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Saplings
The four Wiltshire children live a comfortable middle-class English life. But as WWII overtakes the country, the family, like so many others, slowly disintegrates. Told partly from the perspective of the children, but not a children's book, Saplings is immensely readable . . . a dark inversion of the author’s best-known book, the children’s classic Ballet Shoes.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
48 people are currently reading
1561 people want to read
About the author
Noel Streatfeild
161 books612 followersMary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children's books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes. She also wrote romances under the pseudonym
Susan Scarlett
.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple. Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William ('Bill'), Joyce (who died of TB prior to her second birthday) and Richenda. Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies' College in 1910. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater.
During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth. When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal. At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art (later Royal Academy) in London.
In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931. In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN. Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid-1936. In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.
According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts. Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936. At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day. The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self-reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming (also known as Circus Shoes). She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book. In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war-related work from 1940-1945. During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories. On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb. Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden. In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children's books. Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963. She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett." Her children's books number at least 58 titles. From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home. In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
January 10, 2015
Downer! That's not exactly a criticism, but man, if you're used to Streatfeild's kid lit about children learning arts and overcoming personal and economic challenges you will not be expecting this grim account of a family collapsing under the pressures and changes of the second world war. This is one of those books where all the characters are hateful or at best weak or indifferent or selfish and do nothing to help as these kids' lives get worse and worse until they are irretrievably fucked up. Also, sex and alcoholism and mental illness! Don't read this when you're sick in bed and can't find your copy of Ballet Shoes and expect it to soothe you.
June 8, 2021
In this sensitively written novel, Noel Streatfeild ostensibly explores the impact of World War II on an upper-middle-class London family. Really, though, it’s a consideration of the experience of four children who must cope after their beloved, steady father, Alex, is killed by a bomb during the Blitz. The Wiltshire kids are left in the care—if you can call it that—of their pretty and narcissistic mother, Lena, . Not surprisingly, there’s considerable fallout. Lena is oblivious of her children’s needs and struggles; she’s too preoccupied with her own. Alex’s parents and four sisters step in to fill the gaps. The latter divide up care for the children over their summer holidays from boarding school when Lena spirals out of control and later when she marries an unlikeable, domineering man.
A longer novel, Saplings, with its well-drawn child characters and insightful treatment of wartime upheaval and parental loss, held my interest throughout. However, the final quarter of the novel loses focus as the family breaks apart, and the book’s conclusion struck me as abrupt. Interestingly, aside from the children’s former governess, Ruth Glover, and their nanny, the men are far more sympathetically drawn and more attuned to the children’s needs than the women. Alex’s sister, Lyndsey, a novelist, is a particularly unpleasant creation. In the end, although it’s an imperfectly realized novel, it is mostly an interesting and absorbing one.
A longer novel, Saplings, with its well-drawn child characters and insightful treatment of wartime upheaval and parental loss, held my interest throughout. However, the final quarter of the novel loses focus as the family breaks apart, and the book’s conclusion struck me as abrupt. Interestingly, aside from the children’s former governess, Ruth Glover, and their nanny, the men are far more sympathetically drawn and more attuned to the children’s needs than the women. Alex’s sister, Lyndsey, a novelist, is a particularly unpleasant creation. In the end, although it’s an imperfectly realized novel, it is mostly an interesting and absorbing one.
August 3, 2021
The story line was fairly simple. It chronicled about 4 years in the life of a well-to-do British family in London shortly before and during WWII.
A Dr. Jeremy Holmes wrote the Afterword – I learned on Wikipedia he is a British psychiatrist who is an expert on attachment theory (John Bowlby, famous child psychologist). I can’t say I learned a whole lot from the Afterword. Maybe I was just tired…this novel was rather long, a 361 pager.
The novel started out and through at least the middle was written very well in my opinion. I wanted to keep on reading to learn what happened to different members of the family. But then I would say in the last third of the book it seemed to flounder. Different aunts of the children were brought into the story line and they each took care of a different child and they each had different ways of taking care of them. Some aunts were nice and at least one was not nice. It was hard for me to keep track of them but maybe by then I was a bit burned out just from the length of the novel and things were not going anywhere other than a downward trajectory.
This was a Persephone Books re-issue (2000) of the original published in 1945. To me, the book initially was at least 3.5 to 4 stars and then it settled down to an OK read, and “I’m glad I read”, but I can’t rhapsodize about it.
I can’t remember why I got this novel. It must have been recommended to me perhaps after I read another Persephone Book re-issue, Molly Panter-Downes’s book. ‘Good Evening, Mrs. Craven’.
Reviews
• Very well written review…not sure you should read it if you want to read this novel because it gives a fair amount away, but I will say she loved the book: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
• https://thecaptivereader.com/2011/10/...
• https://agoodstoppingpoint.wordpress....
• http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/2009/08...
A Dr. Jeremy Holmes wrote the Afterword – I learned on Wikipedia he is a British psychiatrist who is an expert on attachment theory (John Bowlby, famous child psychologist). I can’t say I learned a whole lot from the Afterword. Maybe I was just tired…this novel was rather long, a 361 pager.
The novel started out and through at least the middle was written very well in my opinion. I wanted to keep on reading to learn what happened to different members of the family. But then I would say in the last third of the book it seemed to flounder. Different aunts of the children were brought into the story line and they each took care of a different child and they each had different ways of taking care of them. Some aunts were nice and at least one was not nice. It was hard for me to keep track of them but maybe by then I was a bit burned out just from the length of the novel and things were not going anywhere other than a downward trajectory.
This was a Persephone Books re-issue (2000) of the original published in 1945. To me, the book initially was at least 3.5 to 4 stars and then it settled down to an OK read, and “I’m glad I read”, but I can’t rhapsodize about it.
I can’t remember why I got this novel. It must have been recommended to me perhaps after I read another Persephone Book re-issue, Molly Panter-Downes’s book. ‘Good Evening, Mrs. Craven’.
Reviews
• Very well written review…not sure you should read it if you want to read this novel because it gives a fair amount away, but I will say she loved the book: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
• https://thecaptivereader.com/2011/10/...
• https://agoodstoppingpoint.wordpress....
• http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/2009/08...
October 16, 2018
The realistic portrayal of a family torn apart by war. Heartbreaking.
December 4, 2013
Like many of us, I grew up secretly wishing I could be a member of the Fossil family from Noel Streatfeild's children's book 'Ballet Shoes'. This book was cherished throughout my childhood and is still loved today. Over the years I began to collect her other children's book, but I was quite surprised to discover last year that Noel Streatfeild had also written books for adults. So it was an easy decision for me to pick Saplings as my Persephone choice.
Saplings is a much darker tale then any of the children's books written by Streatfeild, but ultimately it deals with children. The story revolves around a happy, middle class family who are shown in the opening pages to be enjoying a family holiday at the seaside. The children are carefree and enjoying the holiday in the hope that it will last forever. The war is still just a rumour and they have no need to fear the future. However their father Alex, who is very much a family man, is more aware than others that their lives will change, so he goes to great lengths to make their holiday together one to remember.
As the story progresses, World War 2 commences and you are given a clear insight into how the war alters the family. Each and every person, from the young to the old are ravaged by the effects of war and you cannot help but want to comfort them all.
The main theme of this book is the effects of the war on the children. The last line of the book could not be more ironic, as the house help Mrs Oliver announces 'We got a lot to be thankful for in this country. Our kids 'aven't suffered 'o-ever else 'as' This could not be further from the truth, as you witness the downward spiral of devastation on each child within the book as war rips apart the close knit family.
I felt such grief for the children in the story. Each turning in a different direction, which took them further away from their mother. Those maternal ties, stretching and snapping the further they grew apart. Laurel, once a loving thoughtful child, now disagreeable and bringing shame on the family by being expelled from school. Tony, an inquisitive child, who turns into a 'surly, unco-operative boy.' Tuesday, such a delicate child to begin with, left in a world of imaginary friends, unable to communicate with the real people in her life. Kim was the only one I found to not have really changed. He had always been self centred, the war just increased this behaviour.
Their mother Lena, was not a loving mother to begin with; after the death of her husband, she lost her ability to cope and the children were separated and sent to live with different relatives. I couldn't feel angry by her behaviour, her abandoning the children, as I could not imagine how her devastating circumstances would affect me if I had experienced the same. You imagine that you would be strong for children, but you really could not determine your actions.
You witness all the adults within the family trying to help. Uncles and aunts and close household staff, trying to do what is best, but all failing the children dismally, unable to grasp the effects the separations and change of routines would have on them. They are too wrapped up with their own lives dramatically changing to see how the children are coping.
I felt that this book should be included in secondary school curriculums. The children of today would realise how lucky they are, if they could see the devastation that World War 2 caused to children just like themselves. Children being sent to live with complete strangers, never knowing whether they would see their parents again. Waiting for a telegram to tell them that their parents have died.
This book is so beautifully written; you believe so highly in the children, your motherly instincts kick in and you want to take them home and wrap them in cotton wool to preserve them from any more damage.
I adored this book. I adored the children in it, (even though they broke my heart) and I know it has only increased my love for Noel Streatfeild's books. This woman not only wrote for children, but she understood them.
Saplings is a much darker tale then any of the children's books written by Streatfeild, but ultimately it deals with children. The story revolves around a happy, middle class family who are shown in the opening pages to be enjoying a family holiday at the seaside. The children are carefree and enjoying the holiday in the hope that it will last forever. The war is still just a rumour and they have no need to fear the future. However their father Alex, who is very much a family man, is more aware than others that their lives will change, so he goes to great lengths to make their holiday together one to remember.
As the story progresses, World War 2 commences and you are given a clear insight into how the war alters the family. Each and every person, from the young to the old are ravaged by the effects of war and you cannot help but want to comfort them all.
The main theme of this book is the effects of the war on the children. The last line of the book could not be more ironic, as the house help Mrs Oliver announces 'We got a lot to be thankful for in this country. Our kids 'aven't suffered 'o-ever else 'as' This could not be further from the truth, as you witness the downward spiral of devastation on each child within the book as war rips apart the close knit family.
I felt such grief for the children in the story. Each turning in a different direction, which took them further away from their mother. Those maternal ties, stretching and snapping the further they grew apart. Laurel, once a loving thoughtful child, now disagreeable and bringing shame on the family by being expelled from school. Tony, an inquisitive child, who turns into a 'surly, unco-operative boy.' Tuesday, such a delicate child to begin with, left in a world of imaginary friends, unable to communicate with the real people in her life. Kim was the only one I found to not have really changed. He had always been self centred, the war just increased this behaviour.
Their mother Lena, was not a loving mother to begin with; after the death of her husband, she lost her ability to cope and the children were separated and sent to live with different relatives. I couldn't feel angry by her behaviour, her abandoning the children, as I could not imagine how her devastating circumstances would affect me if I had experienced the same. You imagine that you would be strong for children, but you really could not determine your actions.
You witness all the adults within the family trying to help. Uncles and aunts and close household staff, trying to do what is best, but all failing the children dismally, unable to grasp the effects the separations and change of routines would have on them. They are too wrapped up with their own lives dramatically changing to see how the children are coping.
I felt that this book should be included in secondary school curriculums. The children of today would realise how lucky they are, if they could see the devastation that World War 2 caused to children just like themselves. Children being sent to live with complete strangers, never knowing whether they would see their parents again. Waiting for a telegram to tell them that their parents have died.
This book is so beautifully written; you believe so highly in the children, your motherly instincts kick in and you want to take them home and wrap them in cotton wool to preserve them from any more damage.
I adored this book. I adored the children in it, (even though they broke my heart) and I know it has only increased my love for Noel Streatfeild's books. This woman not only wrote for children, but she understood them.
August 19, 2012
Unlike most people reviewing this I have never read any of Noel Streatfeild's children's books. I was drawn to the book because the other two Persephone Classics I have read have both been wonderful, and I am pleased to say this did not disappoint at all either. The book charts the effect of WWII on the Wiltshire family, which, when we first meet it on a summer holiday in Eastbourne, consists of four happy children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) with a caring and wise industrialist father (Alex), a charming and beautiful but narcissistic mother (Lena), ably assisted by an loving old nanny, and a perceptive young governess (Miss Glover). The outbreak of war breaks up the family as the children are first sent to stay with Alex's parents, and then later to boarding schools. Unfortunately, the cover of the 2009 edition gives away a key turning point in the plot - I wish I could have read the book without knowing it. This is a book for adults: although it is largely about children, it is not suitable for anyone under about fourteen or fifteen.
Saplings follows the development of all four children, though we perhaps care most about the two eldest, and Laurel in particular, but we also get to know a range of aunts and uncles.
Nobody reading this novel can fail to understand its main lessons: that children need a stable home or base; that adults should not dispose of children without consulting their wishes, or at least explaining to them why they are doing what they are doing. However, "Saplings" is far from being overly didactic: not the least of the pleasures of this superbly insightful novel about children, is that one of the characters is a novelist who is famed for her understanding of children - but who in practice is fairly hopeless with dealing with them.
Highly recommended, one of the best books I've read in a long time, and one I shall probably reread sooner rather than later.
Saplings follows the development of all four children, though we perhaps care most about the two eldest, and Laurel in particular, but we also get to know a range of aunts and uncles.
Nobody reading this novel can fail to understand its main lessons: that children need a stable home or base; that adults should not dispose of children without consulting their wishes, or at least explaining to them why they are doing what they are doing. However, "Saplings" is far from being overly didactic: not the least of the pleasures of this superbly insightful novel about children, is that one of the characters is a novelist who is famed for her understanding of children - but who in practice is fairly hopeless with dealing with them.
Highly recommended, one of the best books I've read in a long time, and one I shall probably reread sooner rather than later.
September 26, 2017
As with most of the books which I write about, it seems, I have wanted to read Noel Streatfeild’s Saplings for a very long time indeed. I have heard only excellent things about it, and the fact that it is published by Persephone was another huge selling point as far as I was concerned. I rather adored Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes when I read it a couple of years ago, and thought that Saplings would be the perfect summertime read.
Saplings, originally published in 1945, tells of the Wiltshires, a middle class London family whom, at the outset, are taking their annual summer holiday in Eastbourne. As a unit, they are largely incredibly contented, and war seems like a proposition which is very far away. Streatfeild thrusts us right into the heart of the family. We meet the six almost simultaneously; parents Alex and Lena, and the four children – Laurel, Tony, Kim, and Thursday. Streatfeild’s aim, says Dr Jeremy Holmes, the author of the book’s introduction, was to take a happy pre-war familial unit, and then track, ‘in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which war brought to thousands of such families’.
The novel’s beginning captivated me entirely: ‘As the outgoing tide uncovered the little stretch of sand amongst the pebbles, the children took possession of it, marking it as their own with their spades, pails, shrimping nets and their mother’s camp stool’. Throughout, one of Streatfeild’s many strengths is the way in which she captures emotions so deftly: ‘The cool air, the fresh smell of the sea, the knowledge that it was another lovely day and there were no lessons and few restrictions, filled the children with that sort of happiness that starts in the solar plexus and rises to the throat, and then, before it can reach the top of the head, has to be given an outlet: anything will do, violent action, shouting or just silliness’. She is an incredibly perceptive author, particularly with regard to the portrayal of her younger protagonists: ‘Laurel, back on the raft, attempted some more backward dives. Each month or two she tried to be first-class at something. She had discovered that if you were admittedly good at something, it seemed to allow you to be just ordinary about everything else’.
To continue with this theme, Streatfeild views many of her scenes from every possible angle, taking into account the thoughts and feelings of all involved at any given time. Of Laurel, for example, her father thinks the following: ‘It was in his mind to tell her how proud he was. How he loved her comic small face and her fair pig-tails, and her earnestness, and her elder sister ways which were such an endearing part of the family set-up; but he held back his thoughts. No good going in for a lot of chat, making her self-conscious’. Turning to Lena, the matriarch, Streatfeild writes the following: ‘Lena could see herself, fair and slim, little Tuesday lolling against her and exquisite Kim playing around, and she knew what a picture she must look, and the thought amused rather than pleased her. There was nothing she liked better than to be envied and admired… The children were darlings, but she was not a family woman, she was utterly wife, and, if it came to that, a mistress too, and she meant to go on being just these things’.
Everything changes for the Wiltshires as soon as they return to their London home. The children are split up, some going off to school, and others being sent to live with relatives in the country: ‘Laurel had alternated between tears and a kind of hectic pseudo-gaiety ever since the move to Gran’s and Grandfather’s was certain and her school uniform purchased. She was scared. At eleven she understood what was going on around her. She had watched the hasty evacuation of other children. She had heard scraps of conversation… As a shield she made loud fun of all war precautions’.
Streatfeild’s descriptions are gorgeous, particularly in those instances where she takes the hopes, thoughts and feelings of her characters into account. A particularly striking example of this is as follows: ‘Now and again, when the sky was blue, and the trees glittered, incredibly green, and the scent of young bracken filled his nostrils, he forgot everything except the glory of the day and the fun of being alive’. Incredibly well crafted, and utterly beautiful, Saplings is a novel which really gets into the psychology of wartime, and demonstrates just how much of a knock-on effect it had from the beginning.
Saplings, originally published in 1945, tells of the Wiltshires, a middle class London family whom, at the outset, are taking their annual summer holiday in Eastbourne. As a unit, they are largely incredibly contented, and war seems like a proposition which is very far away. Streatfeild thrusts us right into the heart of the family. We meet the six almost simultaneously; parents Alex and Lena, and the four children – Laurel, Tony, Kim, and Thursday. Streatfeild’s aim, says Dr Jeremy Holmes, the author of the book’s introduction, was to take a happy pre-war familial unit, and then track, ‘in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which war brought to thousands of such families’.
The novel’s beginning captivated me entirely: ‘As the outgoing tide uncovered the little stretch of sand amongst the pebbles, the children took possession of it, marking it as their own with their spades, pails, shrimping nets and their mother’s camp stool’. Throughout, one of Streatfeild’s many strengths is the way in which she captures emotions so deftly: ‘The cool air, the fresh smell of the sea, the knowledge that it was another lovely day and there were no lessons and few restrictions, filled the children with that sort of happiness that starts in the solar plexus and rises to the throat, and then, before it can reach the top of the head, has to be given an outlet: anything will do, violent action, shouting or just silliness’. She is an incredibly perceptive author, particularly with regard to the portrayal of her younger protagonists: ‘Laurel, back on the raft, attempted some more backward dives. Each month or two she tried to be first-class at something. She had discovered that if you were admittedly good at something, it seemed to allow you to be just ordinary about everything else’.
To continue with this theme, Streatfeild views many of her scenes from every possible angle, taking into account the thoughts and feelings of all involved at any given time. Of Laurel, for example, her father thinks the following: ‘It was in his mind to tell her how proud he was. How he loved her comic small face and her fair pig-tails, and her earnestness, and her elder sister ways which were such an endearing part of the family set-up; but he held back his thoughts. No good going in for a lot of chat, making her self-conscious’. Turning to Lena, the matriarch, Streatfeild writes the following: ‘Lena could see herself, fair and slim, little Tuesday lolling against her and exquisite Kim playing around, and she knew what a picture she must look, and the thought amused rather than pleased her. There was nothing she liked better than to be envied and admired… The children were darlings, but she was not a family woman, she was utterly wife, and, if it came to that, a mistress too, and she meant to go on being just these things’.
Everything changes for the Wiltshires as soon as they return to their London home. The children are split up, some going off to school, and others being sent to live with relatives in the country: ‘Laurel had alternated between tears and a kind of hectic pseudo-gaiety ever since the move to Gran’s and Grandfather’s was certain and her school uniform purchased. She was scared. At eleven she understood what was going on around her. She had watched the hasty evacuation of other children. She had heard scraps of conversation… As a shield she made loud fun of all war precautions’.
Streatfeild’s descriptions are gorgeous, particularly in those instances where she takes the hopes, thoughts and feelings of her characters into account. A particularly striking example of this is as follows: ‘Now and again, when the sky was blue, and the trees glittered, incredibly green, and the scent of young bracken filled his nostrils, he forgot everything except the glory of the day and the fun of being alive’. Incredibly well crafted, and utterly beautiful, Saplings is a novel which really gets into the psychology of wartime, and demonstrates just how much of a knock-on effect it had from the beginning.
April 7, 2014
I burned through this one. Haven't done that in a while. I absolutely loved how each of the 4 children were so different, had individual motivations and personalities - I've never read a novel that shows so clearly how events affect family members in such different ways. Very well done. I did feel that the author had something to say - but she didn't preach. A book that drew me in and dragged me along right to the very end.
January 29, 2019
4.5 stars
First published in 1945 and although the main characters of this novel are all children this is an adult novel rather than a children’s novel and quite different to the children’s stories by Streatfield that I’ve read (Ballet Shoes and White Boots).
The novel follows the four children of the Wiltshire family, a comfortably middle-class family, from the eve of WWII breaking out through to 1944. At first the four children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) are shown to be reasonably content and secure in their parents’ affections on a family holiday to the sea-side. But gradually we become aware through the conversations of the adults that change is coming; the family will be moving out of London to stay with their grandparents in the countryside as bombing is anticipated in London and the eldest children will be sent to boarding school as the grandparents can’t really manage all four children plus the additional evacuees they’ve been asked to take on. And as the war progresses there are further disruptions and tragedies for the children (and adults) to cope with.
Streatfeild certainly had a gift for writing from a child’s perspective and especially in describing how a child’s inner thoughts and feelings can be overlooked or misunderstood by even well-meaning and loving adults. She also had a gift for appreciating the psychological impact of the disruption and disturbance of war on otherwise comfortably off children in a way I wouldn’t have thought was so well understood at the time this novel was written. In that sense this is not a happy novel - none of the children are unaffected by what they’ve experienced - but it doesn’t end entirely without hope for them to process these experiences and recover from them. The book almost seems to be written as a plea for other grown-ups to acknowledge the psychological effects of the war on British children - yes, they won't have faced food shortages or the effects of war in the same way children in occupied Europe will have, but the effects of what they have suffered are still very real and need to be ackowledged.
Strongly recommended and definitely deserving of being republished.
First published in 1945 and although the main characters of this novel are all children this is an adult novel rather than a children’s novel and quite different to the children’s stories by Streatfield that I’ve read (Ballet Shoes and White Boots).
The novel follows the four children of the Wiltshire family, a comfortably middle-class family, from the eve of WWII breaking out through to 1944. At first the four children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) are shown to be reasonably content and secure in their parents’ affections on a family holiday to the sea-side. But gradually we become aware through the conversations of the adults that change is coming; the family will be moving out of London to stay with their grandparents in the countryside as bombing is anticipated in London and the eldest children will be sent to boarding school as the grandparents can’t really manage all four children plus the additional evacuees they’ve been asked to take on. And as the war progresses there are further disruptions and tragedies for the children (and adults) to cope with.
Streatfeild certainly had a gift for writing from a child’s perspective and especially in describing how a child’s inner thoughts and feelings can be overlooked or misunderstood by even well-meaning and loving adults. She also had a gift for appreciating the psychological impact of the disruption and disturbance of war on otherwise comfortably off children in a way I wouldn’t have thought was so well understood at the time this novel was written. In that sense this is not a happy novel - none of the children are unaffected by what they’ve experienced - but it doesn’t end entirely without hope for them to process these experiences and recover from them. The book almost seems to be written as a plea for other grown-ups to acknowledge the psychological effects of the war on British children - yes, they won't have faced food shortages or the effects of war in the same way children in occupied Europe will have, but the effects of what they have suffered are still very real and need to be ackowledged.
Strongly recommended and definitely deserving of being republished.
May 14, 2009
"Really! I wish I didn't have to grow up. Do you know, Alice, I'm beginning to wonder if we've not been told things wrong. I mean, we're told that children behave badly and grown-ups are always right. I wonder if we shan't find that grown-ups do worse things than children." (240)
This heart-wrenching and painful book really packed an emotional wallop for me. It is not what I would characterize as one of those "charming" books I love to read. In fact, at times it was downright difficult to read, but I still really came away loving this book. Sounding a bit contradictory arn't I? I just found this book to be a powerful and moving story about the sad destruction of a family.
The saplings from Streatfield's novel are the four Wiltshire children, Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday, whose lives are uprooted and forever altered due to war.
Before the outbreak of World War II the Wiltshire family led a pretty typical middle class life, with a nanny, governess, nice home in London and trips to the beach. Granted their mother, Lena, was not an ideal mother, she really saw her children as more of an accessory to be trotted out for other people to admire than as her children, to be loved and cared for, but their lives were still happy, good and pretty carefree.
"Laurel, at eleven, was conscious of being happy. 'I'll never be as happy again. When I'm quite old , as old as thirty, I'll come back to this bit of Eastbourne. I'll come on the same day in June and remember me now.' Then, because of the tight, bursting feeling of pleasure, she turned two cartwheels and attempted to stand on her hands." (1)
The disintegration of the family begins when the children are sent to live with their grandparents in the country and their mother stays behind in London with their father because she thinks it is more important that she be with her husband than with her children. As the novel progresses the children deal with more loss and their lives become more and more shattered. The adults in their lives do not listen to or understand the children and are the cause of most of their suffering. Yes, the war was a catalyst for their suffering but if the adults in their lives had been able to provide some stability the children could have fared better. I can't tell you how angered I got reading this book because of the adult characters who should have been looking out for and taking care of these children and instead only made their lives more tragic.
Published in 1945, this novel takes a psychological look at the war and its impact on children as the events were unfolding. A powerfully drawn story about war and loss. I think I will be revisiting this one again some day.
This heart-wrenching and painful book really packed an emotional wallop for me. It is not what I would characterize as one of those "charming" books I love to read. In fact, at times it was downright difficult to read, but I still really came away loving this book. Sounding a bit contradictory arn't I? I just found this book to be a powerful and moving story about the sad destruction of a family.
The saplings from Streatfield's novel are the four Wiltshire children, Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday, whose lives are uprooted and forever altered due to war.
Before the outbreak of World War II the Wiltshire family led a pretty typical middle class life, with a nanny, governess, nice home in London and trips to the beach. Granted their mother, Lena, was not an ideal mother, she really saw her children as more of an accessory to be trotted out for other people to admire than as her children, to be loved and cared for, but their lives were still happy, good and pretty carefree.
"Laurel, at eleven, was conscious of being happy. 'I'll never be as happy again. When I'm quite old , as old as thirty, I'll come back to this bit of Eastbourne. I'll come on the same day in June and remember me now.' Then, because of the tight, bursting feeling of pleasure, she turned two cartwheels and attempted to stand on her hands." (1)
The disintegration of the family begins when the children are sent to live with their grandparents in the country and their mother stays behind in London with their father because she thinks it is more important that she be with her husband than with her children. As the novel progresses the children deal with more loss and their lives become more and more shattered. The adults in their lives do not listen to or understand the children and are the cause of most of their suffering. Yes, the war was a catalyst for their suffering but if the adults in their lives had been able to provide some stability the children could have fared better. I can't tell you how angered I got reading this book because of the adult characters who should have been looking out for and taking care of these children and instead only made their lives more tragic.
Published in 1945, this novel takes a psychological look at the war and its impact on children as the events were unfolding. A powerfully drawn story about war and loss. I think I will be revisiting this one again some day.
January 21, 2008
Oh I do love my persephone books, and this one was really wonderful.
from the publisher
Saplings (1945), Noel Streatfeild's tenth book for adults, is about children: a family with four of them, to whom we are first introduced in all their secure Englishness in the summer of 1939. 'Her purpose is to take a happy, successful, middle-class pre-war family – and then track in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which war brought to tens of thousands of such families,' writes the psychiatrist Dr Jeremy Holmes in his Afterword. Her ‘supreme gift was her ability to see the world from a child’s perspective' and ‘she shows that children can remain serene in the midst of terrible events as long as they are handled with love and openness.’ She is particularly harsh on middle-class authoritarianism and understood that 'the psychological consequences of separating children from their parents was glossed over in the rush to ensure their physical survival. War posed a terrible Hobson's choice for families, and it was only afterwards that the toll it had taken could begin to be recognised. . . It is fascinating to watch Streatfeild casually and intuitively anticipate many of the findings of developmental psychology over the past fifty years.'
It is true that this is not a happy book in many ways, the slow destruction of a happy family (although at the beginning you sense that happiness to be fragile) is not a cheerful topic. This however is a beautifully written novel, very readable, with fabulous characters, realistic, often flawed. Noel Streatfeild wrote about children so well, the reader is able to identify with them, and their little agonies - and really feels the larger tragedies that enter their lives, as we can all remember what is was to be a child, not fully understanding the world around us. I loved every page of this book.
from the publisher
Saplings (1945), Noel Streatfeild's tenth book for adults, is about children: a family with four of them, to whom we are first introduced in all their secure Englishness in the summer of 1939. 'Her purpose is to take a happy, successful, middle-class pre-war family – and then track in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which war brought to tens of thousands of such families,' writes the psychiatrist Dr Jeremy Holmes in his Afterword. Her ‘supreme gift was her ability to see the world from a child’s perspective' and ‘she shows that children can remain serene in the midst of terrible events as long as they are handled with love and openness.’ She is particularly harsh on middle-class authoritarianism and understood that 'the psychological consequences of separating children from their parents was glossed over in the rush to ensure their physical survival. War posed a terrible Hobson's choice for families, and it was only afterwards that the toll it had taken could begin to be recognised. . . It is fascinating to watch Streatfeild casually and intuitively anticipate many of the findings of developmental psychology over the past fifty years.'
It is true that this is not a happy book in many ways, the slow destruction of a happy family (although at the beginning you sense that happiness to be fragile) is not a cheerful topic. This however is a beautifully written novel, very readable, with fabulous characters, realistic, often flawed. Noel Streatfeild wrote about children so well, the reader is able to identify with them, and their little agonies - and really feels the larger tragedies that enter their lives, as we can all remember what is was to be a child, not fully understanding the world around us. I loved every page of this book.
October 6, 2010
Streatfeild follows a happy middle-class British family into World War II and examines the psychological effects of the war and the evacuations of children from London during the bombings.
As with her children's novels, her portrayal of how children think and feel is excellent. Her feel for the adults is rather less so, though it's very interesting to see an author much better known as a children's author dealing with more adult subjects, from drunkenness to death. Streatfeild tackles these with her trademark directness but doesn't quite manage to capture the adults' perspective as well as the children's.
As with her children's novels, her portrayal of how children think and feel is excellent. Her feel for the adults is rather less so, though it's very interesting to see an author much better known as a children's author dealing with more adult subjects, from drunkenness to death. Streatfeild tackles these with her trademark directness but doesn't quite manage to capture the adults' perspective as well as the children's.
July 18, 2015
A solid 3.5 stars. It got better as it went on and was more subtle than I would have thought at first.
May 31, 2021
Somehow the only Streatfeild I seem to have read, according to Goodreads anyway, is Dancing Shoes. I am sure I have missed recording some, but that will take a little investigation! Anyway, this adult novel follows a family of four children and their relations and dependents whose happy lives disintegrate in parallel with the events of WW II. Honestly, Streatfeild GETS children and their inner lives like no other writer. This was a compelling read with some outstanding characters, and I was completely absorbed by the narrative. There were some rushed time jumps in the latter third of the novel that were a little frustrating, but I can see the necessity or the book could have been 600 pages. It's notable that this was published before the war even ended; I haven't read that many novels written about the war while it was still in progress. Highly recommended.
June 5, 2012
The Wiltshire children are not the most secure of families to begin with, with a father who almost has to protect them from their rather narcissistic mother, and their happiness soon disintegrates when war splits them up and puts them in situations where nobody has time for them as individuals any more.
This is a book for adults - there's sex - although the emphasis is on the children and how they can develop or be damaged. I loved it and would have liked to have read more about all of them.
This is a book for adults - there's sex - although the emphasis is on the children and how they can develop or be damaged. I loved it and would have liked to have read more about all of them.
December 10, 2020
We think of Streatfeild as a children's author but this is a fantastic adult book from her about World War II- it's a very upsetting story, but beautifully written, and it's been so helpful to me in my research! (14+)
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*
January 11, 2020
This has been sitting unread on my shelf for such a long time. I really liked it and maybe now was just the right time to read it! It was heart-wrenching at times but I felt like it was important to read it and that Streatfeild really just gets children.
May 29, 2018
Crying over a Noel Streatfield isn't unusual for me but this one was more genuine despair crying than fond nostalgia crying
February 9, 2022
An absorbing story of the effect that war has on a happy family. The four Wiltshire children are devoted to both their parents, their sensible kindly father Alex who adores them, and their charming beautiful mother Lena, who loves them but is devoted first and foremost to her husband (she’s a bit too keen on sex, as is made clear - bound to lead to trouble) And of course there is kind, sensible Nannie (there is almost always a nanny in a Streatfield book). The coming of war brings some changes, the children are sent to stay in the country with their grandparents, where they get to know evacuee children, and the older ones are sent to boarding school. Then two years later Alex dies during an air raid, which is devastating for Lena and her children. Lena struggles to keep cheerful for the children (who do not appreciate her efforts at all) and in despair takes to drink but acquires a charming American friend ‘Uncle Walter’ as the children are encouraged to call him, and for a While things seem to be going well again, but of course it doesn’t last and there are more troubles ahead.
The novel has a large cast of characters and some I would like to have seen more of - Aunt Selina’s children are a joy for instance, as is Aunt dot’s charming daughter Alice, who is much more agreeable than the perpetually sulky Laurel. Aunt Sylvia is a lovely person, but her five children barely have any role to play in the story, and we never really get to see much of the saintly but rather trying Uncle Andrew. It is unfortunate perhaps that I actually found the other cousins more interesting than the four Wiltshire children who are at the centre of the story, I was sorry for them of course, but most of the adults in the book are constantly trying to do their best for them, while grappling with problems of their own, and apart from the malignant Aunt Lyndsey (who satisfactorily gets her comeuppance eventually) everyone seems to wish them well. I even felt a bit sorry for ‘Uncle Charles’ who, I feel sure, is going to have a tough time of it with the Wiltshires.
The novel has a large cast of characters and some I would like to have seen more of - Aunt Selina’s children are a joy for instance, as is Aunt dot’s charming daughter Alice, who is much more agreeable than the perpetually sulky Laurel. Aunt Sylvia is a lovely person, but her five children barely have any role to play in the story, and we never really get to see much of the saintly but rather trying Uncle Andrew. It is unfortunate perhaps that I actually found the other cousins more interesting than the four Wiltshire children who are at the centre of the story, I was sorry for them of course, but most of the adults in the book are constantly trying to do their best for them, while grappling with problems of their own, and apart from the malignant Aunt Lyndsey (who satisfactorily gets her comeuppance eventually) everyone seems to wish them well. I even felt a bit sorry for ‘Uncle Charles’ who, I feel sure, is going to have a tough time of it with the Wiltshires.
July 10, 2024
The Wiltshire family are enjoying a happy seaside holiday at Eastbourne. Their father, Alex, is devoted to his children and anxious that they should have a perfect holiday because he knows war is coming, and nothing will ever be quite the same again. His wife, Lena, is fond of her children but not quite as devoted, Alex is her passion rather than them(Lena is a bit too keen on sex for Alex’s taste). The family are very comfortably off and there is of course a devoted nanny,who is just like the other Nannies in most of Streatfield’s books. And there is Miss Glove, the governess who teaches the younger children and is an acute observer. The children themselves are devoted to both their parents, though Alex has more influence on them. When war comes it affects them all, though for the first two years family life continues, more or less, with Alex still benevolent and striving to bring them up well. Then, Alex is killed in an air raid and the safe, cosy family life starts to fall apart. We see the effect that Alex’s death has on all the children, and on Lena. Most of the people they encounter try to do their best for the children, but there are many misunderstandings and at times it seems there might be a disaster, though it never quite happens. There are some interesting characters, a few I would like to have seen more of, Aunt Selina’s children are very amusing for instance. And I would have liked to know the outcome for Miss Glove.
November 11, 2024
A war book like no other I have read.
It focuses on the impact of events of Summer 1939 through to Christmas 1944 by the four Wiltshire children. I felt the four children Lauren, Tony, Kim and Tuesday were carefully considered characters and their traumatic experience showed they were casualties of war despite their comfortable middle-class home.
This might have been the first novel I have read by Streatfeild but not my last.
It focuses on the impact of events of Summer 1939 through to Christmas 1944 by the four Wiltshire children. I felt the four children Lauren, Tony, Kim and Tuesday were carefully considered characters and their traumatic experience showed they were casualties of war despite their comfortable middle-class home.
This might have been the first novel I have read by Streatfeild but not my last.
January 23, 2015
Since the moment I first received my copy of Ballet Shoes on my seventh birthday, I have been a Noel Streatfeild fan. It did not matter that I had no co-ordination or sense of rhythm, or even that I had a tendency towards being tone deaf - via the Fossil sisters, I experienced a life on the stage. From there, I read White Boots, Curtain Up!, Thursday's Child (this one as a bed-time book with my mother), Ballet Shoes for Anna, The Painted Garden, When The Sirens Wailed and more. I remember reading Dancing Shoes while sitting next to my mother who was watching a rugby game and loudly cheering as New Zealand trounced England - I had other things to think about, I was reading a Noel Streatfeild book. It was with great sorrow that the nice Waterstones man had to tell me when I was ten that he was unable to locate a copy of The Growing Summer and so I had apparently read all of her books that were available. I have frequently revisited Streatfeild since, but always with the feeling of returning to childhood - a happy, safe environment where things always work out in the end and there are iced buns for tea. Next to all of these, Saplings was a big surprise.
The family at the centre of Saplings are the Wiltshires. The family's very name underlines just how British they are and we first meet them as they are enjoying a seaside holiday. Laurel is the sturdy elder sister, Tony the wants-to-be-good son, then Kim the family attention-seeker and Tuesday, the baby. All of these character types are familiar to fans of Streatfeild's other novels. Indeed, when I read her auto-biographical novel A Vicarage Family, I was intrigued as to how far she had borrowed traits from her fictionalised family members for the characters in her other books. Certainly, there are certain stock characters who tend to crop up with a reassuring frequency. The Nanny figures who appear to possess almost mythical powers. The good sensible kind of manly men who have lots of sensible types of things to say (Mr Simpson in Ballet Shoes, Sir William in Ballet Shoes for Anna, the lord who Lavinia worked for in Thursday's Child etc), slightly cruel aunts, irritating younger relatives with play-acting abilities ... Streatfeild was very, very good at drawing out certain types of characters so it is perhaps not surprising that she chose to re-use what worked. Still, with Saplings, Streatfeild is doing something very different.
The Wiltshire children have been very carefully brought up. Their father Alex adores them, puts their welfare first and considers carefully everything he says to them, wanting to teach them to be the best of themselves. He worries for his younger son Kim who likes to over-dramatise. The mother Lena is a more complex figure. She is the beautiful glittering figure, she exists to be worshipped and sees herself as a wife first - motherhood comes a long way second. In the background there are the far more practical figures of Miss Glover and Nannie, governess and nurse. Everything is beautiful, the days are long and sunny, each of the children feels happy, safe and loved. But it is the summer holidays of 1939 so it only serves to heighten the sense of dread.
Routines are instantly disrupted with the outbreak of war; the arrival of evacuees means that Laurel no longer has her own room at their grandparents' house, she is also sent to boarding school rather than being educated by Miss Glover. Tony worries terribly when one of his letters to his father goes unanswered. Streatfeild seems at times to be playing against the stereotypes we expect from her fiction. She always had a very keen eye for those problems that are so huge in the life of a child but which pass unnoticed by the adults who love them but in her children's fiction, there are always understanding adults who will step in to solve everything. In Saplings, Streatfeild exposes the lie of this as she steadily strips away every support available to the Wiltshire children and drags them through the agony of total war. I read Blitz Kids last year which considered the fate of the children of World War Two and despite being a work of fiction, Saplings was written in 1945 and evokes vividly the mental landscape of war.
The death of their grandparents' evacuees happens off-stage, it goes almost unremarked - the adults believe that they have managed to to keep it from the children. The reader knows differently. In the special way that children can, the Wiltshires are all aware of what has happened to their companions and they are choosing to remain ignorant. Albert and Ernie were loved too much by their mother who had to have them about her yet there is a real cruelty to how the Wiltshire family sigh over Mrs Parker's foolishness, that she was going to live while the boys were killed outright. Still, although the Wiltshire children can just about ignore their friends' fate, their world is about to be blown apart quite literally by the loss of their father.
For my full review: http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
The family at the centre of Saplings are the Wiltshires. The family's very name underlines just how British they are and we first meet them as they are enjoying a seaside holiday. Laurel is the sturdy elder sister, Tony the wants-to-be-good son, then Kim the family attention-seeker and Tuesday, the baby. All of these character types are familiar to fans of Streatfeild's other novels. Indeed, when I read her auto-biographical novel A Vicarage Family, I was intrigued as to how far she had borrowed traits from her fictionalised family members for the characters in her other books. Certainly, there are certain stock characters who tend to crop up with a reassuring frequency. The Nanny figures who appear to possess almost mythical powers. The good sensible kind of manly men who have lots of sensible types of things to say (Mr Simpson in Ballet Shoes, Sir William in Ballet Shoes for Anna, the lord who Lavinia worked for in Thursday's Child etc), slightly cruel aunts, irritating younger relatives with play-acting abilities ... Streatfeild was very, very good at drawing out certain types of characters so it is perhaps not surprising that she chose to re-use what worked. Still, with Saplings, Streatfeild is doing something very different.
The Wiltshire children have been very carefully brought up. Their father Alex adores them, puts their welfare first and considers carefully everything he says to them, wanting to teach them to be the best of themselves. He worries for his younger son Kim who likes to over-dramatise. The mother Lena is a more complex figure. She is the beautiful glittering figure, she exists to be worshipped and sees herself as a wife first - motherhood comes a long way second. In the background there are the far more practical figures of Miss Glover and Nannie, governess and nurse. Everything is beautiful, the days are long and sunny, each of the children feels happy, safe and loved. But it is the summer holidays of 1939 so it only serves to heighten the sense of dread.
Routines are instantly disrupted with the outbreak of war; the arrival of evacuees means that Laurel no longer has her own room at their grandparents' house, she is also sent to boarding school rather than being educated by Miss Glover. Tony worries terribly when one of his letters to his father goes unanswered. Streatfeild seems at times to be playing against the stereotypes we expect from her fiction. She always had a very keen eye for those problems that are so huge in the life of a child but which pass unnoticed by the adults who love them but in her children's fiction, there are always understanding adults who will step in to solve everything. In Saplings, Streatfeild exposes the lie of this as she steadily strips away every support available to the Wiltshire children and drags them through the agony of total war. I read Blitz Kids last year which considered the fate of the children of World War Two and despite being a work of fiction, Saplings was written in 1945 and evokes vividly the mental landscape of war.
The death of their grandparents' evacuees happens off-stage, it goes almost unremarked - the adults believe that they have managed to to keep it from the children. The reader knows differently. In the special way that children can, the Wiltshires are all aware of what has happened to their companions and they are choosing to remain ignorant. Albert and Ernie were loved too much by their mother who had to have them about her yet there is a real cruelty to how the Wiltshire family sigh over Mrs Parker's foolishness, that she was going to live while the boys were killed outright. Still, although the Wiltshire children can just about ignore their friends' fate, their world is about to be blown apart quite literally by the loss of their father.
For my full review: http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
January 4, 2015
Another Persephone Classic from Persephone Books in London, this one featured a cover painting by Evelyn Gibbs courtesy of Britain’s Imperial War Museum. Persephone’s books are so beautifully printed and bound that simply picking one up, opening it and turning its pages adds to the pleasure of reading it. (Something I definitely can’t say about the books I read on my Kindle.) Like so many of Persephone’s Books, this one is set in WWII era England and its author is a woman who ought to be much better known and appreciated. The title refers to four children – Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday Wiltshire – whose idyllic lives in an affluent middle class family in Regents Park, complete with a nanny, governess, cook and holidays by the sea are changed forever by the outbreak of the war. Having read a number of books that chronicle what life was like in Britain for those on the home front during the war, I was especially intrigued with this one because it was published in 1945. Unlike so many other books I’ve read about the period, this one was written during the time the events it describes – air raids, blackouts, bomb shelters, food rationing, children being evacuated from their homes, the Blitz and all the horrors of the war were still fresh in the author’s mind and experience. But what’s memorable about this book is its focus on the heartbreaking impact of that war on children whose comfortable and predictable lives were suddenly snatched away in a series of losses they were entirely unprepared to face. The book is told from the Wiltshire children’s point of view and in their voices and Streatfeild does an amazing job of capturing their thoughts, feelings and perspectives. My one complaint is that she is less concerned with fleshing out the adult characters who are interesting in their own right – notably the children’s self absorbed and somewhat narcissistic mother Lena, as well as the members of their extended family – an interesting and very British lot of aunts, uncles and grandparents. But I think Streatfeild can be forgiven for keeping the adults on the periphery of this novel in order to focus so heavily on the children. Keeping in mind that she was writing at a time when most people still felt that raising children was primarily a matter of keeping them physically healthy and well cared for, I found it especially significant that a central theme of the novel had to do with their psychological needs as well. Streatfeild’s insights into the emotional suffering the war inflicted upon children and the importance of providing a sense of stability and security in the midst of chaos was a major theme of this novel. It’s a perspective that’s often missing from other books I’ve read about the Second World War and I can only wonder why.
September 9, 2018
As with many Persephone titles, this book is about the impact of WWII on civilians in England. The story starts with the last perfect seaside holiday enjoyed by the Wiltshire family, whose rock is Alex, both a successful businessman and a devoted father. His wife Lena, on the other hand, is a spoilt creature whose maternal instincts take second place to her infatuation with her husband. So much so that when London is evacuated, Alex cannot persuade Lena to move with their 4 children (Tony, Laurel, Kim and Tuesday) to his parents's country home. At first, the children's lives continue to run pretty smoothly, with minor upsets to their sense of entitlement, but things change sharply when their father is killed. Lena can't cope, hits the bottle, and throws herself at the first American who comes her way. Fortunately, Walter is a very decent sort, and has, overall, a positive influence over the children. However, when her affair becomes public knowledge, one of her sisters-in-law threatens to have the children taken away, not so much because she cares about them, but because she hates scandal. Unable to function without a man, Lena tries to kill herself, with the result that the children do have to be dispatched elsewhere. Furious with the childless Lindsey, whose ultimatum to Lena has brought on this crisis, one of Alex's other sisters insist that Lindsey take in Laurel, although it is quite obvious that this is not in Laurel's best interest. However, at this point, settling old sibling rivalries is allowed to take precedence over the needs of the next generation. I found this development really interesting. None of the aunts, apart from the vain and selfish Lindsey, is a bad person, but the strain and stress of coping with ration books and all the minor and sometimes major inconveniences of wartime have taken their toll and made them lesser people than they were before. Things go from bad to worse for the kids, and especially for Laurel, whom Lindsey wrongly suspects of having an affair with her husband John, who has in fact fallen in love with Laurel's former governess. In the end, however, Streatfeild opts for a happy ending. Lena marries a rich man, and her children find a safe haven with their paternal grand-parents. A bit like Marghanita Laski in the far greater "To Bed with Grand Music", Streatfeild shows that war is not only tragic in the obvious way of innumerable lives lost, but also in as far as it weakens and coarsens a lot of ordinary people.
January 11, 2021
"Lena saw their strained, sullen faces, and suddenly it was more than she could bear. Was it not enough that she should have lost Alex? She fought, but loneliness and self-pity engulfed her ... Laurel would have liked to have flung her arms around Lena ... but horror kept her silent. She rushed to the door and flung it open. Her voice rose to a scream. 'Nannie, do come. Mum's ill or something.' Then the two children raced out into the garden, pushing each other about and howling with laughter."
"Noel Streatfield takes a happy, successful, middle class pre-war English family and then tracks in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which was brought to thousands of such families. Her supreme gift was her ability to see the world from a child's perspective. What makes Saplings special is her use of that skill to explore a very adult problem -- the psychological impact of war and trauma on family life."
~~front flap
The book began as a lovely picture of an ordinary, lovely English family. A bit dysfunctional, but held relatively steady by the down-to-earth common sense of Alex, father and husband.
War tragically intervened and Alex was killed in the blitz. The children weren't old enough, and too sheltered, to be able to cope well with this loss. And Lena, their mother, was absolutely useless. The rest of the book is about the children growing up under crushing circumstances -- some just a product of the war and many because of Lena's inability to cope with losing her "role" as the cherished wife and adored mother. It makes the reader want to reach into the book and grab those poor children and give them what they need to be able come through unscathed.
My only critique is that the book ends abruptly, and not in a tidy ending, but rather in the middle of it all. We'll never know how Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday survive, or even if they do. Which will probably keep this book stumbling around in my mind for a long time to come.
"Noel Streatfield takes a happy, successful, middle class pre-war English family and then tracks in miserable detail the disintegration and devastation which was brought to thousands of such families. Her supreme gift was her ability to see the world from a child's perspective. What makes Saplings special is her use of that skill to explore a very adult problem -- the psychological impact of war and trauma on family life."
~~front flap
The book began as a lovely picture of an ordinary, lovely English family. A bit dysfunctional, but held relatively steady by the down-to-earth common sense of Alex, father and husband.
War tragically intervened and Alex was killed in the blitz. The children weren't old enough, and too sheltered, to be able to cope well with this loss. And Lena, their mother, was absolutely useless. The rest of the book is about the children growing up under crushing circumstances -- some just a product of the war and many because of Lena's inability to cope with losing her "role" as the cherished wife and adored mother. It makes the reader want to reach into the book and grab those poor children and give them what they need to be able come through unscathed.
My only critique is that the book ends abruptly, and not in a tidy ending, but rather in the middle of it all. We'll never know how Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday survive, or even if they do. Which will probably keep this book stumbling around in my mind for a long time to come.
June 8, 2020
Absolutely loved this. Published in 1945, with the events, upheaval and traumas it describes very fresh indeed, Saplings is the story of four children - Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday - and how their affluent family life in Regents Park changes forever with the outbreak of war.
The children are faced with trauma and losses they were entirely unprepared for - and the same can be said of the adults around them who for the most part completely underestimate the psychological effects of the war on them. Some of the adults mean well, others less so. It’s quite devastating.
Reading this book at this point in time - having had life as we know come to an abrupt halt these past few months, with lockdown, shops and places of entertainment closed, being unable to travel and see our families and friends, food shortages, every day fresh worry about what might happen to us and our loved ones - gave me new appreciation for what those who lived through the Second World War must have gone through (and that the whole “blitz spirit” that people are fond of trotting out is an insulting comparison). It made me realise that while we and the children we love may have physically survived the latest health crisis, it has been a disruptive and frightening time for many. I think parents of today are better at considering a child’s perspective on things so we needn’t fear a repeat of Saplings...at least I hope not.
Highly recommended if you’re interested in novels of this period. Disturbing and brutal but it also manages to be beautiful.
The children are faced with trauma and losses they were entirely unprepared for - and the same can be said of the adults around them who for the most part completely underestimate the psychological effects of the war on them. Some of the adults mean well, others less so. It’s quite devastating.
Reading this book at this point in time - having had life as we know come to an abrupt halt these past few months, with lockdown, shops and places of entertainment closed, being unable to travel and see our families and friends, food shortages, every day fresh worry about what might happen to us and our loved ones - gave me new appreciation for what those who lived through the Second World War must have gone through (and that the whole “blitz spirit” that people are fond of trotting out is an insulting comparison). It made me realise that while we and the children we love may have physically survived the latest health crisis, it has been a disruptive and frightening time for many. I think parents of today are better at considering a child’s perspective on things so we needn’t fear a repeat of Saplings...at least I hope not.
Highly recommended if you’re interested in novels of this period. Disturbing and brutal but it also manages to be beautiful.
February 12, 2011
Noel Streatfeild is best-known for her children's books -- especially Ballet Shoes, of course.
This is a novel ABOUT children, but it is definitely aimed at adults. It was written just at the end of World War II, and the inspiration for it must have come from what she had directly observed during those tumultuous years in England. At the very end of the book, she has a very minor character (a charwoman) saying that at least in England, (as opposed to France) the children haven't had to suffer during the war. These final words might as well be underscored as "deeply ironic" because the novel is about just how much the particular children of one upper-middle class English family have been made to suffer.
Without giving too much away, these adored and sheltered children suffer from all sorts of anxieties and uncertainties -- some of them due to obvious tragedies, and others due to being neglected and/or misunderstood. There is an interesting afterword to the book which suggests how psychologically acute the book is about the children's emotional states -- at a time when such understanding was quite rare.
I enjoyed some aspects of the novel -- and it was engrossing enough -- but it was also quite sad.
I would recommend it if you are particularly interested in that era (the WWII years in England), but it has not been my favourite of the Persephone books.
This is a novel ABOUT children, but it is definitely aimed at adults. It was written just at the end of World War II, and the inspiration for it must have come from what she had directly observed during those tumultuous years in England. At the very end of the book, she has a very minor character (a charwoman) saying that at least in England, (as opposed to France) the children haven't had to suffer during the war. These final words might as well be underscored as "deeply ironic" because the novel is about just how much the particular children of one upper-middle class English family have been made to suffer.
Without giving too much away, these adored and sheltered children suffer from all sorts of anxieties and uncertainties -- some of them due to obvious tragedies, and others due to being neglected and/or misunderstood. There is an interesting afterword to the book which suggests how psychologically acute the book is about the children's emotional states -- at a time when such understanding was quite rare.
I enjoyed some aspects of the novel -- and it was engrossing enough -- but it was also quite sad.
I would recommend it if you are particularly interested in that era (the WWII years in England), but it has not been my favourite of the Persephone books.
July 7, 2011
Noel Streatfield is better known for her "Shoes" books, particularly Ballet Shoes, but she also wrote adult novels. Saplings tells the tragic story of the four Wiltshire children whose lives are devastated by World War II. The book opens on the eve of the war, as the Wiltshire family enjoys an idyllic holiday at the shore. Alex Wiltshire, head of the family, is an industrialist working on military projects, while his wife Lena, is a charming, but shallow woman who actually resents the intrusion of her children into her relationship with her husband. As the war unfolds, the children are first sent to live in the country with their grandparents, and later, when Alex is killed in a air raid, and Lena suffers a nervous breakdown, they are parceled off to various relatives. The story is told almost entirely from the childrens' perspective, and Streatfield gets their emotions and thinking right. All of the adults in their lives believe they are doing what is best for the children, but in reality, they totally misunderstand the effect they are having on the children. This is a sad and extremely powerful story. It's a timeless story also as wars continue to wreak havoc on the lives of those on the homefront.
April 29, 2016
Saplings follows a middle class British family, the Wiltshires, through WW2. Although better known for her children's books, Streatfeild does a wonderful job here subtly drawing the psychological changes experienced by children during the war. The adults in Saplings are less finely drawn than the four Wiltshire siblings, though perhaps that's all you'd see from a child's POV.
The story opens on an picture postcard scene of the family beach vacation, but already there are disturbances in the perfect public faces of the family. As the book progresses and the war begins to intrude, the fissures deepen and spread, helped along by the famed British stoicism and stiff- upper-lippiness. Streatfeild does a great job of showing how such a strength can also isolate and damage a person, particularly young ones.
As Laurel puts it:
"Really! I wish I didn't have to grow up. Do you know, Alice, I'm beginning to wonder if we've not been told things wrong. I mean, we're told that children behave badly and grown ups are always right. I wonder if we shan't find that grown-ups do worse things than children."
Well-intentioned they may have been, but the adults in this novel certainly do mess these children around without understanding them in the least.
The story opens on an picture postcard scene of the family beach vacation, but already there are disturbances in the perfect public faces of the family. As the book progresses and the war begins to intrude, the fissures deepen and spread, helped along by the famed British stoicism and stiff- upper-lippiness. Streatfeild does a great job of showing how such a strength can also isolate and damage a person, particularly young ones.
As Laurel puts it:
"Really! I wish I didn't have to grow up. Do you know, Alice, I'm beginning to wonder if we've not been told things wrong. I mean, we're told that children behave badly and grown ups are always right. I wonder if we shan't find that grown-ups do worse things than children."
Well-intentioned they may have been, but the adults in this novel certainly do mess these children around without understanding them in the least.
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