Anita Bensoussane wrote:
I'm glad you have happy memories of Southport, John. I particularly used to like a dark, crowded shop down a little alley off Lord Street, which was stuffed with spooky curios (think "witch doctors"!), carved ornaments, pottery, jewellery and piles of old books. It felt like a magic shop from a story, where you might come across absolutely anything.
Like a Wishing-Chair? (I know we discussed it somewhere else quite recently, but I've always absolutely loved that opening chapter of the first book.)
(Right, I'll stop derailing the discussion now — sorry, John and Anita. )
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
I hope John (or anyone) will be able to tell us more about Kathleen Fidler's books - but you're right that I wouldn't have been too surprised to find a Wishing-Chair in that shop, Courtenay! It made me think of shrunken heads, witches' covens, alchemy, creatures from fantasy, remote islands and turquoise seas. I remember buying a little book of "strange facts" from that shop and some of the contents made me shiver.
"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.
(I know we discussed it somewhere else quite recently, but I've always absolutely loved that opening chapter of the first book.)
)
