The Two Faces of Silenus

by Pauline Clarke

When the figure in the fountain comes alive, magical things happen to a brother and sister visiting Italy.

160 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Also wrote under Helen Clare, for younger children and for adults under her married name Pauline Hunter Blair.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A professor attending a conference in Italy brings his family on vacation. While he and his wife attend lectures, his children Rufus and Drusilla explore the nearby woods. They meet a younger Italian boy, Luigi, who shows them the wishing fountain with the face of Silenus. Their joint wishes inadvertently awaken Silenus and begin a series of adventures.



This face isn't quite right, because the one in the story is described as looking both happy and sad, but I can't find a better just now. The sights in the book are described rather than named, and my attempts to search them on the internet turned up matches that were in different places. Probably to someone familiar with Italian sculpture it would be obvious which fountain was meant.

I picked this up because I wanted to try something else by Pauline Clarke, having enjoyed the book for which she is probably best known, The Return of the Twelves. That is written for a slightly younger audience than this one, which I would estimate was aimed at early teens or slightly younger (the two main characters are around fourteen). Clarke wrote a considerable number of books, including ones for smaller children (under the name Helen Clare) and for adults under the name Pauline Hunter Blair.

Overall I quite enjoyed this book. I thought the final sequence in which the characters are attacked by evil shadows and turned into animals seemed too overtly fantastical and not in keeping with the more gently mythopoetic tone of the rest of the story, but other than that it was a pleasant read.