REVIEW: Up a Road Slowly
I've just finished reading this book, so this may not be that considered a review. I began it last night, stopped for a good night' sleep and completed it over breakfast.
Up a Road Slowly: Irene Hunt
I remember that I found out about this Newberry Award winner online, but not precisely where or in what context it was recommended. I'd certainly recommend it, it's a coming of age story, slightly in the vein of L.M. Montgomery, with good writing to savour.
I will try not to overstate the similarity with Anne of Green Gables in particular, although the naming of a special patch of the woods The Cathedral of the Four Silver Birches is an Anneish touch, if nothing is, but on her mother's death, seven year old Julie and her brother Chris are sent from the home in 'town' in which thy have alwways lived some miles outside to the country to live with their Aunt Cordelia (!) and Uncle Haskell. The latter is an irresponsible alcoholic and seen as a sufficiently bad influence that, early on, Chris is taken off to boarding school. Julie remains under the much better influence of her Aunt Cordelia, the local school mistress, who is determined on making a neat creature of her hasty niece and getting her to think of higher things. Partly because the two are similar in some regards and different in others, the impetuous child and her aunt don't always get on but Cordelia is fair and has a sense of humour. Julie gradually carries some points about her aunt's inflexibility and when her father remarries and she has a choice, she realises that her home - her haven - is with her aunt, living a quieter county life that to others at her high school seems slow. Of course, being brought up to appreciate Shakespeare, she has her Juliet moment over a boy her family disapproves of, but grows out of it.
I overuse this word, but it was a lovely read. Julie is a slightly more modern Anne (as far as I can tell, the story is set in the US in the middle of the twentieth century - although I disliked the cover of my paperback, which shows her in modern clothes). She has a strong sense of injustice, and although she has a little too much temper, pride/vanity and, as a child, far too little compassion, she takes her failings to heart. I really liked Cordelia - although there's a lot of pairing off, we neve get a resolution for her and old beau Jonathan, although I fiercly hope that, once Julie left for university, they did get quietly marry and have many happy years. Uncle Haskell, his weaknesses, charm and occasional noble moments is probably the most interesting, but not sympathetic, character. It's a charming story - the last coming of age story that I read (Y Llyffant [The Toad] by Ray Evans was a literary autobiography (?) written for adults, and although it was driven by the story of travelling the same road of growing up that Hunt uses in her title, my chief impression was that most of the boys and men the protagonist grew up amongst were sex-mad. So, this - written for girls - is a lot more wholesome. There's an universality to it, to the story of the indulged, impetuous creature being given a strictish, old-fashioned upbringing that she grows to apprecite. To return to Montogmery, fans of Anne and Emily at their least sentimental will enjoy this.
Up a Road Slowly: Irene Hunt
I remember that I found out about this Newberry Award winner online, but not precisely where or in what context it was recommended. I'd certainly recommend it, it's a coming of age story, slightly in the vein of L.M. Montgomery, with good writing to savour.
I will try not to overstate the similarity with Anne of Green Gables in particular, although the naming of a special patch of the woods The Cathedral of the Four Silver Birches is an Anneish touch, if nothing is, but on her mother's death, seven year old Julie and her brother Chris are sent from the home in 'town' in which thy have alwways lived some miles outside to the country to live with their Aunt Cordelia (!) and Uncle Haskell. The latter is an irresponsible alcoholic and seen as a sufficiently bad influence that, early on, Chris is taken off to boarding school. Julie remains under the much better influence of her Aunt Cordelia, the local school mistress, who is determined on making a neat creature of her hasty niece and getting her to think of higher things. Partly because the two are similar in some regards and different in others, the impetuous child and her aunt don't always get on but Cordelia is fair and has a sense of humour. Julie gradually carries some points about her aunt's inflexibility and when her father remarries and she has a choice, she realises that her home - her haven - is with her aunt, living a quieter county life that to others at her high school seems slow. Of course, being brought up to appreciate Shakespeare, she has her Juliet moment over a boy her family disapproves of, but grows out of it.
I overuse this word, but it was a lovely read. Julie is a slightly more modern Anne (as far as I can tell, the story is set in the US in the middle of the twentieth century - although I disliked the cover of my paperback, which shows her in modern clothes). She has a strong sense of injustice, and although she has a little too much temper, pride/vanity and, as a child, far too little compassion, she takes her failings to heart. I really liked Cordelia - although there's a lot of pairing off, we neve get a resolution for her and old beau Jonathan, although I fiercly hope that, once Julie left for university, they did get quietly marry and have many happy years. Uncle Haskell, his weaknesses, charm and occasional noble moments is probably the most interesting, but not sympathetic, character. It's a charming story - the last coming of age story that I read (Y Llyffant [The Toad] by Ray Evans was a literary autobiography (?) written for adults, and although it was driven by the story of travelling the same road of growing up that Hunt uses in her title, my chief impression was that most of the boys and men the protagonist grew up amongst were sex-mad. So, this - written for girls - is a lot more wholesome. There's an universality to it, to the story of the indulged, impetuous creature being given a strictish, old-fashioned upbringing that she grows to apprecite. To return to Montogmery, fans of Anne and Emily at their least sentimental will enjoy this.