The House in Cornwall

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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Tony Summerfield wrote:Nigel brought the two pages that would make an editor's face go red round for me to scan, so here they are:-
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Thanks, Tony. That's very strange indeed and there are other errors too, besides Enid Blyton and Uncle Quentin getting a mention. Edward, Sorrel (spelt incorrectly) and Wish are referred to in the blurb - but not their brother John. There is no summer house in the story and I don't think a period of six weeks is mentioned either (the plan is for the children to stay with their uncle "for the whole summer holidays.")
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by lizarfau »

I'm guessing that the imprint page error came because the last book to go through production had been an Enid Blyton book, the details were retained for the layout checks on The House in Cornwall, and no-one in-house checked them.

The back cover blurb, though... Inexplicable!
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Re: The House in Cornwall

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Anita wrote:There is no summer house in the story and I don't think a period of six weeks is mentioned either (the plan is for the children to stay with their uncle "for the whole summer holidays.")
Interesting points in your post which I didn't notice when reading the book, Anita.

I wonder if the term 'summer house' refers to the gardener's house (I think it was) as it might originally have been a small house just used in the summer? Maybe not. Just a thought.

However, as school summer holidays were six weeks long in the 40s, it means the same as 'for the whole summer holidays'.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Moonraker wrote:However, as school summer holidays were six weeks long in the 40s, it means the same as 'for the whole summer holidays'.
If you went to a private school you got eight weeks - and they still get that now!
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

The building is made of brick, with lattice windows, so it seems odd to me to refer to it as a "summer house".

Summer holidays were (and still are) about six and a half weeks long for children at most state schools, but as Tony said they were/are usually longer than that for children at private schools - especially boarding schools.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Domino »

That's right. The first school I went to had eight weeks summer holiday. It was a private school (though not a boarding school). It was of a type that didn't exist beyond the mid-50's. It took pupils from 5-17. I left in the summer of 1950. At the end of that year, it closed down for good.

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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Moonraker »

The building is made of brick, with lattice windows, so it seems odd to me to refer to it as a "summer house".
Yes it does, although I seem to remember Agatha Christie referred to Greenway as "her family's summer house."
Summer holidays were (and still are) about six and a half weeks long for children at most state schools, but as Tony said they were/are usually longer than that for children at private schools - especially boarding schools.
Maybe the person who wrote the blurb didn't realise they went to a private school! Let's face it, if you call the main villain by the wrong name, there is little surprise at a muddled name for the gardener's house! There are many vague things at the beginning of the book. I don't recall any mention of what type of school they attended, although a boarding school seems most likely seeing as their parents absence or non-content with their children get a mention.

Altogether, rather a strange book.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I remember Edward remarking that he was eating his supper at school when a master approached him and said there had been a telephone message, and that Edward was to miss the last day of term and meet his siblings at Paddington Station (implying that Edward and John don't attend the same school, probably because of the age difference).

I agree about the vagueness and the strangeness, Nigel. It's funny because Noel Streatfeild is normally strong on background detail. Maybe The House in Cornwall was written in a hurry, to meet a deadline?
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Re: The House in Cornwall

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I remember Edward remarking that he was eating his supper at school when a master approached him and said there had been a telephone message...
Yes, you're right. That seems to prove they were at boarding schools.

I've not read any other Streafeild's, so can't comment on any of her other books.

Oh, Tony, I don't know if you noticed, but my copy wasn't illustrated, apart from the sinister-looking cover.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I'm just reading this book at the moment, and it's really intrigued me. I read it at night when in bed, and it's getting me quite scared!!! :lol:

8)
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I'm glad you're finding The House in Cornwall intriguing, Julie. It's a tense and quite chilling read.
Anita Bensoussane wrote:I agree about the vagueness and the strangeness, Nigel. It's funny because Noel Streatfeild is normally strong on background detail. Maybe The House in Cornwall was written in a hurry, to meet a deadline?
I was just reading through the last few posts and realised that my comment was rather silly ("What's new?" I hear you say!) The House in Cornwall was written during the Second World War and Noel Streatfeild, who lived in London, became an air raid warden and took on various related duties, so she wouldn't have been in a position to be able to devote much time to research.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Kate Mary »

I seem to recall that The House in Cornwall was originally written as a serial for The Girls' Own Paper. I have dug out my copy (Dent: 1966 reprint of the 1953 revised edition), there is no mention of this in the book, nevertheless I have read it somewhere. It could explain why this is a very different type of book from the family stories that Noel Streatfeild usually wrote.
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

That's interesting, Kate. I've read Angela Bull's biography of Noel Streatfeild and I expect it contains information about serialisations etc., but it's so long since I read it that I can't remember!
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

SPOILER ALERT:-

I finished this book last week, and thought I'd add here on this posting that I enjoyed it, oddly enough! I say oddly enough, because I find other children's author's, other than Blyton, quite hard reading, and somehow they don't flow as well as Enid's books. This book didn't flow like a Blyton book, but somehow it had me intrigued and I kept reading.

I would have liked to have known more about the 'main character's' such as their odd uncle and Manoff!

I don't think the author explained enough about why the child was kidnapped, how it happened etc etc. It was as though she had an idea and quickly put it all together, without really much thought, but it's well worth a read to see what others' opinions are of this book.

I think if I'd read this book as a child, it would have scared me, as parts were quite creepy, and when Katia said for Sorrel to be careful if her and John were asked to dinner alone with Manoff and Uncle Murdock, I thought, gosh, what on earth could have happened there!!!! But again the author doesn't go into detail just leaves everything for you to imagine the worse.

8)
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Re: The House in Cornwall

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

It's good to read your detailed comments, Julie. I borrowed The House in Cornwall from the library as a child and I did find it rather creepy, but enjoyably so. The thing I wondered about most was why Wish's parents had called her "Wish" - I was hoping for an explanation at some point, but none was forthcoming.

You might like The Children of Primrose Lane by the same author, Julie. I've only read it once and the details are hazy now, but it's a Second World War story with some exciting elements.
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"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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