E. Nesbit

[Heteronym]

Edith Nesbian, a political activist and founding member of the Fabian Society, the forerunner of the current Labour Party, turned to writing children's books when she was in her forties, writing several classics of the genre.

She's been on my mind these past days because I'm finishing the novel The Story of the Amulet, the final volume in the series that started with Five Children and It and continued with The Phoenix and the Carpet. This is an excellent and funny trilogy that has provided me with countless hours of pleasure.

The book I'm presently reading is a blend of time-travelling and adventure, with the children and the Psammead, or sand fairy, being guided by a magical amulet in search of its missing half to ages where it existed. This is just an excuse for fast-paced episodic storytelling in which the children visit ancient Egypt, bring an old Babylonian queen to London, witness the sinking of Atlantis and inadvertently convince Caesar to invade Britain. So the novel is also didactic in a subtle way.

I only regret discovering her so late, out of my childhood.

Is anyone else also interested in her books?

[qimissung]

I read The Phoenix and the Carpet many years ago. I've always meant to read the whole trilogy, but never got around to it. I think I'll put it back on my reading list.

[kasie]

Do try The Railway Children, Heteronym - I feel it's one of those stories that should find a place on every well-read child's bookshelf. (The Jenny Agutter film version is good too.) The mother in the story turns to 'scribbling' as a way of increasing her family's finances, something Nesbit herself had to do when her family fell on hard times.

[Heteronym]

It's on my list, don't worry. But I decided to order The Enchanted Castle instead. I'm in the mood for more of Nesbit's playful fantasy.