Green Knowe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Green Knowe is a series of six books written by Lucy M. Boston. They feature a very old house (based on the real life place where she lived, The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire). The books mostly feature a boy called Toseland (Tolly for short) and his great-grandmother, Mrs Oldknowe. The house is inhabited (though not haunted) by the spirits of children who lived there in ages past. They are not ghosts; more than one of those that Tolly knows as children later grow into adults. Other supernatural entities which appear in the series include the demonic tree-spirit, Green Noah - a large tree who grows on the grounds of the manor house - and an animated statue of St. Christopher.
The books are:
- The Children of Green Knowe
- The Treasure of Green Knowe (aka The Chimneys of Green Knowe)
- The River at Green Knowe
- A Stranger at Green Knowe
- An Enemy at Green Knowe
- The Stones of Green Knowe
[edit] Synopses
The Children of Green Knowe
The Children of Green Knowe is the first of six books written by Lucy M. Boston about the fictional manor house of Green Knowe (which is based on The Manor, Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire).
The novel concerns the return of a young boy, Toseland, to the magical house of Green Knowe. The house is tremendously old, dating from the Norman Conquest, and has been continually inhabited by Toseland’s ancestors, the d’Aulneaux, later Oldknow, family. Toseland crosses floodwaters by night to reach the house and his Grandmother, Linnet Oldknow, who addresses him by his ‘proper’ name: Tolly. Over the course of the novel, Tolly explores the rich history of his family, which pervades the house like magic. He begins to encounter what appear to be the spirits of three of his forebears; Toby, Alexander and an earlier Linnet, who lived in the reign of Charles II. These meetings are far from frightening; they continually reinforce the sense of belonging that the house embodies. The children are not ghosts; rather, Tolly is experiencing a sort of time-travel when he visits them, or they inhabit a place outside time. In the evenings, Mrs. Oldknow entertains Tolly with stories about the house and the children who lived and live there. Surrounded by the rivers and the floodwater, sealed within its ancient walls, Green Knowe is a polder; a sanctuary of peace and stability in a world of unnerving chance. Without being ostensibly religious, there is a sense in which Green Knowe is a holy place; where the deep roots of the past are celebrated and protected.
The book was adapted for television in 1986 in the BBC production The Children of Green Knowe, starring Alec Christie as Tolly and Daphne Oxenford as Mrs Oldknow.
The Chimneys of Green Knowe
The Chimneys of Green Knowe also features Tolly, who has returned to Green Knowe for the Easter holidays. As she mends a patchwork quilt, Mrs Oldknow continues telling Tolly stories about the previous inhabitants of the house. This time, her stories concern Susan Oldknow, a blind girl who lived at Green Knowe during the English Regency, and the close bond of friendship that developed between her and a young black page, Jacob, brought back from the West Indies by Susan’s father, Captain Oldknow. The plot also concerns the whereabouts of the jewels of Maria Oldknow, which may or may not have been stolen by the unscrupulous butler Caxton.
The River at Green Knowe
In The River at Green Knowe, Mrs Oldknow and Tolly are absent. It is summer, and the house has been rented by two old ladies: the archaeologist Doctor Biggin and her friend, Miss Bun. Doctor Biggin has invited her niece Ida and two ‘displaced’ refugee children, Oskar and Ping, to stay with her.
The children arrive and begin to explore the river and canals round Green Knowe by canoe. The magic of Green Knowe is much more evidently fantastic in this novel: the children see flying horses, meet a giant, and witness a bronze-age moon ceremony. The subtext, of homeless children being protected and healed by the house and its enchantments, is particularly strong.
A Stranger at Green Knowe
The Chinese boy, Ping, has returned to Green Knowe alone to stay with Mrs Oldknow. At the zoo, he is fascinated by the giant Gorilla Hanno, with whom he as a refugee feels a powerful bond. After Hanno escapes from the zoo, Ping befriends him. The early chapters of the book detail Hanno's life as a young gorilla in Africa and the trauma and cruelty of his capture with great compassion and finesse. This novel won the Carnegie Medal.
An Enemy at Green Knowe
This novel takes a darker, even Satanic turn. Both Tolly and Ping are staying at Green Knowe. Mrs Oldknow tells them the story of Doctor Vogel, a tutor and necromancer who came to a diabolical end at Green Knowe centuries before. The next day, Professor Melanie D Powers appears, on the hunt for Vogel's occult papers. Professor Powers' interest is far from academic, however, and a mounting confrontation between the holy magic of Green Knowe and the forces of Evil commences. An Enemy at Green Knowe is a sinister and exciting entry in the series.
The Stones of Green Knowe
This novel, the last in the sequence, tells the story of Roger d'Aulneaux, the son of the original Norman settler who built the manor house of Green Knowe. Whilst exploring the overgrown countryside, Roger discovers two throne-like stones which periodically allow him to temporarily access, first the previous, turbulent time of the Conquest, then the later periods of Linnet, Susan and Tolly. A mood of melancholy fills this final novel with the realisation that time must pass and things inevitably change.
[edit] Adaptation
The Children of Green Knowe was adapted into a BBC drama serial comprising 4 episodes in 1986. It was broadcast between on BBC 1 between Wednesday 26th November and concluded on the 17th December 1986. The dramatisation was adapted from Boston's novel by John Stadelman. A Stranger At Green Knowe (1961) was awarded the Carnegie Medal.
