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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2013 18:03:50 GMT 1
What a great book! I've given it a Gold Cup. As it's the Girls Gone By edition there's lots of fab info in the front about the farm and how to visit it. As usual a really well written story by ME and it doesn't dwell on the fact one of the ponies is killed in an accident. I like Lindsey's character, I can relate to her when she's upset at the rabbits having to be bumped off and the Yew tree must be saved at all cost. Gorgeous illustrations by Joan Wanklyn too. I'm sure Claire can say a lot more about the book than I can. I'm rubbish at reviews!
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Post by Claire on May 6, 2013 18:35:43 GMT 1
I agree with you rosie, I've given it a gold cup too. One day I'm going to sit down and write a detailed review of this book, one of the best in the series. What I really can't get over is the fact that the story is mainly about a tree that is threatened to be pulled down and it is still gripping! Can you imagine any publisher publishing something with that plot-line nowadays....?!! I can't read the bit where she cuts off her hair without shuddering - as someone who has had very long hair for years I feel her pain! There's also a nice bit of fantasy/time slip in for anyone who likes that sort of thing.
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Post by kunuma on May 6, 2013 21:53:38 GMT 1
One of my very special books, despite the very sad bit which sadly I believe happened in RL. Gold Cup from me too! I'm in the middle of rereading the whole lot, Punchbowl and Romney Marsh - the tricky bit is trying to read them in exactly the right order, which means swopping backwards and forwards between the two series!
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Post by Claire on May 6, 2013 22:25:03 GMT 1
Is there not some sort of timeline in either the Punchbowl or Romney Marsh companion which lists the books in order - or am I imagining it?
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Post by susanb on May 7, 2013 0:24:58 GMT 1
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 6:50:24 GMT 1
I want to read those! On the excellent Monica Edwards website it has the books listed in published order on the left hand side when you click titles in the top menu www.monicaedwards.co.uk/
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 6:56:59 GMT 1
Sadly the horse did die in real life but not as Monica wrote it in the book. He died from an infection picked up from one of the cows rather than breaking a leg in a rabbit hole. This is what I love about the GGB editions, all the extra info!
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Post by Claire on May 7, 2013 10:07:10 GMT 1
It depends on whether the publishing order is actually the same order as the chronological order, which with many series it is actually not!
The only part of the book I didnt like was the horse's death which was not really needed for the story. The only fault Monica Edwards has is that she based her stories almost entirely on real life happenings and so if an animal died in RL it had to appear in fiction somewhere.
Rosie, the Punchbowl & Romney Marsh companions are really worth getting if you are the sort of person who likes background to the stories (and it sounds like you are). Unfortunately I don't have copies anymore or I would lend you them.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 12:21:53 GMT 1
Oh! Didn't realise that I'll get the Punchbowl & Romney Marsh companions at some point. You're right Claire I do like to visit places where books have been written and know the history behind the stories.
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Post by rallycairn on May 7, 2013 15:18:34 GMT 1
I thought one of the companion books was already out of print? But maybe I'm remembering wrong and hope I am!
I really enjoyed the one Romney book I read last fall, but I am a little intimidated to start the series in earnest just because of the number of titles! and the varying horsey content in them, as well.
Sounds like this is a good one, though, from rosie's and Claire's comments!
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 18:30:18 GMT 1
Just checked and you are right, the Romney Marsh is out of stock So I did a bit of Googling and found one on Amazon
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Post by Claire on May 8, 2013 0:58:04 GMT 1
The companions are GGB. They usually do small print runs but sometimes they do re-print. Both of them have been reprinted in revised form so its possible they will be reprinted again. What is also nice about the companions is that they also have lots of the original illustrations throughout - tho be careful if you haven't read all the books. There's an A to Z bit which has lots of spoilers!
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Post by Claire on May 8, 2013 1:07:40 GMT 1
I really enjoyed the one Romney book I read last fall, but I am a little intimidated to start the series in earnest just because of the number of titles! and the varying horsey content in them, as well. Rally check out my Monica Edwards web page I've tried to include the amount of horsy content in each book under the summary of each book. The first 5 in the Romney series are the most horsy and concentrating on these 5 would be a lot easier than tracking down the full set. However even those with little horse content are great reads and one of my personal favourites is about a dolphin not a horse (Dolphin summer) The Punchbowl series (which includes the book in this discussion) is not so clear cut in terms of horsiness. The first 2 and The Wanderer are by far the most horsy, in the other stories horses appear throughout but are not the prime focus of the plots.
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Post by rallycairn on May 8, 2013 4:28:27 GMT 1
Thanks, Claire, believe me I have studied your comprehensive page! Very useful info and that was actually why I'm going to wait a bit before tackling Monica E. I will probably continue with Romney first -- love the coastal setting!
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2013 11:10:53 GMT 1
Very useful info and that was actually why I'm going to wait a bit before tackling Monica E. I will probably continue with Romney first -- love the coastal setting! I've taken a while getting round to the ME books mainly for the reasons you say Rallycairn. I thought, not enough pony in them and there are so many more series I can tackle first with lots of pony action. Now I've started ME they are so well written that I don't mind the lack of pony at all. I am a fan of farm books though which is why I love the Punchbowl series. I haven't read many of the Romney Marsh but the ones I have I've enjoyed.
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Post by kunuma on May 8, 2013 16:27:08 GMT 1
What's nice about them is that the horses are part of their lives, transport, companions, and friends. Plus they are based on real horses so truly come alive in the pages. There are some such as Cargo of Horses with a lot of horse interest, but the horses are constant all the way through. Lyndsay's inability to handle their homebred colt, Chalice, makes a good story, especially when along comes Rissa who sorts him out at once! Midnight Horse has the story of them rescuing Banner from the gypsies, and his breaking and schooling as a mount for Diccon.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2013 18:39:35 GMT 1
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vera
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Post by vera on May 8, 2013 23:32:48 GMT 1
Just wondering about Tarquin's death as not necessary as it does actually give quite a bit of insight into Andrea's character! I love Linsay too and her passions Her in Tasmania a book about saving a tree would be a best seller!
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Post by Claire on May 9, 2013 1:38:49 GMT 1
Her in Tasmania a book about saving a tree would be a best seller! Thats interesting - why is that vera? The most critical thing I have to say about the series is that Dion does get up my nose a bit. Altho all the family do love the farm, the actual farming side is his interest but everyone else has to give up their own pursuits to help him. He is quite selfish in that way. However it provides great tension between him and Lindsay as she is always fighting to preserve nature which farming destroys (the tree in this book, the deer in Punchbowl Midnight, etc)
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2013 7:01:17 GMT 1
I know, you want to shake him and shout "lighten up a bit!" bless him ;D As for the tree it would have to be a pink and sparkly one if written these days
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vera
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Post by vera on May 10, 2013 2:59:03 GMT 1
did you mean the insight into Andrea's character or saving the tree? With Andrea, she bottles up her feelings but keeps going. This comes up in other books. She can be one of those annoying elder sisters, but is always there. I agree about Dion, but I like him for his passion. The tree situation here is that we have a forestry industry and we have a Green political party, who want to preserve everything, especially old growth forests. The two clash quite baadly and we have had a young girl sitting in a tree top for months to stop anyone from cutting it down. That's why saving trees is topical, relevant and also selling newspapers!
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Post by Claire on May 10, 2013 10:34:00 GMT 1
Yes it was the tree thing I was asking about Vera. Thanks for the info. Interesting stuff. I don't know much about Tasmania.
Yeah I agree the death does give some insight into Andrea's character, but other things could have done the same thing. I guess I just don't like seeing animal deaths in books unless they are integral to the plot like in Riding with the Lyntons (well even then I can't say I like it much!)
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Post by fizz on May 15, 2013 17:06:41 GMT 1
This is one of my all time favourites, I recently bought the reprint. It was just as good forty or more years later. I have tried to persuade friends who are not "ponyish" or wouldn't read teen fiction to try it, sadly without success. For this is a book that will appeal to all that love the countryside & have a feeling of nostalgia for how things once were. When I read this book first all those years ago, it was my initial experience of Monica Edwards, & of course it was read out of sequence. Her books in my opinion (from the Punchbowl series, I never enjoyed the Romney Marsh ones as much) are strong enough to work as stand alone novels. It has everything for me: pathos, tragedy, humour, sensitivity, great characterisation & dialogue. The animals as well, as the human characters, are so well described you think you know them & morn with the humans when there are the deaths. It is a book full of tragedy, I remember feeling so anxious about Moonstone & her foal, as indeed my mother, who read the book at the same time did. The cycle of life on the farm is well told. Another aspect of the book is the "time shift" I famously do not enjoy fantasy books, I disliked "Horse from the Black loch" for instance. Here it worked brilliantly & fits into the story so well & seamlessly I can remember being really frightened by Lindsay's experience when I was 11, I was afraid to go upstairs in the dark for fear our semi detached "might change". The characters of the children are interesting. Yes I agree Dion should "lighten up" & my sympathies were always with Lindsay, as I suppose was intended. Andrea is very different & does seem a lot more grown up, Peter is the positive humour in the story. Should Tarquin have died? I read the books out of sequence, had I read the earlier ones, then I would have had more sadness having seen his pony character grow. It does give us an insight into Andrea, loving her pony for who he was, not his looks or achievements & also serves to show young people that, unfortunately, life is far from fair.
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Post by kunuma on May 15, 2013 22:17:19 GMT 1
There are some lovely horsy bits though even in the least horsy ones, because just like in real life the horses are always with them. I think it is in the Seabird one, that they swop horses and Tamsin can't get Siani through some water, so they swop back, and while Rissa is feeling smug about managing Siani better, she does a big shy and chucks her off! So typical of horses!
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Post by cally on May 16, 2013 1:44:36 GMT 1
I've only read 'Punchbowl Harvest'- must try and find the series.
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