REVIEW: Torridons' Triumph
Torridons’ Triumph: Marie Muir Collins 1967
This is the first book by Muir that I’ve read - I think there were others by her in the shop where I saw this, but I decided to just buy one as a taster - and it was a really enjoyable and satisfying story. It falls into that sub-genre where a family of youngsters must band together to make enough money to keep the family going. Here, the Torridons’ widower father has fallen seriously ill and their ship yard, home and beloved ship the Cormorant are in danger. The threat of Torquil not being able to continue studying to become a doctor and Ivor no longer enjoying the standard of education he’s used to is also at the back of their minds.
They are, as I mentioned, the randomly named Torquil and Ivor, and in between those two brothers, the lynch-pin and real heroine, Jan. She’s left school and been helping in the house and in her father’s office. Like her brothers, she’s an adept sailor, and so believes that if they charter our the Cormorant with one of them crewing and set up a sailing school, they may be able to stave off their father’s sleeping partner, ‘Bogey’ Bingam, who is threatening worse than the people who keep sending bills. To some extent, the older Torridons’ have been forced into trying these schemes by impetuous Ivor.
The trouble for Jan is that these boys don’t think much of the implications of the sailing school beyond the sailing. Young and inexperienced, Jan has to become a careful housekeeper. The school’s students are a mix of old friends and new. There are girls chasing after Torquil’s attention (for this is definitely the age of the teenager), plenty of opportunities for young Ivor to be tactless and a continual series of problems for proud Jan to overcome.
The sailing stuff seemed convincing to me, but the story’s main focus is on the tensions and pressures in the Torridons’ cottage and, when Jan gets to go there, on the Cormorant. Their first students are rich Americans Lucilla (boy-mad, catty) and Ruth (lame, and, at first caustic and withdrawn). Jan’s growing friendship with Ruth is the heart of the story, although there’s also a chance for Lucilla to show a nicer side towards the other girls. It is also a summer where Torquil and Ivor learn to value their sister, a summer of hard work and great worry (the title is perhaps there to reassure readers through the lowest moments) and a summer where Jan does some growing up and her horizons expand because of it.
I look forward to reading more by Muir - I understand from this article there are more Torridons books and other books she wrote, some under a pseudonym. She does a nifty job of setting out the action, the characters' feelings and stepping back to give a broader view when needed. There is a bit of a life in peril and a chequebook saving the day, but it’s within the bounds of credibility given the sailing setting. Well worth reading.
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/122343.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.
This is the first book by Muir that I’ve read - I think there were others by her in the shop where I saw this, but I decided to just buy one as a taster - and it was a really enjoyable and satisfying story. It falls into that sub-genre where a family of youngsters must band together to make enough money to keep the family going. Here, the Torridons’ widower father has fallen seriously ill and their ship yard, home and beloved ship the Cormorant are in danger. The threat of Torquil not being able to continue studying to become a doctor and Ivor no longer enjoying the standard of education he’s used to is also at the back of their minds.
They are, as I mentioned, the randomly named Torquil and Ivor, and in between those two brothers, the lynch-pin and real heroine, Jan. She’s left school and been helping in the house and in her father’s office. Like her brothers, she’s an adept sailor, and so believes that if they charter our the Cormorant with one of them crewing and set up a sailing school, they may be able to stave off their father’s sleeping partner, ‘Bogey’ Bingam, who is threatening worse than the people who keep sending bills. To some extent, the older Torridons’ have been forced into trying these schemes by impetuous Ivor.
The trouble for Jan is that these boys don’t think much of the implications of the sailing school beyond the sailing. Young and inexperienced, Jan has to become a careful housekeeper. The school’s students are a mix of old friends and new. There are girls chasing after Torquil’s attention (for this is definitely the age of the teenager), plenty of opportunities for young Ivor to be tactless and a continual series of problems for proud Jan to overcome.
The sailing stuff seemed convincing to me, but the story’s main focus is on the tensions and pressures in the Torridons’ cottage and, when Jan gets to go there, on the Cormorant. Their first students are rich Americans Lucilla (boy-mad, catty) and Ruth (lame, and, at first caustic and withdrawn). Jan’s growing friendship with Ruth is the heart of the story, although there’s also a chance for Lucilla to show a nicer side towards the other girls. It is also a summer where Torquil and Ivor learn to value their sister, a summer of hard work and great worry (the title is perhaps there to reassure readers through the lowest moments) and a summer where Jan does some growing up and her horizons expand because of it.
I look forward to reading more by Muir - I understand from this article there are more Torridons books and other books she wrote, some under a pseudonym. She does a nifty job of setting out the action, the characters' feelings and stepping back to give a broader view when needed. There is a bit of a life in peril and a chequebook saving the day, but it’s within the bounds of credibility given the sailing setting. Well worth reading.
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/122343.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.