. Peyton’s fabulous Flambards series.
This book brings us bang up to date as it is set one hundred years after the original books. In this tale we meet the direct descendants of Christina Russell and we return to the original setting. “Decisions made by Christina nearly a hundred years ago had led to them all sitting here now.” Little has changed in the surrounding area.
Flambards is once more a place of scars and healing. Previously there were scars from hunting accidents and World War I. Today there are scars from a car accident and serving in Afghanistan. There are visible scars and there are those hidden deep within.
Discovering old artefacts enables the modern characters to get to know those who lived and loved in the past at Flambards.
Horses still feature in the life of Flambards. Horses bring freedom from the constraints of daily life.
The Key To Flambards is every bit as charming as the original novels. I absolutely loved it. The memories came alive as life continued to be lived at Flambards.
For anyone who has read the original books, you really need to read The Key To Flambards too. It is wonderful.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young people today are lucky to have books like this to read.

I'm ambivalent about the original Flambards books, which I don't think survived my purge a few years ago. But I still manage to remember them with fondness, particularly The Edge of the Cloud - just enough recollection that the Flambards backstory elements of this new story were delightful.

But it's an excellent story in its own right, with a good sense of place and beautifully drawn characters. I felt especially close to Grace. As someone who has also has life-changing surgery, I recognised her feelings all the way through; and when Marcus told her she was brave, her astonishment was entirely appropriate - and she said exactly what I say! I've "met" many literary heroines over the years, but few have felt such a kindred spirit.

Recommended for those who like the Flambards books, and also those who have never heard of them but want to catch up with the best of modern children's literature.

[Lucia Glez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was, to put it honestly, a complete disappointment. The writing style was good, but I found the characters rather irritating, and did not like what the author did with the plot. I believe that when you write a book based on another book series, it's better if you approach it from a non biased point of view, but it was clear that the author hated Mark, doesn't have strong feelings about Dick and loves Will. And there was one plot point that made very little sense, which is that Tom (Tizzy) gets adopted by Dick, when in Flambards Divided it states "Tom, his (Dick's) adopted son was growing so painfully like his father
that Dick could no longer find joy in his company, although he knew his feelings were unfair to the child." Tom also was Christina's adopted son and Mark's biological one, and he loved his parents, so the likelihood of that happening was very very low. This whole book just annoyed me, but it was very nostalgic anyway.

[Sarah the reading addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. It's a very easy read and I love these kinds of books.

Once I knew Flambards was in trouble financially I was hoping on the turn of every page that the trustees for help it stay open for a bit longer so Graces mum could help Roger come up with more ideas to get more money in.

The strength of Grace having lost her leg at such a young age is brilliant and how she connects with the history of her family is brilliant.

I absolutely loved the ending it was the best ending for Grace, Marcus, Graces mum, Sally and Adrian, Roger and Flambards.

The relationships and friendships between all the characters. This book also hits some pretty tough issues with Grace and Adrian and family breakdowns. It's packed full of history and has made me what to find out more about my family history.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good historical fiction book which was quite touching at times and there were lots of different interesting characters. I liked how there was the mystery of the past and with Marcus' dad. However, although I know Grace had been through a lot (and I'm not trying to be rude) she just seemed a bit odd and strange and more like a 9yr old than a 14yr. This was completely 8+ but sometimes it went a bit dark lol so (11+).

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is enjoyable enough, although a little predictable. All the conflicts/issues are resolved fairly easily without much actual input from Grace (the main character) but I found the meandering storyline kind of relaxing. I especially enjoyed the parts where Grace was discovering the local wildlife l - I would love to see otters in the wild! This is apparently a continuation of an older series that I've never heard of but it works perfectly well as a standalone. 3.5 stars rounded up.

[Kyra Fernsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! This book touched me in a way that only one other book ever has. I'm in love with it and will definitely be re-reading and reminiscing on this for many years. Lots of diversity in the characters too! A wonderful story that also highlights many different issues in life too

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Story of a young girl and her mother as the return to they ansestral home home following huge changes and upheaval in their life. I had not heard of the flambards stories however I found this place enchanting and their history tragic and compelling.

[Infamous Sphere · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pleasant enough book, but as someone who'd never read the original Flambards series or even heard of it before I picked this up, I think I was missing something. This is a sequel of a sequel of a sequel of a sequel!

[Dodau]

I'm a big fan of the original Flambards books and tv series so when I saw this i was chuffed. This however and if Christina, Will and Mark were not referenced often there would be little link to the original story.

[J.F. Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pleasant addition to the original series by K.M. Peyton. Not sure how much of it would have worked if I hadn't read the first four books but this made me want to revisit them - and indeed Flambards itself!

[Anne Cotton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be lighter and more fun, but it is quite heavy and dark. However I did enjoy it and it is true to the original Flambards in many ways. I loved hearing what had become of the characters and their descendants.

[SHERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done. An intereting blending of modern Flambards with the past.