There are three Toby, who rides the majestic horse Feste; his mischievous little sister, Linnet; and their brother, Alexander, who plays the flute. The children warmly welcome Tolly to Green Knowe...even though they've been dead for centuries. But that's how everything is at Green Knowe. The ancient manor hides as many stories as it does dusty old rooms. And the master of the house is great-grandmother Oldknow, whose storytelling mixes present and past with the oldest magic in the world.L.M. Boston's thrilling and chilling tales of Green Knowe, a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English countryside, have been entertaining readers for half a century.‘Notable for its illustrations and literary quality.’ — Schoolmaster ‘A most attractive story of a little boy who is lucky enough to see and hear something of his family who lived three hundred years ago. This is beautifully written.’ — Country Life ‘It is rare indeed to find a book that stands comparison with The Secret Garden but Green Knowe has that quality of elusive yet powerful magic bound to a reality as solid as bread and butter. The illustrations by Peter Boston enhance this atmosphere.’ — Time and Tide‘The adventures that make up the body of the story are ... something quite individual in children’s writing ... Altogether, it is a most unusual story, with magic in the telling as much as in the content. Children as young as eight years old would enjoy having it read to them and it is impossible to set an upper limit for its appeal.’ — The Times Literary Supplement‘The book is one that will particularly delight the child who reads, not so much to share vicariously in violent events, but rather as an escape into some frail, private world.’ — The Spectator ‘... its real-unreal enchantment akin to Mr de la Mare’s work - its freshness of phrase - it’s happy lingering on the edge of time with Toby and his horse Feste, as we listen to Alexander’s flute and Linnet’s laughter.’ — John o’ London’s Weekly
This is not an easy book, and therein lies its charm. L.M. Boston's classic is a sophisticated mood piece disguised as a children's ghost story. As young Toseland goes to live with his grandmother in the family's ancestral home, the reader is plunged immediately into the world of Green Knowe. Like Toseland, who actually
rows up to his new home in the midst of a flood, we have a hard time finding our bearings. Toseland discovers a funny kind of grandmother awaiting him--one who speaks elliptically of the children and animals she keeps around the house: they might be memories, they might be ghosts. It's never quite clear where real life leaves off and magic begins. Toseland admires a deer: "A deer seems more magic than a horse." His grandmother is quick to respond: "Very beautiful fairy-tale magic, but a horse that thinks the same thoughts that you do is like strong magic wine, a love philtre for boys."
With this meshing of the magical and the real, Boston evokes a childlike world of wonder. She compounds the effect by combining gorgeous images and eerily evocative writing. Toseland goes out on a snowy morning: "In front of him, the world was an unbroken dazzling cloud of crystal stars, except for the moat, which looked like a strip of night that had somehow sinned and had no stars in it." The loosely plotted story is given more resonance still through liberal use of biblical imagery and Anglo-Saxon mythology. For those willing to suspend their disbelief and read carefully, the world of Green Knowe offers a wondrous escape. --Claire Dederer
