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mcsangel2's review against another edition
4.0
My mother passed away two weeks ago, so possibly reading this book now was a poor life choice. However, it does strongly underline my own current feelings about having lost the life I had when I was younger, and to truly say that you can't go home again. Really beautifully written.
freyas_bookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
caroparr's review against another edition
3.0
A middle-class English family falls apart when World War II breaks out, dispersing family members and leading to the mother's breakdown and the father's death in an air raid. The focus is on the four children and their emotional states. They are misunderstood by most of the adults around them, showing Streatfeild's remarkable understanding of children's inner lives and feelings. Occasionally didactic, but it's still a pleasure to visit her world view again.
lacywolfe's review against another edition
4.0
I hopped on the Booktube bandwagon with Streatfeild's Saplings. Although I've never read Ballet Shoes, I had a friend who absolutely loved it, so I wanted to try her adult work. I particularly appreciated the commentary following the story as a tool to further understand what Streatfeild was trying to accomplish. I enjoyed following the children as they grew up and my anger at their Aunt Lindsey has not subsided. Also of interest is the examination of the different roles of women during the time period.
souloftherose's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
First published in 1945 and although the main characters of this novel are all children this is an adult novel rather than a children’s novel and quite different to the children’s stories by Streatfield that I’ve read ([b:Ballet Shoes|10444|Ballet Shoes (Shoes, #1)|Noel Streatfeild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388180362s/10444.jpg|1505465] and [b:White Boots|2878637|White Boots|Noel Streatfeild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327488856s/2878637.jpg|1129150]).
The novel follows the four children of the Wiltshire family, a comfortably middle-class family, from the eve of WWII breaking out through to 1944. At first the four children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) are shown to be reasonably content and secure in their parents’ affections on a family holiday to the sea-side. But gradually we become aware through the conversations of the adults that change is coming; the family will be moving out of London to stay with their grandparents in the countryside as bombing is anticipated in London and the eldest children will be sent to boarding school as the grandparents can’t really manage all four children plus the additional evacuees they’ve been asked to take on. And as the war progresses there are further disruptions and tragedies for the children (and adults) to cope with.
Streatfeild certainly had a gift for writing from a child’s perspective and especially in describing how a child’s inner thoughts and feelings can be overlooked or misunderstood by even well-meaning and loving adults. She also had a gift for appreciating the psychological impact of the disruption and disturbance of war on otherwise comfortably off children in a way I wouldn’t have thought was so well understood at the time this novel was written. In that sense this is not a happy novel - none of the children are unaffected by what they’ve experienced - but it doesn’t end entirely without hope for them to process these experiences and recover from them. The book almost seems to be written as a plea for other grown-ups to acknowledge the psychological effects of the war on British children - yes, they won't have faced food shortages or the effects of war in the same way children in occupied Europe will have, but the effects of what they have suffered are still very real and need to be ackowledged.
Strongly recommended and definitely deserving of being republished.
First published in 1945 and although the main characters of this novel are all children this is an adult novel rather than a children’s novel and quite different to the children’s stories by Streatfield that I’ve read ([b:Ballet Shoes|10444|Ballet Shoes (Shoes, #1)|Noel Streatfeild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388180362s/10444.jpg|1505465] and [b:White Boots|2878637|White Boots|Noel Streatfeild|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327488856s/2878637.jpg|1129150]).
The novel follows the four children of the Wiltshire family, a comfortably middle-class family, from the eve of WWII breaking out through to 1944. At first the four children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) are shown to be reasonably content and secure in their parents’ affections on a family holiday to the sea-side. But gradually we become aware through the conversations of the adults that change is coming; the family will be moving out of London to stay with their grandparents in the countryside as bombing is anticipated in London and the eldest children will be sent to boarding school as the grandparents can’t really manage all four children plus the additional evacuees they’ve been asked to take on. And as the war progresses there are further disruptions and tragedies for the children (and adults) to cope with.
Streatfeild certainly had a gift for writing from a child’s perspective and especially in describing how a child’s inner thoughts and feelings can be overlooked or misunderstood by even well-meaning and loving adults. She also had a gift for appreciating the psychological impact of the disruption and disturbance of war on otherwise comfortably off children in a way I wouldn’t have thought was so well understood at the time this novel was written. In that sense this is not a happy novel - none of the children are unaffected by what they’ve experienced - but it doesn’t end entirely without hope for them to process these experiences and recover from them. The book almost seems to be written as a plea for other grown-ups to acknowledge the psychological effects of the war on British children - yes, they won't have faced food shortages or the effects of war in the same way children in occupied Europe will have, but the effects of what they have suffered are still very real and need to be ackowledged.
Strongly recommended and definitely deserving of being republished.
wanderlustsleeping's review
3.0
3.5 stars
At first, I wasn't sure what to think of this book. A lot of times so many of the characters are so frustrating, but I think that's the point. After all, the kids are just children, and they're tossed here and there and affected by the war and trying to cope in the only way they know how. Meanwhile, so many of the adults, their own mother included, are putting their own wants first.
I really felt all of the children's different personalities while reading, and that made their individual reactions and consequences to what was going on in their lives that much more heartbreaking. They were all just trying to cope. And they're all forever changed in deep ways.
Now having finished it, I think it's more subtle storytelling was quite well done.
At first, I wasn't sure what to think of this book. A lot of times so many of the characters are so frustrating, but I think that's the point. After all, the kids are just children, and they're tossed here and there and affected by the war and trying to cope in the only way they know how. Meanwhile, so many of the adults, their own mother included, are putting their own wants first.
I really felt all of the children's different personalities while reading, and that made their individual reactions and consequences to what was going on in their lives that much more heartbreaking. They were all just trying to cope. And they're all forever changed in deep ways.
Now having finished it, I think it's more subtle storytelling was quite well done.
mhall's review
3.0
Persephone Press republishes forgotten popular classics from women authors, mostly from the early 20th century. It's a neat idea, and the books are put together carefully; they all feature endpapers of forgotten vintage fabric patterns created by women designers.
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild was one of the works republished by Persephone. Streatfeild is famous for [b:Ballet Shoes|10444|Ballet Shoes|Noel Streatfeild|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166205099s/10444.jpg|1505465] and its sequels, children's book originally written in the 1930s. Before she started writing children's books, however, she wrote novels for adults, and Saplings is one of her adult novels. Written in 1945, it deals with the effects of World War II on a nice, middle-class British family with four children. She does an incredible job of documenting the minute-by-minute mood swings that happen among siblings on holiday at the seashore, and in establishing the characters of the four siblings - two boys and two girls - and their parents and extended relatives.
Anyway, they're a nice family, and the war wrecks them, in small ways and large. It's sad when people die, but it's also sad when the small dreams and hopes of children aren't allowed to flourish because of the neglect and sacrifice required by the war. The title of the book reflects the weird tenderness of how children blossom and flourish, and how easy it is for that hopefulness and creativity to be stamped out.
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild was one of the works republished by Persephone. Streatfeild is famous for [b:Ballet Shoes|10444|Ballet Shoes|Noel Streatfeild|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166205099s/10444.jpg|1505465] and its sequels, children's book originally written in the 1930s. Before she started writing children's books, however, she wrote novels for adults, and Saplings is one of her adult novels. Written in 1945, it deals with the effects of World War II on a nice, middle-class British family with four children. She does an incredible job of documenting the minute-by-minute mood swings that happen among siblings on holiday at the seashore, and in establishing the characters of the four siblings - two boys and two girls - and their parents and extended relatives.
Anyway, they're a nice family, and the war wrecks them, in small ways and large. It's sad when people die, but it's also sad when the small dreams and hopes of children aren't allowed to flourish because of the neglect and sacrifice required by the war. The title of the book reflects the weird tenderness of how children blossom and flourish, and how easy it is for that hopefulness and creativity to be stamped out.
sdeemoore's review against another edition
3.0
One of the most modern takes on WWII and its influence on children.