Little Plum by Rumer Godden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Now this book was the escapist read I needed in troubled times!
I read Little Plum in my childhood and loved this exquisite cover
but the cover of my edition
works in a different way. It shows the character of the untidy, boisterous Belinda and her cousin, the neat as a pin Nona.
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower was Nona’s story. This is Belinda’s.
& what a believable little girl Belinda is. Rude, tactless, aggressive and a bully. Probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer either! Yet her determination to befriend the wealthy but lonely Gem shows endearing side to her character.& she tries so hard to fix things, when – to no one’s surprise but Belinda’s her methods don’t work.
If I could make one tiny criticism it would be that Japanese doll Little Plum remains – a doll. Yet Miss Happiness & Miss Flower still have their personalities.
A wonderful tale from an author who understands that real children are not PC. (although Ms Godden would have despised that term if she had ever heard it!)
Carol - She's So Novel! 