Anyone read this one? Just ordered a copy from amazon - looks like a good read:
The Far Island was Margot Pardoe's first book and concerns Dick and Jane Fraser who, newly orphaned, are sent by their great-grandmother to live on an island in Orkney which she owns. Having been brought up at expensive and fashionable school and being used to spending their holidays in luxurious foreign resorts, the isolation of Mora is a shock for the children but soon they learn how to entertain themselves and to enjoy the activities available to them, culminating in the discovery of the secret of the island. Dick and Jean later reappear in the Bunkle series of books for which the author is best known.
Preview of Chapter 1.
Available now: Ordering Information.
Margot Pardoe was born in 1902. After a well-travelled youth and time spent training as an opera singer in Paris, she began writing after marrying John Swift in 1934. Her first book, The Far Island was published in 1936 and tells the story of two children used to a lifestyle of public school and foreign travel who find their circumstances greatly reduced when they are unexpectedly orphaned. Their previously unknown great-grandmother sends them to live on the remote Orcadian island of Mora where they learn to be more self-sufficient and resourceful but also discover some of the classic elements of children's fiction - a ghost story and lost treasure.
Bunkle, Margot's best-loved character, is the irrepressible younger brother of Jill and Robin de Salis. So named by them because he talks such a lot of bunk, he appears for the first time in Four Plus Bunkle, a marvellous adventure involving spies and stowing away on Continental trains. There were eleven more Bunkle titles and his popularity was further boosted by the BBC Children's Hour radio dramatisations.
The 1940s and '50s were a productive time for Margot with two more series of books appearing as well as two thrillers aimed at the teenage market. The author's last book was Bunkle's final appearance in Bunkle Brings It Off in 1961. Margot retired from writing after this and enjoyed a peaceful retirement, devoting much of her energies to painting. She died in 1996.
Following the publication of The Far Island, we will begin our reprints of the Bunkle series starting with Bunkle's Brainwave.
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
I haven't read it, but it looks good, Pete. Rosalind Turvey actually also illustrated for Enid Blyton. I do have a number of Bunkle books and I have read the first one, but I don't remember all that much about it. I stopped as I like to read all series in order and I have a couple of gaps in my Bunkle selection and unfortunately the books are rather popular = pricey!
I have one of her books "The Boat Seekers" - one of my book club books bought for 3/6 in the 1950s. The pages are quite yellowy-brown now, but the story is still good!
'Tis loving and giving that makes life worth living.
Yes I noticed the books can be a bit pricey,but managed to get a bargain with this one.
I'm looking forward to reading it and then possibly collecting more books by Margot Pardoe.
Courtenay may be surprised to see that one of her oft mentioned book sellers sold a copy for a fairly reasonable price....
Ah, but it's merely a 2005 reprint. If they had a first edition with dust jacket, they'd undoubtedly bump it up to at least £1,200.
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
Ah, well, nice to know it's only the Blyton first editions they mark up to three or four figures. £80 is still quite a lot, though!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
I find it very odd that Fidra say that they are republishing Bunkle's Brainwave first, when it is the 10th book in the series! Coincidentally it is the only book that I have as a signed 1st edition and it cost me a bit more than the other books!! I simply love the uniform wrappers that were used for the whole series apart from the first book. Not easy to read but it looks as if she was Margot Mary Pardoe.
I am not sure if the book club edition of The Boat Seekers keeps the same illustrator, Daisy, but that was also illustrated by a Blyton illustrator!
The Boat Seekers (July 16th 1953) (Hodder & Stoughton) 9/6 (192 pages) (ill. Bruno Kay)
Yes Tony,according to an amazon listing her full maiden name was Margot Mary Pardoe.
Wikipedia says: ...
that although she married John Swift in 1934 she used her maiden name for her books.
....She avoided Margot Pardoe possibly because she was teased for the way it rhymed whilst at school -choosing instead M.Pardoe "possibly because her publisher thought it might help the books appeal to both sexes"...
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Our favourite booksellers describe this wrapper as 'fair', but if I paid £27.05 for it I would consider it unfair - though that did include the postage. My own copy with a perfect wrapper cost £4.
Tony Summerfield wrote:
I am not sure if the book club edition of The Boat Seekers keeps the same illustrator, Daisy, but that was also illustrated by a Blyton illustrator!
The Boat Seekers (July 16th 1953) (Hodder & Stoughton) 9/6 (192 pages) (ill. Bruno Kay)
My copy says it is illustrated by B Kay so I guess it is the same.
'Tis loving and giving that makes life worth living.
... choosing instead M.Pardoe "possibly because her publisher thought it might help the books appeal to both sexes"...
Just like J.K. Rowling!
They do sound interesting books. I like the sound of The Far Island especially, but the Bunkle series sounds worth pursuing as well, when I have time. I've got three books on the go (two fiction, one non-fiction) at once at the moment!!
By the way, talking of islands, does anyone know of any similarly "classic" children's books that are set on the Isles of Scilly (where I've been very recently)? I've read some of Michael Morpurgo's ones that are set there, but would love to know if there are any authors of Enid's era or earlier who wrote about them too.
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
£80 is still quite a lot, though!
