Breton Adventure (alternative boards)

Green boards for Breton Adventure with different sports and outdoor equipment, including a bicycle and a tent. My copy has much less equipment.

Breton Adventure (colour frontispiece)

Although I knew about the two frontispieces for Bernese Adventure, I did not know until last week that an edition of Breton Adventure had a colour frontis. The scene depicted is from Chapter 14, Capture of a Car Thief and shows The Man of Mystery exiting a chemist's shop and being accused of stealing Madame's car, while a small crowd of passers-by and a policeman look on. However, Sara, as usual, has got it wrong and The Man of Mystery was actually driving his own car. Once again, The Man of Mystery forgives Sara for being mean to him. Thanks to Elizabeth Lindsay for providing the scan. 

Abridgement of Breton Holiday and Bernese Holiday

Whenever I have read about Breton Adventure and Bernese Adventure, they are always described as "slightly abridged" versions of the original Holiday books. In Susan and Friends, detailed descriptions are given of two scenes that were edited or deleted prior to the publication of Bernese Adventure, both from Chapter 11. On Page 105, it says that when Caroline and Sara were on the train to Interlaken, "the nice blue-eyed guard came and passed the time of day with them; and when they reached Interlaken, Sara went quite wild over the shops". In Bernese Holiday, the train journey scene is longer, with Sara thinking that the guard's name is Bob because he has the letters BOB emblazoned on his cap. Caroline explains that the letters actually stand for Bernese Oberland Bahn. The other deleted scene takes place the next morning, when Sara awakes early and is delighted to find that it is snowing. After breakfast, Caroline and Vanessa decide to take advantage of the cold snap to write some post cards. The next paragraph begins: "Two days later, the snow had gone, the sun came out again and the flowers reappeared..." However, in Bernese Holiday, while the others are writing their post cards, Sara borrows the hotel owner's skis and has a go at skiing. Caroline eventually has to come out and dig her out of a snow drift. One of the members of the Jane Shaw Facebook group, who has a copy of Bernese Holiday, also recalls what she refers to as some "curtailed dialogue" but could not be more specific as she had conducted her comparison some time ago. I recently purchased a copy of Breton Holiday and looked forward to comparing it with the reissued version. However, as far as I can tell, there was no abridging of the story at all. The above photograph shows the contents page of Breton Holiday on the left and the Adventure on the right. They are identical. So, although the original book is much thicker, there are no extra scenes. The only differences are that the dedication to Jane Shaw's parents is omitted from the Adventure and that the Holiday has a black and white frontispiece drawn by Alice Helena Watson. My copy of Breton Adventure has no frontispiece, although I've been told that some editions of the book did have one. Bernese Adventure has had two frontispieces, one colour and one black and white, which you can see by clicking here and here.

Quote of the Day

Caroline was hanging on every word, but Sara was still scowling and muttering to herself, "Unlucky, that's what I am. Anybody else finds a treasure-chest, and it's full of treasure. I - we rather, for it's all Caroline's doing - find a chest and what's in it? Mouldy old books. And not even readable at that. Beautiful! All yellow and musty and the pictures like postage stampls. Gosh! They've gone mad - where are they off to with the blooming chest? If it's a bonfire, I don't want to miss it-"

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 16, The Last Adventure.

Quote of the Day

"Only four of them!" Caroline would say in surprise, discussing them with Sara and wondering why, for all their good-nature, they didn't like them better: "they always seem to be more like a dozen to me."

"Maybe it's the comic times they visit at that annoys us," Sara suggested. For the Duvals had a curious habit of paying a morning call just when Louise had announced lunch. They would swarm in, kiss Madame many times on each cheek (and Sara always insisted that once she saw Miette kiss her on the back of the neck when she couldn't get in at the front).

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 4, Sara Catches a Burglar.

Quote of the Day

But for this night only, as Madame said when they sat down to dinner, they would speak English, although from to-morrow she dared them to let her hear a word of it, for how furious their dear parents would be if they returned to Scotland with their French no better than when they came!

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 1, They Arrive. Poor Madame at this point does not know that no matter how long they spend in France or Switzerland, none of Jane Shaw's characters would ever become fluent in French. Only Charlotte Carmichael, who went to study art in Perugia, would learn a foreign language, being forced to gain a little fluency in Italian.

Places in Jane Shaw: Binic Harbour

Binic Harbour at low tide. This harbour will be a familiar sight to Jane Shaw readers because it features on the cover of Breton Adventure and is the frontispiece of The Moochers Abroad. The southern quay is called the Quai de Pordic. The northern one, with the lighthouse at the end, is the Jetée de Penthièvre.

Places in Jane Shaw: Mont Saint-Michel

Today's quote is from Chapter 13 of Breton Adventure, describing Madame and the girls' arrival at Mont Saint-Michel off the Normandy coast. Madame signs up for a guided tour, during which Caroline "drinks in every word". But Sara is bored, and manages to slip away from the tour guide at the impressive Crypte des Gros Piliers. 

Quote of the Day

They left the car, and passed through the Porte de L'Avancée, the only opening in the ramparts, and Madame rather proudly pointed out to the girls the two cannon which the English had abandoned when they had unsuccessfully besieged the Mont St. Michel in the fifteenth century. Caroline was frankly incredulous that the English had besieged any French stronghold without success, but she had no time to argue, for they went through two other ancient picturesque gateways, and the sight of the one street, a narrow lane with gabled and overhanging houses climbing up at its farther end by slippery and cobbled steps to the Abbey, was greeted with a chorus of Ohs and Ahs of appreciation.

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 13, Sara Does Some Rescue Work.

Quote of the Day

Caroline, assisted by the accused, apologised to the gendarme as well as she could for troubling him and lamely explained that there had been a mistake and that Monsieur the thief was a very old friend. The representative of law and order unwillingly took himself off, followed by the disappointed crowd who had expected great things of this little affair, the taxi was paid off, and the Man of Mystery sat down on the running-board beside Sara.

"Thank you for not handing me over to the police, Sara," he said gravely. "Now will you tell me what I'm supposed to have done?"

From BRETON HOLIDAY, Chapter 14, Capture of a Car Thief.

Quote of the Day

"There's a nice easy-going atmosphere about this country that I like," said Sara, as the little train kindly waited at the next station for an old peasant to go back home and fetch a basket of eggs she had forgotten. "Fancy a B.R. train waiting for you to go home and collect eggs!"

"It might be a nuisance, this kind of thing, if you were in a frantic hurry," Caroline said reasonably.

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 12, They Meet a Man of Mystery.

Quote of the Day

"There, there, don't cry little cabbage," Sara said, and ran through all the French endearments she could think of, followed by literal translations of English ones, each new effort being greeted by a lustier bellow than the one before. Sara was being reluctantly forced to the conclusion that the infant had taken a dislike to her on sight when she saw a gleam of hope. Scrabbling in her bag she brought out a piece of Toblerone, rather tattered as to its wrappings but still recognizable. The crying stopped as suddenly as if a tap had been turned off.

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 13, Sara Does Some Rescue Work.

Pierrot Gourmand

While in St. Brioc (Binic), Sara develops a passion for Pierre Gourmand sweets. When the girls go to the circus, before finding a seat Sara makes sure that she has an ample supply of Pierrot Gourmand nougat. The Pierrot Gourmand company was founded in 1892 by a young Parisian confectioner called Georges Evrard and is still going strong today, producing over 140,000,000 sweets and cakes a year.

Quote of the Day

Sara was being reluctantly forced to the conclusion that the infant had taken a dislike to her on sight when she saw a gleam of hope. Scrabbling in her bag she brought out a piece of Toblerone, rather tattered as to its wrappings but still recognizable. The crying stopped as suddenly as if a tap had been turned off. Sara broke a piece and handed it to the child, now turned towards her and solemnly watching her with wet, black eyes. Having swallowed it the child smiled, a very small watery one, but still a smile. Sara was enormously gratified to see it, and grinned at her.

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 13, Sara Does Some Rescue Work.

Quote of the Day

They arrived, contrary to expectations, intact, though indeed rather shattered, in plenty of time to lay in what Sara considered an adequate store of Pierrot Gourmand nougat, and to establish themselves right at the very ring-side, beside an aisle, Raymond in the middle and Sara next to the passage.

Probably Caroline and Sara derived more amusement from the audience than from the circus itself, for the clowns' patter was too quick and too colloquial for them, though Raymond roared and laughed, while Sara, her specs firmly on her nose for once, watched with fasicnated eyes a dear old woman, dressed in her best for the occasion even to a muff, hoping, as seemed likely, she would laugh herself right out of her seat and into the ring.

From BRETON HOLIDAY (1939), reissued as BRETON ADVENTURE (1953), Chapter 8, Sara at the Circus.

Quote of the Day

As they rose from the table, Louise, whose face had been growing grimmer and grimmer with suppressed disapproval as she came and went from the kitchen serving dinner, addressed Madame:

"The kitchen, Madame, is full of peasants." Her voice was charged with a Parisian's disgust at these uncivilised Bretons. "And they all say they have found Mademoiselle Sara's watch."

Sara gave a little jump and a squeak of joy; Caroline and Madame looked at each other in consternation.

"I knew that enormous reward would do the trick," said Sara jubilantly, itching to be off to claim her lost property.

"Yes, but what trick?" Caroline asked dolefully.

Madame led them to the kitchen, Louise following in their wake, muttering. Indeed, the big, stone-flagged kitchen, its pots and pans gleaming in the light of the fire, seemed to be full to bursting of dark, smiling faces, but after the first shock Caroline counted six small boys, two young fishermen in their blue jerseys, and one ancient crone who leaned on a stick and who could only have reached Petit Chose at all by a miracle or a lift from M. le Boulanger. They gave Madame a great welcome, and the ubiquitous Josèphe-Marie, in his sabots and black pinafore, who was apparently first in the field, was pushed forward and exhorted to produce his exhibit. Which he did with pride and confidence. There was a deathly silence. It was a watch, all right, there was no mistaking that, but there the resemblance to Sara's ended. Impossible to know from whence Josèphe-Marie had unearthed that venerable turnip, but it had served its day and generation and should have been left to moulder in peace. Its face was begrimed out of all recognition, its case, once perhaps silver, was black where it wasn't green and carried many an honourable scar.

Sara gazed at it with wide eyes and listened spell-bound while Josèphe-Marie described with a wealth of detail just where on the path he had found it. Sara shook her head dumbly, and again more dumbly when he asked in a tone of the greatest surprise if she were quite sure it wasn't her watch. That, and a word from Madame, made Josèphe-Marie retire, obviously astounded at his failure, and one by one the others were produced. Never can there have been such a collection of watches - they were all sizes, in varying stages of decay, two only were wrist-watches, one of them of gunmetal and brand-new, no doubt straight out of M. l'Horloger the watch-maker's; one had an Albert chain attached.

"I'm waiting for the crone to produce an hour-glass," giggled Caroline in Sara's ear. They were all laughing by this time.

From BRETON ADVENTURE, Chapter 9, The Great Watch Racket.

Book of the Week: Breton Adventure

BRETON ADVENTURE

When I first put pen to paper about Breton Adventure, I was, to put it mildly, less than complimentary. Although it is Jane Shaw’s first book, it was the fourteenth one that I read. After enjoying Crooks Tour, the whole Susan series and a number of short stories, with their over the top Scottish heroines and fast-paced action, I wasn’t prepared for what lay in store when I opened the first Caroline and Sara book. Yes, there are the Scottish heroines, and yes, there is the madcap banter. But the pace…

The story starts off like many other Jane Shaw works. Caroline and her cousin Sara are going to spend two months in Brittany, and the purpose of this holiday is to improve their French. There is a mad taxi ride from St. Brieuc to the sleepy village of St. Brioc, where the girls will stay at the home of Madame de St. Brioc, with whom Sara’s mother had attended school in Switzerland years before.

However, once they arrive, the story really slows down. They unpack, bickering all the way, and then go down to dinner and mull over the food. A series of typical holiday events then follows. They go to the village to look at the shops, they go to the beach to swim, they have lunch, they meet people, they are surprised by the food and the people, unable to understand how the French can do without bacon and eggs at breakfast… And on it goes. A couple of new characters are brought in: Madame’s cousin Michel and her son Raymond; the large Duval family, who arrive at mealtimes and insist on kissing and shaking hands with everyone, which Caroline especially finds embarrassing. My first impression was that chunks of the book read more like a travel guide than a novel. And yet, on my second reading, I found myself being absorbed into this tranquil little world, just enjoying it and going with the flow.

There are a couple of nice excursions. First, they go on a visit to a battleship in the bay of St. Quay. Sara is befriended by a young sailor and ends up getting left behind when the boat takes the others back to shore, providing her with an opportunity to raid the ship’s pantries. On another day, they go shrimping on one of the little islands just visible from Madame’s home. They celebrate the fourteenth of July, the birthday of the French Republic. Sara causes havoc at a circus, leading to the escape of a performing chimp. She also loses her watch and offers a reward to the finder, resulting in Madame’s house being overrun by bounty hunters attempting to pass off old, broken watches as her lost treasure. And speaking of lost treasure, no Jane Shaw story would be complete without a heavy chest buried or hidden somewhere on Madame’s property that will solve all the family’s problems and get Raymond out of a boring life as a civil servant so that he can pursue his dreams. Will the girls find it? A purely rhetorical question!

The book has all the features that would later become Jane Shaw’s trademarks. The cousins are, like Susan and Ricky in later works, skivers when it comes to learning French. They don’t seem to improve very much and take every chance they get to speak English. The family they are staying with, despite having lots of property and farms, is described as being short of cash, and a little windfall, such as a chest of buried treasure, would do just the trick at this time. There is the occasional little ironic twist at the end of a chapter, such as when Sara spends a day shrimping and then forgets her catch on the beach. There are the meals and numerous stops for cakes, ices and cold drinks. And there is no romance. Readers might expect Raymond or Michel to fall for one of the girls, but it doesn’t happen. They all become friends and play tennis together and go out for the day, but it goes no further than that. Caroline and Sara, both sixteen years old, seem a little immature for their age.

My opinion of the book has changed a great deal over the last year. When I discovered that it was originally titled Breton Holiday, this made me look at it in a different light. The Adventure is a slightly abridged version. Perhaps due to the soaring cost of paper after World War II, the book was reissued in a shorter form and the publishers felt obliged to rename it, perhaps not giving the new name that much thought. But thinking of it as a Holiday rather than an Adventure does make a difference. It has been said by other reviewers that the weakness of the book is that it has no plot. This may be due to the fact that it is only in Chapter 6, while they are on their shrimping expedition, that Madame reveals the key aspects of her family history that will eventually lead to the treasure, leaving the reader for the first five chapters wondering where the story is going. There is also the fact that the family doesn’t seem particularly interested in the treasure. Maybe if these aspects had been reworked a little, the book would be more exciting.

Having said that, it is hard to see how tampering with the story in this way would make much of a difference since the mystery aspect of this story is really only of secondary importance. The main focus is on the girls and their holiday. Written in 1939, when only the very rich had a chance to travel, the simple fact of being set in France would have been enough to attract curious readers. Minor aspects of everyday life that are casually mentioned in the story provided children with some insight into other lands and their mysterious inhabitants, so near and yet so far away. Despite the hot weather, the native women of Brittany dress in black. We also discover other little details, especially about the food. For instance, despite their culinary talents and love of food, the French do not take afternoon tea. They also serve each dish separately at dinner time. In the 1930s and 1940s, such tidbits would be an exciting revelation to British children.

The stars of the book are not only Sara and Caroline, but Brittany itself. Jane Shaw had visited Binic (the model for St. Brioc) years before, and her loving and painstaking depiction of it and its inhabitants show that she was obviously deeply affected by this land, its coast and its mysterious islands. Rereading the story, I was happy to let the author guide me through this country and learn its ways. It’s also fun to watch the two cousins interact. Sara, short and bespectacled, is capable of an endless stream of talk and is constantly trying to get by without wearing her glasses, usually with disastrous consequences. Caroline is taller and thinner, and apparently more sensible, often embarrassed by Sara’s antics. They go well together, something like a female Laurel and Hardy, although sometimes I got the impression that some of Caroline’s lines would sound better coming from Sara. I clearly see in Sara the blueprint for Susan, while Caroline appears to be a composite of Charlotte and Midge. But the girls are also a great success in their own right, as can be testified to by generations of young readers, seeing that the pair remained popular right up to the 1960s.

I wouldn’t go as far as some reviewers who claim that Breton Holiday was Jane Shaw’s best work. It grows on you over time, but does not have the quality and more clearly defined characters of the Susan or Penny stories. Nevertheless, it is a fine debut from a very talented author. Sara and Caroline would go on to star in two more novels (Bernese Holiday, 1940; and Highland Holiday, 1942) and one short story (Sara’s Adventure, 1953). The focus of Jane Shaw’s writing would then shift to Susan and Penny. These characters, like their predecessors, would also visit Binic and have their own Breton adventures.

Breton Adventure

Jane Shaw's first published book was Breton Holiday (1939). After World War II, both this work and the sequel Bernese Holiday were reissued as Adventures, the titles by which they are most familiar to readers today. I thought it was rather charming when one of the members of our Yahoo! Group, Margaret, told me that she had Bernese Holiday. Most members were surprised at the use of this title. The Adventures are slightly abridged versions of the original Holidays. This may have been due to the soaring price of paper after the war, which resulted in a crippling cost of books for the general public and particularly the libraries, a major source of income for publishers and authors in Britain. In the children's book community, there has been some debate over how to refer to this series collectively. The Susan and Penny books are named after their main protagonists. But what about this series? Some refer to the trilogy as the Caroline and Sara books, others as the Sara books, feeling that she is the main character. However, a real Jane Shaw buff who was there from day one, would tell you that the books were known as the Holiday Series: Breton Holiday (1939), Bernese Holiday (1940) and Highland Holiday (1942). The first two titles are very easy to find (as Adventures) and were mass produced, so they sell for three or four pounds on average, providing new readers with a wonderful opportunity to be introduced to the Jane Shaw universe. Highland Holiday is... well, I've never even seen a copy, except for a scan of the cover. When I first read Breton Adventure, I didn't enjoy it much. A common criticism of the book is that it has no plot. The story chronicles Caroline and Sara's visit to France with the somewhat naïve belief on the part of their parents that it will improve their French. But the girls are typically British and avoid speaking the language whenever possible and actually end up helping some young French people improve their English! The mystery element is left in the background, and we are given descriptions of the girls' daily routine in St. Brioc (Binic). However, after reading it again, I found the characters starting to grow on me and it became a more enjoyable read. Even so, I wouldn't go as far as some readers and say that it was the author's best work. But I am getting to like it more. Binic would be revisited over the following decades under different names by Jane Shaw's most popular characters. Susan would visit it as St. Clos and it would be known to Penny as Kerdic. The town obviously made a lasting impression on her, as it later would on most of her readers.