Five Windows in Fans of D. E. Stevenson

Jan 22, 2014 Alisha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-light-romance

A great D.E. Stevenson read...
Set in Scotland and London, 1940s-50s.
This is the life of David Kirke from the age of nine to the early twenties. His life is framed by five different views out five different windows at places he lives during that time.
The first window is in his parents' home in rural Scotland. This is an agricultural life, pre-World War II, and David is best friends with a shepherd who lets him help with the lambs and teaches him how to make beautiful furniture. He plays with thre A great D.E. Stevenson read...
Set in Scotland and London, 1940s-50s.
This is the life of David Kirke from the age of nine to the early twenties. His life is framed by five different views out five different windows at places he lives during that time.
The first window is in his parents' home in rural Scotland. This is an agricultural life, pre-World War II, and David is best friends with a shepherd who lets him help with the lambs and teaches him how to make beautiful furniture. He plays with three neighbor girls and picks up on the puzzling tension in their family. At an early age, David also discovers he has a gift for writing, and his mother treasures up all his childish stories.
The second window is at his uncle's house in Edinburgh, where he attends school.
The third window is in a boarding-house in London, where he goes to live alone while working in a legal office. It's at this point in the story that your respect for David's character really grows. He's extremely nice, but he's also extremely smart, and he stands his ground rather than get "taken in" by the machinations of people who would just use him. He gives them a chance, but he doesn't let them ruin him. (In a different type of book, an author would allow David's intelligence to dim while he gets into debt and entanglements so that he can learn a lesson at the end. I'm SO GLAD D.E. Stevenson doesn't rely on that sort of cheap formula in this story. David is a character who has a backbone and a common-sense morality; he doesn't see the need to soften his standards for the sake of just being polite, or keeping fake friends. I wanted to stand up and cheer, because how often in fiction do you see a super-nice guy who also has a backbone? Lots of times the nice ones are a bit gullible.)
The fourth window is at his new flat he moves to, which is over top of a bookstore , (whoa!) with an awesome landlord that he makes immediate friends with. Now he's able to have some time for his old hobby of writing, which just may turn out to be more significant than he thought...
At this point he's also able to take a quick trip back to his parents' home in Scotland, where he continues to show how discerning he is when the evil twin of one of his best friends tries to pull some shenanigans, and he's totally not taken in. (In the afore-mentioned "other" type of book, this would have created romantic tension and miscommunication that would have lasted another hundred pages, but not here, thanks very much!)
The fifth window is in a darling little house on the outskirts of London that needs renovating.

(Read "The Tall Stranger" after this one, it has two of the same characters and ties up their story nicely. ) ...more

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Feb 28, 2020 Hope rated it really liked it

Shelves: light-reading

David Kirke, the only son of a vicar and his wife, grew up in a quiet country town in Scotland and moves to London to begin his career. Each of the windows in the title describes the view from his various places of residence. In each location he learns a valuable lesson.

What I loved most about the book was watching David "make do" on very little money. Instead of complaining or borrowing, he made a game out of his poverty to stretch every penny. It is a hobby my own mother taught me and I was t ...more

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Apr 30, 2022 Theresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

DE Stevenson is one of my favorite authors. In her author's note she says that this book was probably her most enjoyable one to write, but I think she improved her writing in subsequent books.

'Five Windows' is written from the perspective of a young boy, David, growing up in Scotland and later finding employment in London. He is quite dismayed by the cultural differences of living in a large city and the lack of character qualities he comes acorss and takes for granted from his own childhood.

I ...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Melinda Johnson rated it liked it

This was fun because it is about the evolution of a writer from a little boy who writes a story about his friend and puts it away in a chest to a grown man who finds his literary voice in his first published book. It is not a new book, and the publishing world has changed since it was being observed by the author and her character, but the story of growing up and finding out who you were meant to be is timeless.

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