Noel Streatfeild

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Anna Moss
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Noel Streatfeild

Post by Anna Moss »

i love the book party shoes it is written in such a remarkable
way! anyone else like her? :D :
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Anita Bensoussane
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I enjoy Noel Streatfeild's books, though I don't think I've come across Party Shoes. My favourite of the ones I've read is Apple Bough, which is a heartwarming family story, and I also like The Circus is Coming and Tennis Shoes.

Anita
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Tony Summerfield
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Post by Tony Summerfield »

I'm sure that you must have also read The House in Cornwall, Anita. You may remember that it has a remarkable similarity to The Secret of Spiggy Holes - so much so that the dragon edition actually had copyright Enid Blyton inside it!!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Yes, I've read The House in Cornwall but my Dragon paperback edition doesn't have copyright Enid Blyton inside (it says "Copyright Noel Streatfeild 1940") so that probably only applied to certain printings. Mine dates from 1968 and has a price of 2/6 on the back cover.

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Kate Mary
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Post by Kate Mary »

I also like Noel Streatfeild, but if you are buying new editions beware, the updaters have got at them and they seem to have developed a shoe fetish. Thus, Party Shoes was originally Party Frock, Theatre Shoes was Curtain Up and Circus Shoes started life as The Circus is Coming. I suppose the idea is to shoehorn (sorry) them into a uniform edition with Ballet Shoes, a bit like making a new Blyton series - the Riddles - from six perfectly good stand alone novels. I do wish they wouldn't patronise kids in this way.
My copy of The House in Cornwall is a 1966 reprint of the Dent 1940 edition with the original D. L. Mays illustrations, it is Noel Streatfeild's only mystery story, Blyton fans would love it.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Kate Mary:] I also like Noel Streatfeild, but if you are buying new editions beware, the updaters have got at them and they seem to have developed a shoe fetish.
Ah yes - I recall hearing about that. I have read Party Frock, but not for many years. All I remember is that it's about a girl who organises a pageant.

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've just finished re-reading Party Frock (1946), which I hadn't read since childhood, and I enjoyed stepping into 1945 British village life. The story is slow-moving and focuses on the little everyday dramas, misunderstandings, excitements and disappointments which arise while organising a pageant at the old abbey. Not an exciting read, but a gentle wallow through a bygone world. Noel Streatfeild's books are always full of detail and one of the things I enjoyed was all the different materials mentioned when discussing costumes for the pageant - satin, velvet, brocade, butter-muslin, taffeta, organdie, etc. As a child I had only a vague idea what was meant by "organdie" and "butter-muslin" but I loved the sounds of the words. It was interesting to read about items like soap being rationed and I liked the references to popular films of the period like The Wizard of Oz and Mrs. Minniver. I was surprised at 12-year-old Selina being referred to as "tween-age," as I hadn't realised that that word had been in use for so long.

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

That sounds quite a good book to read Anita. I too love anything to do with a bygone age, 40s, 50s,.
I must look out for it on EBAY.

8)
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Have you read any other books by Noel Streatfeild, Julie? I ask because Party Frock is quite slow and uneventful compared to some of her other books. Ballet Shoes is a very popular title but my personal favourite is Apple Bough, which is a lovely family story. I also love The Circus is Coming and Tennis Shoes. Streatfeild's books give a strong sense of the period in which they're set.

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Have you read any other books by Noel Streatfeild, Julie? I ask because Party Frock is quite slow and uneventful compared to some of her other books. Ballet Shoes is a very popular title but my personal favourite is Apple Bough, which is a lovely family story. I also love The Circus is Coming and Tennis Shoes. Streatfeild's books give a strong sense of the period in which they're set.

Anita
(sorry for the delay in replying Anita, been away for long week-end)

No I've not read any of these books Anita, but will look out for the titles you mentioned.

8)
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Hope you had a good weekend away, Julie. :D
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Yes, thanks Anita, we went over to Dorset. The county that Enid loved :D

8)
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Alicia »

I like Noel as well. My favourite is White Boots
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by dsr »

Just a tip for Anna or anyone else looking for these books - it is Streatfeild, not Streatfield - E before I. (I only know this because I used to think it was the other way round, until someone pointed it out.)

Edit: Thanks, dsr. I meant to correct the heading previously, but forgot! Have done so now. -Anita
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Noel Streatfeild

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

alicia wrote:I like Noel as well. My favourite is White Boots
I've just finished reading White Boots. Although I read it as a child, I couldn't remember much about it. I liked the two main characters, Harriet and Lalla, and thought they were well-drawn. There's a great deal of wish-fulfillment in Streatfeild's books, I think, but also plenty of domestic detail which prevents them feeling too much like a fairytale. Before that I read Ballet Shoes for Anna (not the same as Ballet Shoes.) Beautifully-written opening chapters, with some real drama and tragedy, but everything seemed to work out just a bit too neatly at the end of the story. Noel Streatfeild's eccentric characters often strike me as over the top and I really wasn't convinced by the stern, sterile uncle in Ballet Shoes for Anna, who "grows" plastic flowers in his garden to save work!

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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