The Saucy Jane Family
Book Details...
First edition: 1948
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
Illustrator: Ruth Gervis
Category: Caravan Family
Genre: Family
Type: Novels/Novelettes
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
Illustrator: Ruth Gervis
Category: Caravan Family
Genre: Family
Type: Novels/Novelettes
On This Page...
Reprints
1. 1953 Lutterworth Press, illustrations and cover by Ruth Gervis
2. 1982 Sparrow, illustrations and cover by Joyce Smith and David Dowland
3. 1989 Beaver, illustrations by Joyce Smith and David Dowland, cover uncredited
4. 1991 Mammoth, illustrations by Ruth Gervis, cover by Kim Palmer
5. 1997 Mammoth, illustrations by Ruth Gervis, cover by Richard Jones
2. 1982 Sparrow, illustrations and cover by Joyce Smith and David Dowland
3. 1989 Beaver, illustrations by Joyce Smith and David Dowland, cover uncredited
4. 1991 Mammoth, illustrations by Ruth Gervis, cover by Kim Palmer
5. 1997 Mammoth, illustrations by Ruth Gervis, cover by Richard Jones
Wraparound dustwrapper from the 1st edition, March 1948 @ 5/-, illustrated by Ruth Gervis
Frontis from the 1st edition, illustrated by Ruth Gervis
Title page from the 1st edition
Wraparound dustwrapper from the new edition, August 27th 1953 @ 4/6, illustrated by Ruth Gervis
Frontis from the new edition, illustrated by Ruth Gervis
With The Saucy Jane Family, Enid dispenses with plot almost totally, unless learning to swim (apparently the children's school has not taught them to do this yet, despite claims that they would!) and taking a trip on a working boat can be classed as plot. This matters little, however, for it is the smaller happenings that make the book (and the series) what it is. The children swim with their parents in the canal (something not advisable in the polluted canals of this day and age!) and Ann, who refuses to learn, is taught a harsh lesson when she nearly drowns. This is one of the most frighteningly realistic scenes of the book, Enid using only the barest of descriptions; 'she went down deeper. Water poured into her nose and mouth, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything at all!' but managing at the same time to portray the happening as a genuine real-life occurrence.
As the book progresses, we begin to realise that The Saucy Jane Family is very much like E. Nesbit's The Railway Children, with its focus on the canal way of life (rather than the railway), its accidents, friendly boat people, the rescue of the bargees horse from the water when it falls in, and the way in which the children come to love the canal as E. Nesbit's children come to love the railway. It could have made a wonderful 'one off' family story for older children had Enid chosen to expand the idea, and is one of the few children's books to be written (as far as I know) about life on a canal.
The Saucy Jane Family is also quite unusual in that Enid mentions real places along the canals length. One of the boats that passes is going to Birmingham, which, at a rough estimate, would place the house boat somewhere along the south end of the 'Grand Union canal', maybe somewhere in the vicinity of Newport Pagnell. This theory can be backed up by studying a map of the canal, which contains both upward moving locks and a tunnel of some considerable length within the space of a few miles of each other, just like those encountered by the family when they take the trip on the narrow boat near the end of the book.
There is one slight hint of snobbery during this journey, when the boat passes through what is described as 'a dirty town' where the canal is muddy and 'smelt nasty'. Ann asks 'Do people have to live in towns? Do they chose to?' but instead of Daddy giving the reply that many do not choose to live in towns but do so out of necessity, Enid lets him go along with the belief that 'lots of people don't like the country.' A sweeping statement if ever there was one!
Enid more than makes up for this very slight lapse with her brilliant descriptions of the locks and tunnel that their boat passes through on its journey, but misses out the interesting job of 'legging' through a tunnel by having a motorised boat pull them through, which I found rather disappointing. Her knowledge of how a lock works is intelligently yet simply put across, and the trip in the narrow boat turns out to be the highlight of both the children's holiday and the book itself. Once again, by the end of the holiday, Mike, Belinda and Ann have learnt about the animals and birds of the canal, how to swim and row, and, above all, as Mummy states, they have learned to be 'good children, helpful and sensible and kind.'
The end of the book is filled with a wonderfully wistful 'end of the holiday' atmosphere, whereby the reader can fully identify with Ann when she says, 'Goodbye canal! I've loved every minute of you and all the wild things that belong to you and the long painted boats that slide over you day by day. Goodbye.' It is a sentiment that we can all agree with, for I think, of all the holiday adventures the family has (even counting the trips on 'The Pole Star' and 'Queen Elizabeth'), the Saucy Jane is by far the most pleasant, and the most unique of all the locations Enid uses within the series. These illustrations are hidden by default to ensure faster browsing. Loading the illustrations is recommended for high-speed internet users only.