I read An Episode of Sparrows when I was a child growing up in post-World War II Liverpool. It was first published in 1955 when I was eight-years-old. It's said you can't go back, but I'm convinced this book is as good as I remember it. I've ordered a copy and look forward to immersing myself in it as I did as the ten-year-old searching for a bright future among the bomb sites and food shortages of post-war U.K.AFTER RE-READINGI couldn’t have been more than ten-years-old when I first read 'An Episode of Sparrows', but I remembered with great fondness the feisty waif, Lovejoy, and her gargantuan efforts to make a secret flower garden in a hidden corner of a London bombsite in a downtrodden section of the British capital. I remembered her temporary guardian, Vincent, with his impractical ideas of running a “first-class restaurant” and his epic struggles to prevent it from sinking into bankruptcy in an area where people could barely afford a few pence to buy fish and chips wrapped in newspaper let alone pay for a three-course French dinner. I remembered the two wealthy unmarried sisters who lived in the posh square that lay at the border of Lovejoy’s working-class neighbourhood. I remembered the clash of class and culture when the sisters’ and Lovejoy’s worlds collided.But I hadn’t remembered the subtle sophistication of ideas flying off the pages concerning morality, religion, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. Like all good novels — written for readers of any age — those issues are understated. I certainly can’t remember being conscious of them as a ten-year-old. However, like any effective work of fiction, those underlying issues and ideas must certainly have made an impression. I obviously can’t know for sure, but I couldn’t help feeling as I re-read ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ some fifty years later that the book must have had a profound effect on me. I recognized in Rumer Godden’s story my own abomination of class discrimination in any form and a derring-do style of determination that sometimes misfires and/or backfires. I think I must have related very closely to the children in the book because I was reminded of the misery of growing up poor, However I was also reminded of moments of intense joy in small events that made life seem not only worthwhile but wonderful.Apart from lucid realism coupled with a sophistication of ideas in ‘An Episode of Sparrows,’ the book has a suspenseful plot that sweeps the reader along. Every one of the disparate characters is finely drawn, and the descriptions of post-war London — from rubble strewn bombed-out houses to the sparkling exclusive shops of Bond Street — bring the 1950s city vividly to life. The book is also a lesson in excellent writing, including vocabulary that might challenge some adults. Although written for children, ‘An Episode of Sparrows’ makes for an engaging and thought-provoking experience for everyone.
Rumer Godden hasn't let me down yet, though this story was a little harder to get into than I usually find with her books. Despite being a "quiet" story, it ended up keeping me fully engrossed and making me engage in that embarrassing thinking/talking about the characters as if they're real people... Seriously, the character development is amazing. Also...boy, I am I impressed with the subtle force of Godden's themes. She never comes out and says anything, but they hit you with such strength and clarity.My one complaint is not with the book but with the marketing. This was re-published, at least, as a children's book...but it's really not. I'm not sure how it was originally marketed, but the huge chunks in adult viewpoints, the rapid point of view changes, and the narrative voice which constantly looks down on the situation with adult perspective definitely marked this as adult for me. While the subject matter is pretty mild, there are a few points (again, these told in adult point of view) which would raise a lot of questions in a reader under 12 or so. Even teen readers over 12 would probably have a hard time with the style. So... I'll highly recommend this to adults and young adults who like following quiet but intense stories about younger characters.
What do You think about An Episode Of Sparrows (2004)?
Oh, noble poverty! The main characters of this novel scrabble to survive and even to thrive, though they lack sufficient resources. This is a feel-good story, with children as main characters, who are determined--compelled--to develop beauty in the form of a garden set in the rubble of post-war London. An interesting pair of sisters, one rich, the other poor, express similar personalities. One in each set is close-minded, mean-spirited, and suspicious. The other is generous, loving, and loyal. Then there's the selfish mother who abandons daughter and a career in show-business for men and drink, though this is delicately described. There's another version of motherhood presented too: Tip Malone's mother has too many children but has deep faith in their goodness. This is an unfamiliar society to me, in which the rich can at any moment see a poor child and decide to change his or her future by bestowing largesse upon them, whether it is money or a recommendation to another; it seems a bit of a fairy-tale world. Fun to read, though, and the descriptions about nurturing a garden are both accurate and inspiring.
—Peggy
This is one of those books that we all love, where children have freedom to roam (the reasons they have this freedom might not be so good – but there it is all the same) and act for themselves in a way that always seems to make for good stories. I loved the idea of a secret garden in the city, made out of the refuse of war, created out of the longings of an abandoned girl (she was, really, on her own, even if she did have a home). That combination of themes – destruction, abandonment, smallness, helplessness, friendship, passion, and hope – is potent. I liked that it wasn’t a perfect fairy-tale, I liked (and hated) the realism of the inability of many adults to love as they should, and others to do as they longed to do. The supreme irony of a woman running charity committees galore not being able to act in charity herself – wonderful! I loved Vincent, and hated him as well – why couldn’t he do something for Lovejoy?! So many things frustrated me. But at the core – the human drive for love and beauty can make a garden in a wasteland.
—Sylvester
I am not entirely sure that this is a children's book, at least not in the way we view children's literature these days. That said, this is a marvelous book about children and their place in a society recovering from a great tragedy (WW II). The children make their own community and develop skills to survive. The adults are also struggling to survive - some do it well, some miss the mark completely. But the desire to create a beautiful space in which to thrive is important to all. How each character defines that for him and herself is what makes this lovely little book so rich and beautiful. The author delicately describes the struggles of this community and their hopes and dreams for themselves and each other. Even in the most horrid of conditions, gardens may be cultivated and then with a bit of attention, the flowers will grow.
—Marisa
