The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge
| The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Robert James
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| Summary: Welcome reprint of a charming classic which will appeal to both children and nostalgic adults. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 206 | Date: February 2014 |
| Publisher: Hesperus Press | |
| ISBN: 978-1843915140 | |
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The year is 1912. With their father overseas, Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy are staying with their grandmother. Locked in their rooms after they fail to make themselves presentable for a dinner party, they run away and find a horse and cart which takes them to their uncle's house. There, he gruffly accepts the responsibility of looking after them in exchange for being able to educate them, and they fall in love with their surroundings - while stumbling upon the tragic history of a neighbour. Can they help to put things right?
I have no idea how something this charming has been out of print for any length of time, but I think we all owe a debt of thanks to Hesperus for running their 'Uncover A Children's Classic Competition' last year and to bookseller Adrienne Byrne - who contributes an interesting introduction here - for submitting this one to it.
As a former student of Exeter University, Devon holds a special place in my heart and Elizabeth Goudge brings this beautiful county vividly to life with her evocative writing style. As lovely as her descriptions of the countryside are, though, they're bettered by the characters here - four children with their own distinctive personalities, Uncle Ambrose, who can be stern and forbidding but clearly loves them with all of his heart, and many wonderful supporting others. Here we have both strong heroes and villains, and perhaps some with the potential to be both. There's a conversation between Nan and kindly servant Ezra midway through, about how people can be 'gold-hearted' one day and 'black-hearted' the next which is very illuminating and it's clear that Goudge was an author who believed in the power of redemption.
As for the ending - sheer bliss. Yes, it's reminiscent of many others (although in fairness a good deal of them will have been written since this was originally published, and some no doubt are partly inspired by it), and you could probably write the last few pages yourself if you had a damaged copy and get nearly everything right. Indeed, Byrne says in her introduction that for her the story ends a chapter earlier than it actually does and in some ways that would be a really good place to stop. But the reason it's so predictable is that it's such a perfect ending - the only one that makes sense - and it feels completely earned by the characters' struggles and the way they band together to help each other.
Highly recommended as a book I really enjoyed now and would certainly have loved back when I was a child. One more thing before I forget - these Hesperus editions of classics are gorgeous! I love the pale covers and the beautiful artwork.
This is a quieter read than the stunning The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper but there are several similarities in the way magic appears in our own everyday world. I think fans of this would love that one.
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