Monkton Combe near Bath

This is the countryside between Bath and Monkton Combe, which served as the setting for three of the Penny books (Threepenny Bit, Fourpenny Fair and Crooked Sixpence). In Twopence Coloured, Penny and Jill become friends with Laura and John Mallory during their trip to France. The Mallory siblings invite the girls to visit them in Monkton Combe (in the book the village is called Friars Combe). The Carter sisters become regular visitors to the area. The village is used once again in the novella by "Jean Bell", A Girl with Ideas, penned after the Penny series had been laid to rest. In that story, the village is given the name of Thornton Combe.

Fivepenny Mystery

An illustration by Gilbert Dunlop from Chapter 8 of Fivepenny Mystery, Defeat of a Greek. Penny's character has developed well and she is no longer the shy girl she used to be. Here she stands up to Agamemnon and questions him about Ainros. Agamemnon is not prepared for her questions and begins to splutter and go pale. Penny remarks to herself that it was "interesting to see him go green and red like that, like a traffic light".

Crooked Sixpence illustration

The local orphans enjoy a car ride.

Crooked Sixpence Blurb

Fivepenny Mystery illustration

While I was reading Fivepenny Mystery last year, I published this illustration with comments, which you can read here. But the scan I posted was pretty shabby and the paper was clearly yellowing. Now we have a cleaned up version. This is definitely my favourite scene from all of the Penny books. It is very cleverly written and, as I've said before, it's my opinion that Jane Shaw achieved the highest level of her writing with this book. Fivepenny Mystery was published by Nelson in 1958, when the author was at the pinnacle of her career. It was at this time that she published Susan at School, Susan's School Play and Susan and the Home-made Bomb. 1958 was definitely a very good year.

Twopence Coloured frontispiece

Here is a "cleaned up" high-resolution scan of the Twopence Coloured frontispiece.

Threepenny Bit cover

Threepenny Bit was published in 1955 by Nelson. Jane Shaw published the Penny series with Nelson because her first editor at Collins, Jocelyn Oliver, moved there in the 1950s. They had a firm friendship, but that didn't stop him from making severe criticisms of her work when he felt the need, and she took his opinion very seriously. The result was that the Penny series, in terms of the quality of the writing, is probably Jane Shaw's greatest output, although the fan base for the Susan series was much larger. I personally believe that with the fifth book in the series, Fivepenny Mystery, Jane Shaw reached the pinnacle of her career. 

Quote of the Day

Penny went off into a dream, thinking about Greta's cooking.

"Well, of course, if you want to stay here all day drooling about food..." said Jill. "But we thought that you'd like to come with us to Innsbruck."

"How can I?" said Penny. "I'm still in quarantine till all the scabs come off, and that won't be for at least another week."

"I shall go in front of you," said John, "ringing a leper bell and calling, 'Unclean" Unclean!'"

Penny giggled and Stephen said, "Good idea, but perhaps a little flamboyant. I thought we'd just drive down in the old jalopy, and you can sit in it while we go into the shops. We want to collect some photographs that we left to be developed."

"Oh, good," said Penny.         
                                       
From FIVEPENNY MYSTERY, Chapter 3, More Mystery.

Fourpenny Fair illustration

This drawing shows Penny at the gymkhana, winning the musical posts competition with Topsy.

Tudor Boy

From Crooked Sixpence. Penny catches a glimpse of the Tudor Boy.

Threepenny Bit illustration

Penny's first contact with Marietjie is not so pleasant. The angry South African girl throws her grandfather's old coins out the window in frustration, thinking that they are worthless. Penny knows better and goes to explain to the new girl that the coins are Maundy Money.

Quote of the Day

The rest of the day passed without incident. Penny carefully put the work-box, the toys and the dolls back in the little trunk and went on with her ticket writing. The floor was scrubbed, the doors were painted deep turquoise blue. Piet and John wrote out huge notices - WET PAINT - and displayed them prominently. The cabinets and dresser and tables were moved back into the room, and only Penny got some paint on her skirt, which annoyed the boys but didn't really show - not on the door anyway. Mrs. Mallory arrived with the window boxes, which old Potts had filled with geraniums. She was thrilled about the sampler and promised to look up the family records about 1823 to see if anything more could be discovered about Laura and her box of dolls.

From THREEPENNY BIT, Chapter 8, The Sampler.

Quote of the Day

"I must be going potty," she thought: "I thought I heard bagpipes-" Penny knew the sound of bagpipes quite well, because she had been in Scotland the summer before and had heard them often. They always started with that awful droning wail, but they grew nicer later on. She rose to her knees and looked round. The man on the lorry had got into his stride and the noise of the bagpipes became nicer; it also became louder, and the grey horse apparently was not so used to bagpipes as Penny - he threw up his head with a whinny and went of in a slow canter.

From TWOPENCE COLOURED, Chapter 9, Penny Leads the Procession.

Quote of the Day

Marietjie (whose name was pronounced Mareeky) was in the charming little bow-windowed shop with her mother, Piet having gone to do some shopping. Penny and the Mallorys told them about the Talents Contest and the Fourpenny Fund - at least the Mallorys told them, Penny shuffled her feet and felt uncomfortable, as she always did now whenever these sickening talents were mentioned.

From FOURPENNY FAIR, Chapter 2, Fund-raising Activities.

Quote of the Day

And suddenly there was a new danger. The phantom footsteps ceased, and a voice rang out. "Come out at once!" the voice shouted. "Don't imagine that I cannot see you! Come out!" and the voice was the voice of Mr. Port!

Penny was much too frightened to come out. If he wanted her, he would have to drag her out - why, she couldn't even stand on her legs, they were trembling so much! And just as she was making plans to resist to the death, there was a crash, as if the whole school was tumbling down and taking a thousand buckets with it. When the echoes had died down she could hear Mr. Port muttering furiously; then came another crash and a light was switched on.

This is the end, Penny thought, and shut her eyes tight.

From THREEPENNY BIT, Chapter 14, The Clue. Mr. Port, a schoolmaster at Friars and known to the boys as Old Starboard, doesn't appear to be a mild-mannered teacher anymore.

Twopence Coloured Chapter 1

At the beginning of every Penny story there is a half-page sketch. Here we can see Penny and Jill perusing brochures of Brittany, where they will go for their next holiday. Although the text of all the books clearly states that Penny and Jill are so similar that they are often mistaken for twins, the artist has decided to give Jill dark hair, probably to help the reader tell who's who. I don't care for this sort of interference very much, but I can understand the reasons for it.

Fourpenny Fair Cover

When I reviewed Fourpenny Fair a few weeks ago, I posted only a small picture of the cover at an angle, so here is a high resolution scan. Here we can see Penny at the fair with Sid the little orphan boy. Penny is dressed in a suit of armor and walking around the fair to advertise the play that the boys from the orphanage are putting on. This scene is the best in the book and one of the best written in the whole Penny series. The review can be read at: http://wichwoodvillage.blogspot.com/2011/02/fourpenny-fair.html

Fourpenny Fair Review

As the title suggests, this is the fourth volume of Jane Shaw’s Penny series. It kicks off with Penny and Jill back in Friars Combe, near Bath, for the Easter holidays with their friends Laura and John Mallory. The girls are bathing the Mallory dogs when John arrives with the exciting news that the vicar is giving away half crowns. All four children hurry over to the vicarage to cash in on this unusual treat, only to discover that the money they collect is to be used in a Talents Contest. The participants have to invest their money and make it grow, and all profits are to be used to rid St. Ursula’s church of the death watch beetle. Jill decides to buy ingredients for Russian toffee and sell it to a sweet shop, Laura decides to make little bags for clothes pegs to sell to the local women, and John will gather primroses to sell to a florist. But Penny can’t think of anything to do and postpones her decision.

In the following weeks, Bath buzzes with activity. Penny and John find themselves embroiled in a jewel heist, which they manage to foil. A local family organizes a gymkhana at which Penny, in charge of the takings, is the victim of theft and feels obliged to reimburse the organizers, blaming the unhappy incident on her own carelessness. In the meantime, she simply can’t think of how to invest her half crowns, and this frustration, coupled with her new debt and the endless insults aimed at her by Jill, only add to her inherent sense of inadequacy.

However, things begin to pick up a little. Penny hits on an idea at last: buy a dachshund that is going for what seems to be a ridiculously low price and sell it to someone else for a handsome profit. But, although a buyer is found, she inevitably becomes attached to the little dog and wishes she could find a way to keep it. She also takes pity on a local orphan, Sid, and promises him that she will find a suit of armor for him to advertise the play that the kids at the orphanage are putting on at the fair. Sid, who has a bad stammer, thanks her and tells her that now the other boys at the orphanage will respect him if he can deliver on this promise. Only then does Penny realize that she has landed herself in it up to her neck, for where will she find a suit of armor of all things?

As this is Jane Shaw at her finest, there is nothing to fear. The armor will be found somehow and will play a crucial role later on. And no story by this author would be complete without a long lost treasure. Then there is the fair itself, the most memorable scene in the story. Penny helps Sid advertise his play by strutting around in the suit of armor. The vicar is delighted that it is a beautiful spring day and the money is just rolling in for his church fund. Everyone is working hard to make the fair a success. But that thief is about again, meaning more danger and adventure for Penny as the tale hurtles toward a brilliant climax.

This story is well crafted and packed with interesting events and characters. The children visit Stratford to see where Shakespeare was born and take in a performance of Twelfth Night. Penny befriends an American woman at the Memorial Theatre, but she also grapples with thieves and wins a prize at the gymkhana. In addition to picnics and trips to the country, there are also some funny scenes, such as when John dresses like a ragamuffin to go out and sell flowers so that people will feel sorry for him, and the hilarious scene in which Sid and Penny wreak havoc in Judge Toplady’s garden in pursuit of Bill the hamster. We also see a growth in Penny’s personality. After taking Jill’s insults for nearly the whole book, in the end she manages to stand up for herself and put Jill in her place.

All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read and highly recommended. I would grade it at 8 out of 10.

INFORMATION FILE

Title: Fourpenny Fair

Publisher: Nelson, 1956

Location: Friars Combe Village, near Bath

Main Characters:

Penny Carter

Jill Carter

Laura Mallory

John Mallory

Other Characters:

Stephen Mallory

Peg Masters

Diana Masters

Mrs. Mallory

Sid

Mrs. Browning (orphanage house mother)

Mr. Gauntlett

Miss Dixon (general store owner)

Mr. Harding (jeweller)

George (stable hand)

Mrs. Ellison (American lady)

Inspector Collins

Constable Bottle

The Vicar

Mrs. Masters

Marietjie Le Roux

Piet Le Roux

Mrs. Le Roux

Pamela Standish

Miss Shelley

Mr. Toplady

Mrs. Toplady

Biddy the Dog

Tim the Dog

Candy the Dachshund

Bill the Hamster

Jester the Pony

Topsy the Horse