Susan's Trying Term (illustration)

A scene from Chapter 8 of Susan's Trying Term, Surprises. Dotty has called Susan to her study, but when Susan arrives there, she finds the eccentric Latin mistress on the floor looking for a "score".

Quote of the Day

"Yes," said Belinda, "they were even selling home-made jam on the way to Rustenburg and-"

"Well," Mike interrupted firmly, "why shouldn't we put our peaches into paper bags and sell them and make hundreds of pounds for Stella's keep?"

"Oh, Mike!" said Belinda. "What a wonderful idea! Could we?"

"I don't see why not," said Mike.

"Oh, no, we couldn't," Belinda interrupted. "Mummy's watching those peaches like a hawk, waiting for them to be ripe."

"If they all disappear one night," said Mike carelessly, "she'll think they've been stolen."

From VENTURE TO SOUTH AFRICA, Chapter 9, Looking After Stella.

Crew of the Belinda (Blurb)

Treasure Trove for Boys and Girls

The annual that contains THE CAT AND THE CABIN BOY.

Quote of the Day

"There he is!" said the girl in a terrified whisper. "That is his car!"

"Well," said Julie, "don't sit staring at the door or he'll spot you at once. Just be talking and laughing naturally with us like a girl--"

"Of course, of course," said the girl and she hurriedly turned round and bent her head.

Ricky gave a high-pitched unnatural giggle from sheer nerves. Julie glared at her. "Sorry," said Ricky. "I'm just a wee bit nervous, that's all." She fidgeted idly with her scarf lying on the table and kept her eyes on the door. Come what may, she was determined to get a good view of this crook. At the rate she was going she might never see another.

From CROOKS TOUR, Chapter 6, Crook on the Grimsel Pass.

Original Venture Blurb

Although synopses for Venture to South Africa had been included in other books published by Nelson, this blurb was the only one actually included on the dust jacket of the book itself. Published in 1960, Venture to South Africa is considered the most autobiographical of all of Jane Shaw's books. 

Susan Muddles Through (Thwarting Cap'n Dan)

Here we can see Susan finding the receipt proving that Big Sandy paid old skinflint Cap'n Dan the money he owed him, foiling the plans of the old miser to fleece Mrs. Macdonald to her last penny.  

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.

The Onion Man (frontispiece)

This is the colour illustration of The Onion Man. It is also the frontispiece of The Children's Treasure Book.

Jane Shaw Guide: Jennifer Harding

Jennifer Harding is a young woman and friend of the Carmichaels who lives in the centre of Wichwood Village with her mother and little brother Michael. At the beginning of Susan and the Home-made Bomb, Jennifer has been awarded a scholarship at the prestigious Sloane School of Art, but cannot afford to take it because she has to help her mother keep the house and get a job as a secretary to help make ends meet. Gabrielle Gascoigne accompanies Susan and the Carmichaels to tea at the Harding home to talk to Jennifer about setting up a meeting with a director of the Sloane, Tootsy Fitzgerald. During tea, Peregrine plants a home-made bomb in front of the fire. Susan throws it into the fire and there is a terrible explosion. Susan loses her eyelashes and eyebrows and there is damage to the room. But Jennifer notices a scratch in a worthless old painting by her late grandfather and discovers that there is another painting underneath. This turns out to be an Italian Primitive, a Fra Angelico. The Hardings sell the painting for £7000. They use the money to refurbish their house and convert it into flats that they can rent, and of course Jennifer will be able to go to the Sloane School without help from the Gascoignes.

Susan and the Home-made Bomb is Jennifer's only appearance in a Jane Shaw story.

Quote of the Day

"Oh," said Charlotte blankly. Was she to fill the gap at the bottom?

"It's only a tiny part," Jonathan Marshall went on persuasively. "Fairy Fodmother, actually. Absolutely no acting ability is required, I assure you. Only looks."

Charlotte supposed that this was a sort of compliment, in a way. But the idea of plunging into the Wichwood Players and going on the stage in a real production was slightly alarming, to say the least of it. How was she going to fit it all in, for one thing, and wouldn't it take weeks to make her good enough to appear in public?

"Dahling, don't worry about that," said Carol, "most of the time you're perched up in a sort of bower, pretending to be asleep, it won't take long to rehearse you in that-"

From NO TROUBLE FOR SUSAN, Chapter 10, A Surprising Suggestion.

Children's Treasure Book

This is the cover of the Children's Treasure Book, containing the Jane Shaw story The Onion Man. The annual is not dated, but an inside inscription tells us that it was presented to Mary Bream for good work 1962-1963 by M. Bevan Jones, Head Teacher.

Quote of the Day

"I struggled up that other path with Celia in my arms," said Fiona. "Besides, Thomas wouldn't scratch me," she said, poking her finger into the basket, "would you, precious? -Ow---!"

Katherine giggled. "Leave him in his basket," she said.

"That's right," said Mrs. Pengelly. "He'll be no trouble to you."

From THE MOOCHERS ABROAD, Chapter 4, Curiouser and Curiouser.

Susan at School (Spine)

This is the spine from the 1966 Seagull Library edition of Susan at School, showing Susan taking pride in her St. Ronan's uniform, which consisted of a "royal blue gym tunic, warm grey hooded cloak lined with royal blue" and a "neat grey flannel suit for Sundays".

At St. Ronan's, tradition is adhered to. Charlotte, Midge and Susan are Dragons, meaning that they are in St. George's House. The Carmichael girls' mother, Aunt Lucy and Mrs. Lyle, when they studied at St. Ronan's, were all Dragons; therefore, their daughters and nieces are also allocated to St. George's. It's sad that we never learn more about Charlotte and Midge's mother, nor do we know the cause of her premature departure from this world.

On a lighter note, this book features some characters that had previously been mentioned in the short story Susan's School Play, which was actually set later. Jane Shaw and her publisher agreed to set Susan at School in January, immediately after Susan Pulls the Strings, thereby moving back in time to  tell the tale of Susan's first term at St. Ronan's after the publication of Susan Interferes. The characters that were elaborated on include Hermione Pennington-Smith, now given the nickname of H. P. Sauce, and Elizabeth Rogers, the actress. There are also Susan's teachers, some of whom would feature heavily in the school stories and some who would fade into the background. The two most memorable are Miss Johnson, the Latin teacher, known as Dotty, and Miss Ferrier, the dreaded maths teacher, nicknamed The Ferret. Other teachers include Miss Barclay (English), Mademoiselle Boulanger (French), Miss Eastwood (Science), Miss Wood (History) and the sarcastic Miss Gwynne-Jones (Geography).

Susan at School (My Favourite Illustration)

My favourite illustration from a Jane Shaw book: the girls in the prefects' study at the beginning of Chapter 4 of Susan at School, The Mysterious Map. It is not a dramatic scene or a cliff-hanger, just a comfortable situation. The text reads: They had the prefects' room to themselves; Midge was lying prone in the one armchair, half-asleep, Susan was languidly putting out the cups and saucers and Tessa was crouched over the fire as usual, watching the kettle.

Quote of the Day

"And you think that the man is in our hotel?" said Dr. Maclaren. "You surprise me. They all look a decent respectable lot to me. Well, come on, we'd better be getting back ourselves or nobody will think that we're decent and respectable. And I don't imagine that there will be a boat or even a train at this time of night, so we'd better have a taxi..."

So we rolled back to the Chalet du Lac in style and thanked Dr. Maclaren again and dashed upstairs to look for the others. Thomas was in bed.

From THE TALL MAN, Chapter 7, We Make Our Reports.

Susan at School (1966 edition blurb)

Susan Muddles Through (illustration)

Venture to South Africa (DJ)

This is very rare, the dust jacket of Venture to South Africa, showing the Eliot family arriving in South Africa. They are in Table Bay, and can see Table Mountain, flanked on the left by Devil's Peak and on the right by Lion's Head, a beautiful cover. I would like to thank Emily Wright from Christchurch, New Zealand for sending me a copy of the book as a gift. Such generosity. I'm delighted.

Jane Shaw Guide: Rock Carlisle

Rock Carlisle is a famous writer of thrillers with tough characters who use tough American slang. In Susan and the Spae Wife, Susan and the Carmichaels are delighted that he will be a special guest at the church fête on the isle of Arran. Susan expects that he will turn up “with a gun under each arm and a switch-knife between his teeth”. But Mr. Carlisle actually turns out to be a short, fat bald man. After a robbery at the local bank, the teller can only remember one detail about the hold-up man: the scar on his hand. When Susan sees a scar on Mr. Carlisle’s hand while she is telling his fortune, she attacks him, giving him a black eye, and accuses him of being the thief. Lady Alison and the minister are shocked and Susan is forced to apologize. However, the day before he leaves the island, Rock Carlisle visits Susan and confesses that he is indeed the bank robber, explaining that he needs to experience events for himself before including them in his stories. He gives the stolen money to Susan and asks her to return it to the bank once he has got safely of the island. Susan and the Spae Wife is Mr. Carlisle’s only appearance in a Jane Shaw story.

Susan's Kind Heart illustration

From Chapter 14, All that Trouble for Nothing. "With a last heave and push with her toes, Susan's legs disappeared from the cave."

Jane Shaw Guide: Susan and the Spae Wife

Susan and the Spae wife is the last of four short stories about Susan Lyle and her cousins the Carmichaels. It was published in the Collins Girls’ Annual 1960. While on holiday in Arran, the gang are roped into helping at the local fête, and Susan and Midge are given the job of collecting the takings at the tent of the spae wife (fortune teller). Along with all the stalls and festivities, an added attraction is the presence of a famous novelist, Mr. Rock Carlisle. When Mirren, the spae wife, is called away on a family emergency, Susan takes her place in disguise and surprises her unsuspecting friends and family by telling them the details of their life with amazing accuracy. However, Susan also hopes to use her new job to discover the identity of a daring robber. The day before the fête there was a daring hold up at the bank, with the thief making off with five hundred pounds. The bank teller told Susan that the thief had a scar on his hand. When a little fat bald man enters the tent, Susan attacks him during the reading of his palm because he has a scar on his hand. The ensuing uproar brings the minister and Lady Alison into the tent. Susan is embarrassed and stunned when she discovers that the little man is actually Rock Carlisle. She is forced to apologize. But next day Mr. Carlisle visits her and admits that he was the robber after all, claiming that he needs to experience events for real before putting them in his books. He asks Susan to return the money once he is safely off the island.

Susan and the Spae Wife was published in the same year as Susan Muddles Through, also set in Arran. These were the last of the four Jane Shaw stories to take place there, the others being Highland Holiday (1942) and Penny Foolish (1953). The style of the story is a little different from the average Jane Shaw tale in that instead of being told in sequence, this story begins with the cousins looking back at the events after they take place. In addition to the Collins annual, the story was reprinted in 2002 in Susan and Friends.

Penhallow Mystery

In the 1960s, Jane Shaw began to use the pen name Jean Bell. Under this name, she wrote the unpublished novella A Girl with Ideas the only books of hers that were ever published in paperback for the Collins Spitfire series. These two books were for younger readers. One was called Paddy Turns Detective, and here we can see The Penhallow Mystery. As the name suggests, it is set in Cornwall. Other stories set in Cornwall are the short story Family Troubles and the two Moochers books.

Jane Shaw Guide: Mr. Egg

Mr. Egg is an abstract metal sculpture by Tertius Smith, an artist in Wichwood Village, and spends some time on display at the Little Gallery. It features heavily in three chapters of A Job for Susan. When Bill takes a cleaning job at the gallery, Susan, Midge and Tessa pitch in to help him. While cleaning the curious egg-shaped work, Tessa knocks it into a bucket of water. After cleaning it, she puts it back on its pedestal upside down and dresses it up in a raincoat and balaclava and gives it its nickname, incurring the wrath of the offended artist. Mr. Smith then arranges to remove his work from the gallery for repair, but Susan thinks he is a thief and calls the police. The furious Mr. Smith removes all his work from the gallery. The ultimate fate of Mr. Egg is not given, and whether Mr. Smith ever managed to sell it remains a mystery.

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.

Belinda full view

The Magic Basket (Title)

Click on the image for a much larger view.

Quote of the Day

"You have lost something, Fraulein?"
Midge came to the rescue, thinking that the less heard from Susan the better. "Well," she said very rapidly, hoping that the schoolmaster wouldn't quite follow what she was saying, "to be honest, we haven't exactly lost anything but we haven't any TICKETS."
"Tickets!" exclaimed the man. "Ah! You have lost your tickets---!"
"Well you said it, not me," said Midge under her breath.
The little man snapped his fingers. "Come boys! Hansli, Anton, search! Search! Search till you find!"
"That'll test them," muttered Midge.

From SUSAN INTERFERES, Chapter 2, Up the Airy Mountains.

Venture to South Africa (Australian Review)

Here's a (very brief) review of Venture to South Africa from the kids' section (Junior Age) of Australian newspaper The Age, dated 15 July, 1960.

Highland Holiday frontispiece (1942)

Jane Shaw Guide: 'Ware Warings!

‘Ware Warings! is the battle-cry of the Waring family. It is used against Paris underworld figure Le Singe in Looking After Thomas, and the mysterious Man (real name Mr. Collet) in Willow Green Mystery. It is also the title of the respective chapters in these two books. In the third book of the series, The Tall Man, the battle-cry is not used.

The Tall Man (illustration)

A scene from Chapter 6 of The Tall Man. David and Tish are in a sticky situation on the chair-lift when it grinds to a halt on the way down to Grindelwald. Illustration by Gilbert Dunlop.

Quote of the Day

It was a wonderful night, calm and still, without a ripple on the lake, and the sky was fulll of stars. A platform had been built in the main street beside the lake, and a lot of important but rather dull-looking men were making speeches - also dull, although I suppose to be fair that they might have been more interesting if we could have understood them. We liked the children better, as they marched along the street, in their tracht, as the national costume is called, each one carrying a lighted lantern; and we liked the band much better - imagine our delight at the end of the speeches when the band suddenly burst into God Save the Queen! We were thrilled, and Thomas thought it was in our honour - and it was not until ages later that we learnt that it wasn't God Save the Queen at all, but the Swiss national Anthem which has the very same tune.

From THE TALL MAN, Chapter 8, The First of August.

Sara's Adventure (title illustration)

Quote of the Day

So we took the Métro so far and then toiled up the steps (I wanted to take the funicular but Carol said that it was a waste of money) to the Sacré Coeur where it stood shining in the sun like some gorgeous eastern palace instead of the quite modern church that it really is. We circled round to the Place du Tertre, which was looking very picturesque that morning, full of artists painting busily and people sitting outside cafés in the sun, round to the little street where our restaurant is. This little cobbled street goes winding down towards Paris, but at the top is La Bonne Fourchette, two steps up off the street, behind a little railing.

From THE PICTURE.

Heidi Grows Up

In 1961, Jane Shaw reworked Charles Tritten's Heidi Grows Up for very young readers. The book was lavishly illustrated by Jean Howe. The Heidi books were originally published in the 1880s by Johanna Spyri. Heidi Grows Up was penned by Tritten, her English translator, years after her death and published in 1938. The 1961 version is also credited to Tritten, with "Retold by Jane Shaw" as a subtitle. Not surprisingly, the book met with mixed reactions from Heidi devotees. 

Jane Shaw Guide: Amanda's Spies

Amanda’s Spies is a short story that was published in the Collins Girls’ Annual 1941. It was to be the first of many Jane Shaw stories to be printed in various annuals over the next twenty-two years. The story is set during World War II in Scotland, more precisely on Loch Ard near Aberfoyle, and stars two girls, Elizabeth and Amanda (their surnames are not given). To escape the horrors of the war, Elizabeth has been sent to stay with Amanda in this out-of-the-way place and is grateful for the relative safety that the remote location offers. Amanda is a more adventurous type and wishes to emulate the achievements of a woman she has read about in the newspaper who reportedly captured a Nazi spy single-handed. Riding around the loch in their dinghy, they are caught in the rain and decide to seek shelter at Larachbeg, the house of a local school mistress, Miss Potts, known to the girls as Potty. No one has seen the woman for some time and the girls believe she is off in the army, although she is also known to have inherited a healthy legacy and may be off on holiday somewhere. With Nazi spies on the brain, Amanda and Elizabeth are shocked to hear a voice calling out in German as they approach the house. After considerable confusion, it is revealed that Miss Potts is holed up in the house training parrots to carry messages. Carrier pigeons, she explains to the girls, can be caught and their messages read, but her parrots memorise the messages and only reveal them after hearing a password. The parrots are also taught some German words to confuse any enemy agent that might capture them. When the girls voice their scepticism, Miss Potts admits sadly that this unlikely scheme has so far only met with moderate success, to put it lightly. The story rounds off with a sharp and comical exchange between Amanda and one of the parrots.

This would be the only appearance of Elizabeth and Amanda in Jane Shaw’s work, and also the only time that Loch Ard was used as a setting for one of her stories. Amanda’s Spies is not the most memorable of the author’s tales, but it is a good solid story that shows signs of great things to come and also paved the way for her to become one of the most important contributors to Collins annuals for children of all ages for the next two decades.

The Picture (illustration)

The only illustration from The Picture, published in Susan and Friends: The Jane Shaw Companion. Jill and Carol examine the picture and wonder how much it is worth. Carol is the one holding the painting.

Review of The Picture

The Picture is an undated manuscript found among Jean Evans’ papers and published posthumously in Susan and Friends. It was most likely written in the early 1960s not long after Crooks Tour. It tells the story of a day in the life of two friends, Jill and Carol, during their six-month stay in Paris. The story is told in the first person by Jill, and begins with the two girls meeting up and deciding to go to their favourite restaurant, La Bonne Fourchette, up at the Montmartre. This establishment is run by the widowed Madame Legrand and her daughter Angélique. Outside the restaurant, local artists hawk their paintings to tourists. Although Madame’s food is delicious, she does not turn a profit because she takes pity on the penniless artists and provides them with hearty meals. Among the artists is Jean-Jacques Durant, who has taken a fancy to Angélique, but cannot marry her because of his precarious financial situation. The Legrands on this day have reached a critical stage in their lives and have decided to sell a painting left by Angélique’s father, which he told them they could only sell if they were starving. An American tourist has offered sixty thousand francs for it and will be passing by later to pick it up. Carol, who is living with the family of a Monsieur Bossuet, a famous art dealer, suspects that the painting is actually a Utrillo and decides to take it to the dealer’s shop across town. The girls also decide to take along one of Jean-Jacques’s paintings for good measure. After a hot and bothersome trip to the gallery, the girls run into an art theft and short adventures follow. Of course, there is a happy ending with a little twist and wedding bells are on the horizon.

I really enjoyed this story. It has many of the elements of a typical Jane Shaw tale, and yet it lacks a few as well. First of all, it has the likeable characters. Carol, Jill and the Legrands are generous, helpful people and the reader wants things to work out for them. The description of a summer’s day in Paris is well depicted and makes you want to visit the place. However, two key elements are missing: humour and conflict. In most of Jane Shaw’s books, there is humour, provided by the offbeat or “oddball” character. Sara, Dizzy, Susan and Ricky are slightly out of tune with their environment – sometimes exasperating – providing the humour. The Gascoignes, bossy prefects like Hermione Pennington-Smith and the numerous crooks that appear provide the conflict. Even the Penny books, which are more toned down, have this feature, as we see Penny at odds with Kenneth and Elspeth and then gradually getting the better of her sister Jill’s acid tongue. But these elements are missing from this story because the two friends are too similar. The only thing about Carol that Jill criticizes is that she likes to keep their spending under control and insists on taking the Métro rather than riding around in a taxi. Apart from that, the girls are almost identical. In a short story, there is no problem in this. After all, there is nothing wrong with having a friend that is similar to you. But I suspect that Jane Shaw had bigger plans for these two girls. It is my opinion that they were the prototype for Dizzy and Alison.

So, how did I arrive at this conclusion? There are many similarities and also hints at the date of the manuscript. The story appears to have been written in the early 1960s. The girls are clearly older than schoolgirls (just like Dizzy and Alison) and there is the romantic element that had been consistently omitted from stories predating that period. In 1961’s Family Trouble and 1963’s Jumble Sale, romance began to creep into the stories. Also like the Dizzy and Alison novels, The Picture is told in the first person and the first story is set in Paris. Following the success of Crooks Tour in 1962, I imagine Jane Shaw wished to hold on to that audience and this resulted in a story about slightly older girls. However, as mentioned above, the girls in The Picture were too similar for a full-length novel, so Carol was replaced by the zanier Dizzy and Jill became Alison when Anything Can Happen was published in 1964.

Of course, this is all speculation on my part. Why the story was written and whether it was solicited by a publisher remains a mystery. However that may be, it is an excellent piece of writing, tightly plotted and enjoyable. I give it 9 out of 10.

Jane Shaw Guide: Judy Redfern

Described on the first page of Northmead Nuisance as little, round, merry and red-haired, Judy is a new girl in the Fourth Form at Northmead. She surprises the other girls by telling them that going to a boarding school has been her lifelong dream; she is looking forward to joining clubs and getting involved in the school play. Unfortunately, her unbridled enthusiasm is not matched by talent. She is clumsy, careless and accident prone. On her first visit to Appleacre, she falls into the pond, and on the second she plunges into a quarry. When put in charge of scenery for the school play she sends it all crashing down during rehearsals. In a hurry to get to the hockey game, she leaves a tap running with the plug in the sink, causing a mini flood in the school and her friend Gail to slip and break her wrist. After Gail makes some vague predictions while reading tea leaves, which apparently come true, Judy believes that her friend has mystical powers and avidly studies the questions in an exam paper that Gail pretends to see from afar using second sight, resulting in her coming top of the class in History with a 92. However, she innocently spills the beans and blurts out to the teacher that she knew the questions in advance, resulting in her and her friends getting no points. Despite her blundering behaviour, which always makes her bright red with embarrassment, she is liked by the other girls and is quickly accepted into Nicky and Kay’s circle of friends. Judy is fourteen years old at the start of term, and celebrates her birthday just before the half-term holiday. Before moving to Northmead, she studied at a day school in London called St. Mary’s. Judy has a little brother called David and her birthday is on the 3rd of November.

Guide to Jane Shaw

With the beginning of a new month comes a new feature to the blog: the Guide to Jane Shaw. So far, we have had reviews, artwork and quotes. Now comes what might be called a Jane Shaw Encyclopedia. The plan is to prepare a complete guide to the works and life of Jane Shaw, providing details about characters, places and plots in the oeuvre. This, of course, will take a very long time, as there are hundreds of entries to be written. Today we will begin with a character from Northmead Nuisance, which I have just finished reading.

Susan at School illustration

Susan, Midge and Tessa in Miss Phillimore's study explaining the sewing up of the Lower Fifth's pyjamas.

Quote of the Day

I fastened the gate into the field with great care, went in and kicked off my muddy shoes in the porch, let the dogs out of the kitchen where they were barking like mad things and then padded upstairs to Michael's room. I could hear Mrs. Finch singing to herself in the study above the noise of the hoover. With any luck, I thought, I'll get some more elevenses when Michael gets his beef-tea at whatever time he wakens up.

I tip-toed into the room and stopped dead in amazement. Michael had wakened up; in fact, he had got up; the bed-clothes were flung back and the room was empty.

From WILLOW GREEN MYSTERY, Chapter 6, Lost Boy.