The Far-Distant Oxus
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The Far-Distant Oxus is a children’s novel of 1937, written by Katharine Hull (1921-1977)[1] and Pamela Whitlock (1920-1982)[2]. The title is taken from Matthew Arnold’s poem Sohrab and Rustum.
Hull and Whitlock met when they were schoolchildren (fourteen and fifteen respectively), whilst sheltering from a thunderstorm [3]. They discovered shared interests and decided to write a story about ponies set on Exmoor [4]. They planned out the entire book and wrote alternate chapters, exchanging them afterwards to edit [5]. The story follows the model of the books of Arthur Ransome, describing the school holiday adventures of children of prosperous families, centred on outdoor activity and a vividly imagined landscape: Ransome had boats and Lake Windermere, The Far-Distant Oxus had ponies and Exmoor. Whitlock sent the manuscript to Ransome in March 1937; he in turn brought it to his publisher Jonathan Cape, saying that he had "the best children's book of 1937" for him.[6] Cape published the book in the same format as Swallows and Amazons, and persuaded Arthur Ransome write the introduction. The book, with illustrations by Whitlock, was indeed successful; contemporary reviewers were impressed and critics today are still positive. The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books comments that it is 'as absorbing as Ransome at his best' [7]. The two authors followed it with Escape to Persia (1938), The Oxus in Summer (1939) and Crowns (1947).[8]
There is evidently still interest The Far-Distant Oxus: it is being republished by Fidra Books in 2008.
[edit] References
- The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English, by Victor Watson, Cambridge University Press, 2001
- The Life of Arthur Ransome, by Hugh Brogan, Jonathan Cape, 1984
- The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature, by Humprey Carpenter and Mari Prichard, Oxford: OUP, 1984
- Where Texts and Children Meet, by Eve Bearne and Victor Watson, Routledge, 1999
