novel. Somehow I didn't buy the love affairswonder if those were real, Her relationship with her fatherthe push and pull of itwas to me the most interesting thing, maybe the only truly interesting thing, in the book.
A fictionalised memoir which is beautifully observed and intelligently written, Like all of Streatfeild's work, this is a good window into the time, It is not a children's story, really, I really enjoyed this, both as an insight into Noel Streatfeilds own life and into the postWWI period with sooo many changes to British society.
Seriously, though, both this and her first “autobiographical novel” end suddenly with a death, Like literally her cousin John dies on the Front and her father collapses just after becoming the Bishop of Lewes, there are like three more paragraphs, and the book is over.
Even though I know that the real Noel Streatfeild worked through her grief and lived a long and interesting life after these deaths, theyre still a very jarring way to end books that are largely happy! I wanted to like this but honestly it dragged a lot in parts.
It is really only for the die hard fan, Such an exciting life. War used to effect fighting countries so much more than it does now, also a facinating account when it comes to colonialism, theater life, and in general thes ands
in england and the generational divide.
this one is much more like her novels than the other two, it was a little hard to start, but SO engaging once i got going, Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her childrens books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes.
She was born on Christmas Eve,, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple.
Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William Bill, Joyce who died of TB prior to her second birthday and Richenda.
Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St, Leonards Ladies College in. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximatelyyears in the theater, During the Great War, inNoel worked first as a volunteer in a soldiers hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two pla Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children's books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes.
She was born on Christmas Eve,, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple.
Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William 'Bill', Joyce who died of TB prior to her second birthday and Richenda.
Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St, Leonard's Ladies' College in. As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximatelyyears in the theater, During the Great War, inNoel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier's hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth.
When things took a turn for the worse on the Front inshe moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal.
At the end of the war in January, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art later Royal Academy in London.
In, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in, In June, she was elected to membership of PEN, Early in, Mabel Carey, children's editor of J, M. Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid.
InSeptember, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller, According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts.
Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on theth September,, At the time, the plot and general 'attitude' of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day.
The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.
In, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming also known as Circus Shoes.
She won the Carnegie gold medal in Februaryfor this book, In, World War II began, and Noel began war related work from, During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories.
On Mayth,, her flat was destroyed by a bomb, Shortly after WWII is over, in, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden.
In, she began delivering lectures on children's books, Betweenand, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children's Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year.
Early ins, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in.
She also had writtenromance novels under the pen name "Susan Scarlett, " Her children's books number at leasttitles, From July to December, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home.
In, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE, OnSeptember, she passed away in a nursing home, sitelink.