The Golden Scarecrow

by Hugh Walpole

This volume contains Hugh Walpole's 1915 collection of short stories, entitled "The Golden Scarecrow". It includes nine stories united by a common location but varying in theme and tone - some are gentle, some are ghastly, but all are masterfully composed and worthy of a place in any collection. The stories contained herein "Henry Fitzgeorge Strether", "Ernest Henry", "Angelina", "Bim Rochester", "Nancy Ross", "Enery", "Barbara Flint", "Sarah Trefusis", "Young John Scarlet", and more. Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884 - 1941) was a New Zealand-born English author. Many vintage texts such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now, in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned biography of the author.

182 pages, Paperback

Published November 26, 2007

About the author

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.

Reviews

[Richard Derus]

Prologue
Hugh Seymour
Henry Fitzgeorge Strether
Ernest Henry
Angelina
Bim Rochester
Nancy Ross
'Enery
Barbara Flint
Sarah Trefusis
Young John Scarlet
Epilogue

[Abigail]

An unusual book -- I think it's fair to say that if it is the sort of think you like, you will like it alot. Like Jeremy it is an exercise in entering into the minds/hearts of children, but has little else in common with that book. The premise is that children come into this world with a knowledge of the world they have left behind and a spiritual link to it through a companion just referred to as their Friend. Some adults are able to mature without losing their Friend and some children push him away when they are still small. It needs the heart of a child and a willingness to believe in things we can't see, but I think that if you are willing to give it a chance, The Golden Scarecrow will repay your effort.

[Edward]

I first discovered author Hugh Walpole in an Alfred Hitchcock anthology and was intrigued enough to explore more of his works.

The Golden Scarecrow is a short story collection of children ranging in age from infancy to eleven years. The children are interconnected in that they all live around the same square, and each are visited by a “friend” with whom they have an ongoing relationship. There is the insinuation made that the connection made with this “friend” is from a previous life.

What I found most compelling about this collection of short stories is how Walpole depicted these children as having such complex and sophisticated psychodynamics. These stories go into themes of childhood neglect, maternal narcissism, and dysfunctional family systems. There is one particularly disturbing portrayal of childhood friendship marked by sadistic cruelty on the part of one toward another. Walpole’s portrayal of children is definitely not of the sweet and wholesome variety.

The Golden Scarecrow was written in 1915. Not that it was likely Walpole’s intention, but I can see how this novel helped paved the way for the creepy children trope that has become a mainstay in modern horror.

[Andrew Spink]

Lucid readable prose, but the Victorian sentimentality was just too much for me.