1. A Job
for Susan (1969) is the eleventh and last book in the Susan series and the last
book Jane Shaw ever published. She did begin a new story, Susan in Trouble, but
the manuscript was abandoned after a few tentative pages. In that story, Susan
and Midge were to go to the USA.
2. A Job
for Susan recycles many elements of past Susan books. Indeed, readers often
confuse it with No Trouble for Susan. Both stories are set in Wichwood at
Christmas time, with the children helping out a local shopkeeper in difficulty.
In both stories, the ghastly Gascoignes are thankfully absent and a new nemesis
steps in: Sir Arthur Symes, a.k.a. the Wicked Baronet or Bad Bart.
3. Susan is
no longer living with the Carmichaels. Her parents have returned from Africa
and have rented a house called Owl Cottage, not far from the Carmichael residence.
4. Tessa
Marshall, Susan and Midge’s rather dim but likeable friend from St. Ronan’s, features prominently in the story. When Susan hears that Tessa’s grandmother
has gone away and that Tessa will have to spend the holidays with her Aunt
Rachel, who lives in deepest Devon, she invites her friend to stay with her in
Wichwood.
5. At the
beginning of the story, Charlotte announces yet another change in her planned
career. Her dreams of becoming a nurse, cook and archaeologist having been
thwarted in previous stories, in Where is Susan? Charlotte had made up her mind
to become an artist. However, after studying the works of the Old Masters, she feels that she will never be very good and decides to set her sights on studying the
history of art at the Courtland Institute. But when she has some success with her
paintings in AJFS, she decides to be an artist again.
6. In this
book, Tessa and Bill are given more prominent roles. They were hardly even mentioned
in the previous two stories (Susan’s Kind Heart and Where is Susan?) but here Bill’s
financial problems are the focus of the story. At school, goaded by an
unpleasant teacher, Bill rashly promises to donate the massive sum of ten
pounds to Oxfam and now has to spend the holidays trying to raise the money.
7. As
usual, Charlotte has no shortage of admirers. Much to Susan’s surprise, one of
Charlotte’s admirers takes a fancy to Tessa instead! Being a Susan story,
nothing comes of this budding romance.
8. This
story features the pompous artist, Tertius Smith, who creates abstracts, such
as Mr. Egg.
9. Now that
Susan’s mother is back, the role of Aunt Lucy is greatly diminished and she
only appears when preparing meals and has apparently lost her enthusiasm for
crazy new hobbies that she had early in the series.
10. There
are no internal illustrations. The front cover was drawn by Roger Hall, who
would become a prominent illustrator of children’s book in the 1970s.
11. There
is yet another cryptic dedication at the front of the book:
FOR
Flora Cohen
WHO ALWAYS
WATCHES THE DATES
In Susan
and Friends, Jane Shaw’s son, Ian Evans, explains that Flora Cohen was the
sister of Sylvia Klugmen, who founded the Children’s Book Shop in Johannesburg.
The two sisters, Jane Shaw and another shop employee, Norah Hampton, became a “circle
of loyal friends”.
12. A Job for Susan was also the title of Chapter 1 of Susan Rushes In.
