View source for An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden

{{infobox1
|title=An Episode of Sparrows
|sort=Episode of Sparrows, An
|author=Rumer Godden
|reviewer=Anne Thompson
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781844088515
|pages=288
|publisher=Virago
|date=April 2014
|website=http://www.rumergodden.com/index.php
|video=
|summary=A welcome re-issue of a classic, this delightful story of hope against the odds could be enjoyed equally by both children and adults. 
|cover=Godden_Episode
|aznuk=1844088510
|aznus=1844088510
}}
It is post war London and in a private garden in a prosperous square someone has been digging up the earth.  The formidable Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is convinced that a gang of local boys from nearby Catford Street is to blame. Her sister Olivia, a more thoughtful and kindly woman, worries about these children, ‘the sparrows’ and believes that there is more to this than petty theft. Meanwhile in Catford Street a little girl named Lovejoy Mason, abandoned by her mother to the care of restaurant owner Vincent and his wife, nurtures hopes and dreams of her own. As this story unfolds these very different lives become entangled in ways none of them could have anticipated. 

I don’t know how on earth I managed to miss out on Rumer Godden’s work as a child but I am quite sad that I have only just discovered her and plan on making up for lost time as quickly as I can. This is such a lovely, satisfying read. It starts slowly but gradually, carefully the author pulls you in and the characters are so credible and engaging it is easy to become very involved in their lives. Lovejoy is introduced as a tough eleven year old girl hiding her pain at being abandoned by her mother behind a slightly aggressive exterior. Then by chance one day she picks up a packet of cornflower seeds and everything changes for her as she tries to grow a small garden of her own in a bombed out area of the city, helped by her new friend, thirteen year old Tip Malone.
Lovejoy is wonderful, a bold and spirited girl, and her committed efforts to create her own garden are both impressive and moving. The characterization in this book is very well observed and the relationship between Lovejoy and Tip, the leader of a gang of local boys, is charming and very well written. The various other people in the book, even ones who appear only briefly, felt real to me and this surely is the sign of excellent writing.

Like all the best books this is one that could be read on many levels and the underlying themes of love, loyalty and responsibility are conveyed with subtlety. In her preface [[:Category:Jacqueline Wilson|Jacqueline Wilson]] says that she is not sure whether this is written for children or adults. I don’t think it matters really as this is a book that could be read by a child who is a confident reader, a teenager or an adult and be enjoyed equally but in very different ways. I enjoyed this very much and it is a book I am glad that I have read. 

Thank you very much to the publishers, Virago, for sending this copy for review.

I am now going to try some more of Rumer Godden’s books and Sue loved [[The Dark Horse by Rumer Godden|The Dark Horse]] so that is next on my list. 

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[[Category:Teens]]
[[Category:General Fiction]]