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callmemadamA Wind is Blowing (1969) is the last book in the Romney Marsh series. It’s such a scarce title that Girls Gone By have reprinted it for the second time and it’s sold out already. Years ago, I had one of the very rare hardback copies around. After reading, I sold it for rather a lot of money, even though it was ex.lib. I’m usually a completist when it comes to authors I love, but I felt that having this book on the shelf would contaminate the others.
Why such a strong reaction? I felt it nearly ruined the whole series for me. It’s quite different from any of the other books, almost exclusively about Meryon and Tamzin. Near the beginning of the book something terrible happens to Meryon which puts paid to all his hopes of being a doctor and seems to him the end of everything. Gone is the cheerful, clever boy. He becomes quite unbearable, while his parents and Tamzin try to help him. At the end, an extraordinary series of events (jolly bad luck for someone else) leads to an almost happy ending.
Monica Edwards thought, quite wrongly in my opinion, that this was her best book. I can see why she wrote it. At that time her husband had had an horrific tractor accident which left him with what are nowadays called ‘life-changing injuries’. So, it was a very dark time for her but did she have to inflict it on the rest of us? I can truly say that I hate this book and wish that it had never been written. I can only attribute this to the romantic streak in me which likes to believe that somewhere, ‘a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.’ In the same way, I like to fancy that somewhere, Tamzin, Meryon, Rissa and Roger are forever sailing in the harbour or galloping over the marsh. Monica Edwards created a happy world and then blew it up. I find it hard to forgive. (Other things I don’t forgive: Jo not marrying Laurie; writing Goodbye Mog.)
Unlike the parents in most children’s books, The Rev. and Mrs Grey are central to the stories and the vicarage is a second home to Rissa, Meryon and Roger. Whether it’s tea on the lawn, a massive washing up session or mucking out the ponies, everyone joins in. Mrs Briggs cleans the vicarage floors, singing hymns and flapping about in her large, shapeless plimsolls. Diccon is out collecting snails or possibly earwigs. Just over the road, Mr Goldeye the grocer, known as Smiling Morn because he’s so gloomy, is weighing sugar into bags and grumbling to himself. Down at the ferry hut, old Jim is sitting with his cat Billingham, who so often has ‘kittenses’. He’s probably knitting another guernsey. Young Jimmy, his son, is fixing something on his boat, Wally Goddard and Charlie Briggs are mending nets and Hookey Galley is probably up to no good. Old men sit outside the William the Conqueror inn. Charlie Deeprose is working on his low-lying farm, while his wife cooks. Butterbeans Pope is, as usual, hanging around the harbour mast. Mrs Lillycrop is waiting for the ferry with her ten children, who can expect to be warned of a smacking on the short journey.
The four main characters are very different from each other but all likeable in their way; I especially like quiet Roger and so does everyone who meets him. Clever, practical Rissa has always been my favourite. She can be sharp; in The Nightbird she says to Meryon, ‘don’t call me woman’. Quite right, Rissa, this is why I like you so much. Tamzin is, according to Jim, ‘wasted on a parsonage’. He obviously secretly dotes on her and must like Rissa, too, as he sometimes refers to her as ‘that ole rissole’, which she doesn’t like. When he’s thinking of the forces they can muster in Cargo of Horses, he refers to them as ‘two middlin’ savage gals’, which must be praise. Looking out from the ferry hut we see a collection of fishing smacks, water everywhere and a vast sky. When you’ve read all the Romney Marsh books, you feel you could walk around Westling and recognise nearly everyone. I once took part in a quiz during which I was slightly shocked to find that I knew the remarkable names of all the Lillycrop children. It’s a beautifully described little world and somewhere you’d like to be.
After this epic re-read (slow, because I only read the books in bed), I conclude that I like Tamzin best when she was eleven and that my favourite book in the series will always be The Summer of the Great Secret.
Why such a strong reaction? I felt it nearly ruined the whole series for me. It’s quite different from any of the other books, almost exclusively about Meryon and Tamzin. Near the beginning of the book something terrible happens to Meryon which puts paid to all his hopes of being a doctor and seems to him the end of everything. Gone is the cheerful, clever boy. He becomes quite unbearable, while his parents and Tamzin try to help him. At the end, an extraordinary series of events (jolly bad luck for someone else) leads to an almost happy ending.
Monica Edwards thought, quite wrongly in my opinion, that this was her best book. I can see why she wrote it. At that time her husband had had an horrific tractor accident which left him with what are nowadays called ‘life-changing injuries’. So, it was a very dark time for her but did she have to inflict it on the rest of us? I can truly say that I hate this book and wish that it had never been written. I can only attribute this to the romantic streak in me which likes to believe that somewhere, ‘a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.’ In the same way, I like to fancy that somewhere, Tamzin, Meryon, Rissa and Roger are forever sailing in the harbour or galloping over the marsh. Monica Edwards created a happy world and then blew it up. I find it hard to forgive. (Other things I don’t forgive: Jo not marrying Laurie; writing Goodbye Mog.)
Unlike the parents in most children’s books, The Rev. and Mrs Grey are central to the stories and the vicarage is a second home to Rissa, Meryon and Roger. Whether it’s tea on the lawn, a massive washing up session or mucking out the ponies, everyone joins in. Mrs Briggs cleans the vicarage floors, singing hymns and flapping about in her large, shapeless plimsolls. Diccon is out collecting snails or possibly earwigs. Just over the road, Mr Goldeye the grocer, known as Smiling Morn because he’s so gloomy, is weighing sugar into bags and grumbling to himself. Down at the ferry hut, old Jim is sitting with his cat Billingham, who so often has ‘kittenses’. He’s probably knitting another guernsey. Young Jimmy, his son, is fixing something on his boat, Wally Goddard and Charlie Briggs are mending nets and Hookey Galley is probably up to no good. Old men sit outside the William the Conqueror inn. Charlie Deeprose is working on his low-lying farm, while his wife cooks. Butterbeans Pope is, as usual, hanging around the harbour mast. Mrs Lillycrop is waiting for the ferry with her ten children, who can expect to be warned of a smacking on the short journey.
The four main characters are very different from each other but all likeable in their way; I especially like quiet Roger and so does everyone who meets him. Clever, practical Rissa has always been my favourite. She can be sharp; in The Nightbird she says to Meryon, ‘don’t call me woman’. Quite right, Rissa, this is why I like you so much. Tamzin is, according to Jim, ‘wasted on a parsonage’. He obviously secretly dotes on her and must like Rissa, too, as he sometimes refers to her as ‘that ole rissole’, which she doesn’t like. When he’s thinking of the forces they can muster in Cargo of Horses, he refers to them as ‘two middlin’ savage gals’, which must be praise. Looking out from the ferry hut we see a collection of fishing smacks, water everywhere and a vast sky. When you’ve read all the Romney Marsh books, you feel you could walk around Westling and recognise nearly everyone. I once took part in a quiz during which I was slightly shocked to find that I knew the remarkable names of all the Lillycrop children. It’s a beautifully described little world and somewhere you’d like to be.
After this epic re-read (slow, because I only read the books in bed), I conclude that I like Tamzin best when she was eleven and that my favourite book in the series will always be The Summer of the Great Secret.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-19 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-20 07:54 am (UTC)Goodbye Mog may be excellent but I shall never read it. She should be immortal!
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Date: 2023-06-20 08:01 am (UTC)I hope you're getting your much wanted rain this morning. It's dark and wet here, a change from the usual sunshine we've been getting in the mornings.
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Date: 2023-06-20 09:24 am (UTC)Thank you! At last, it was raining heavily when I got up. It didn't last but there must have been a lot in the night. I was beginning to think it would never rain again!
Let's hope it doesn't stop play at Edgbaston.