2008-03-10 Enchanting

Just as the first book in the series, "The Children of Green Knowe", is filled with the magic of winter and Christmas greenery, so the second book has an underlying theme of awakening to fit with the spring and Easter setting.

Unlike the children of the first book, the two children Tolly encounters from the early 19th century are misfits: the blind daughter of the house and the freed slave boy from Barbados that Susan's kindly sea-captain father brings as company for her. These children and the way that they perceive the world are described with such insight by the author that even today's children can learn a lot about tolerance of difference in an subtle way.

And as well as the serious underlying message and the beautiful descriptions of an English house and garden in springtime, there is plenty to keep young readers' (or listeners') attention: adventure and mystery, some rather nasty pieces of work amongst the adult characters and even a fair dollop of humour.