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TORTOISE BY CANDLELIGHT
Book by Nina Bawden
- GenresFiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
4 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Nina Bawden
64 books94 followersNina Bawden was a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 14, 2015
Set in 60s? Story of a 14-year old girl trying to hold her dysfunctional family together through a period of change (growing up, sick grandmother, new neighbours). Slightly dated punctuation and some self-consciously "clever" phrases.
December 31, 2021
For my full review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
Another Virago Modern Classic here and my first time reading Nina Bawden’s adult fiction. Emmie Bean is trying to hold the household together in her mother’s absence and with her father a well-meaning drunk. Her siblings do not help. Her home is in a state of squalor. Even those she does reach out to do. As with so much of Bawden’s young adult novels, there is the same sense of the young people existing in a different world to the adults, their concerns passing unnoticed. Still, the characters were not as striking as those in Bawden’s better known fiction such as Carrie’s War and although I did enjoy the novel, the finer details have rapidly faded from memory.
Another Virago Modern Classic here and my first time reading Nina Bawden’s adult fiction. Emmie Bean is trying to hold the household together in her mother’s absence and with her father a well-meaning drunk. Her siblings do not help. Her home is in a state of squalor. Even those she does reach out to do. As with so much of Bawden’s young adult novels, there is the same sense of the young people existing in a different world to the adults, their concerns passing unnoticed. Still, the characters were not as striking as those in Bawden’s better known fiction such as Carrie’s War and although I did enjoy the novel, the finer details have rapidly faded from memory.
December 29, 2013
I liked it. A bit unusual but not too unusual. Easy to read.
February 21, 2018
I liked this book. It was about young people. If it was supposed to be a kids book, of that I’m not sure. The characters seemed quite real, and I’m always a fan of the antihero, which Emmie is.
December 12, 2015
I love Nina Bawden so much!
More constructive review to follow!
More constructive review to follow!
October 14, 2016
My first foray into Nina's adult books, and I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews