Counting your blessings... Cecilia Busby

When I was younger, I had a deep aversion to Pollyanna.

I was never a big fan of any kind of moralising goody-two-shooes in the books I read, and far preferred grumpy, sour Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden to the long-suffering but always sweet and cheerful Sara Crewe of A Little Princess. But Pollyanna took the biscuit. She is the embodiment of that truly annoying saying, "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade".

Sorry, but no. If life hands you lemons, the appropriate response is to cry. And rage. And whinge a lot at your best friends. And then, maybe, find a way to laugh about their stupid shape and their sour taste (hollowly). And perhaps, depending on how bad they are, slowly and gradually come to terms with those pesky sour things (with a little bit more whinging and crying when you feel the need). But certainly not to roll up your sleeves, put your brave face on and without more ado turn your disaster into a "good thing".

So Pollyanna's approach to life, which was always, always to find something good about every set-back or slap in the face life handed her, struck me even as a child as just too pious and unrealistic. As an adult, I can appreciate the ability to find some good in the midst of your bad, but I also know just how helpful it is sometimes to have a good old rant and share some of that bad with someone else who's prepared to say: yep, it's bad, isn't life a bust sometimes?

However.

My daughter has been going through a tough patch recently, and feeling a bit down about life in general, and the other day, on a half hour car journey to do the weekly supermarket shop, we decided to play a game. For every good thing she could think of about her life, something she was happy about, I would give her 10p - up to a maximum of 100  things (£10).

It was quite easy to get to about 20 or 30, and then it got progressively harder - but she kept going. Sometimes she'd find a rich seam of things to mine (all her relatives she liked one after the other, or all the subjects she enjoyed at school all in a row), at other times it was sudden random thoughts ('I like the shape of my nose') but it was actually a really fun way to spend half an hour and a great affirmation that even when life is not going your way, there are good things you can remind yourself  about, and it helps put the bad things in perspective. I did allow a few slight cheats towards the end but with their help she made it to 100, and I consider it £10 well spent.

Counting your blessings is a very Pollyanna thing to do - but you know what? It was a brilliant way to  raise both our spirits, and so long as it's not seen as something that can paper over those woes, or as a way to ignore or belittle them, it strikes me as something that I might just be prepared to find a place for in my life.



Cecilia Busby writes fantasy adventures for children aged 7-12 as C.J. Busby.

Her first series was the Spell series, an Arthurian knockabout fantasy aimed at 7-9. Her latest book, The Amber Crown, was published in March by Templar.

www.cjbusby.co.uk

@ceciliabusby

"Great fun - made me chortle!" (Diana Wynne Jones on Frogspell)

"A rift-hoping romp with great wit, charm and pace" (Frances Hardinge on Deep Amber)

Homes and Gardens by Savita Kalhan

No, this isn't a blog about how to give your home or garden a makeover - unless you want it to look like it came out of a book!

A few weeks ago I was sent an email by a company asking me to put a link on my website for their company. At first I was interested. The company appeared to be a publisher and publiciser of books and ebooks. But it was only after I received a second email that I followed the link that had been sent to me and realised that they were in actual fact a curtain and upholstery company. Needless to say, I won't be advertising their company on my website because most people come to my site for information about me rather than who I'd recommend to make their new curtains! But for some reason the website did have a page on fictional homes, which was quite intriguing and gave me the idea for this blog...

Homes and gardens feature significantly in literature. There are homes that would be amazing to live in, others that I'd want to visit, and some that I'd only look at from a distance! Here are some of my favourites.

Top of my list is Bag End in The Hobbit. Bag End is a Hobbit-hole, but it is definitely no dirty, smelly hole in the ground. It's a place of warmth and comfort, a smial as Tolkien calls it, and it has always brought a smile to my face. Given the choice, I'd definitely make an offer on this property!

Location: Bagshot Row, Hobbiton, The Shire

The owner: Bilbo Baggins. Bag End was built to a luxuriously high standard by Bilbo's father Bungo Baggins for his wife, Belladonna Took.

Specs: countless rooms all situated on one floor with original features, panelled walls, tiled floors, polished furniture, round windows with views over lush gardens and meadows. There are ample pantries, large wine cellars, and several guests rooms. Bag End is a cosy property in an idyllic setting amongst green fields and orchards. Be prepared for the unexpected visitor - short of stature, wide of girth, possibly wielding an axe, or an exceedingly tall gentleman dressed in grey robes, who may lead you astray!

The Hobbit was one of my favourite books when I was young, and it still is, so Bag End is full of memories for me. I would very happily live there, and being only five foot tall, I would have no problems with the low ceilings, although Tolkien does tell the reader that taller visitors would have no problems, so perhaps the ceilings are actually not as low as people might think.

Misselthwaite Manor in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett has over a hundred rooms, but I'm not sure I'd like to live in such a huge property, and with a recent death in the family, a shadow hangs over the manor. It's the gardens that hold all the allure - from their winter bleakness to their summer bloom.

Location: Yorkshire.

Owner: Archibald Craven. Occupants: Colin Craven, Mary Lennox, Martha Sowerby and Ben Weatherstaff.

Both the house and the garden are full of secrets, which Mary gradually uncovers. She finds a key in the garden, and it unlocks not only a door, but other hidden secrets too. I loved the book when I read it many years ago. I wanted to find a key that would open hidden doors. I wanted a garden like the one in the book. I still love exploring old houses and gardens, and making up stories about them - I suspect I still haven't grown up yet!

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, was about a young orphan girl adopted by brother and sister Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert. It was set in a small farming community and followed Anne and her adventures as she tried to make this place her home.

Location: Green Gables, Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Occupants: Marilla Cuthbert, Matthew Cuthbert, Anne.

Green Gables is a farmhouse surrounded by orchards and fields and woods, with a view over the Lake of Shining Waters and the Haunted Wood.

Avonlea and Prince Edward Island have become a tourist attraction by developing the area based on Montgomery's books, but I don't need to see the actual place where Anne Shirley grew up, or sit in the real Avonlea and drink raspberry cordial soda. Green Gables and the trials and tribulations of Anne Shirley have a special place in my memories.

Hill House in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, is definitely not a place I'd like to live in. I'm not sure I even want to visit it. "Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it has stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more." So you can understand why I might only look upon it from a great distance, but venture no closer!

Location: Remote, near the village of Hillsdale.

Occupants for the summer: Dr. John Montague, an anthropologist with an interest in the paranormal, and Luke Sanderson (heir to the house). Staying visitors: Eleanor and Theodora, Mrs. Montague and Arthur Parker - all share an interest in the supernatural.

In daylight, the house seems like any other large house. Surrounded by large gardens, pretty paths, bubbling brooks, and a cosy living room with an open fire to retreat to when the light begins to fade. But do not be fooled.

I probably read this book too young. No, I definitely read this book too young, which is why very large empty houses on huge estates hold no appeal to me - especially at night. I would never live in Hill House even if it was going for a song, but if you have a special interest in haunted houses then this is the one you should consider - just be prepared for creaking doors, strange cold spots, and the occasional bump in the night!

My website - savitakalhan.com
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The Politics of The Secret Garden......by Miriam Halahmy

 Did you ever imagine someone would put Politics and The Secret Garden (TSG) in the same sentence? But that is exactly what happened when I went to a study day on this wonderful book a couple of months ago. 2011 was the centenary year of the publication of TSG and there have been events all over the world. Only this week I was asked by two different groups of schoolchildren about my favourite book and when I said, TSG, a cheer went up. Amazing - 100 years later.

Every author’s dream.

So why Politics and TSG? Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester in the mid-19^th century into a highly charged political background. She used to play with the poor children in nearby streets and became aware of the divisions in society from a tender age. As she was growing up Engels was publishing his work, Conditions of the Working Class in England, based on his observations of the abysmal poverty in Manchester. The perfect background for an author with a social conscious.

According to our speaker on the study day, Dr Dennus Butts. TSG highlights the divisions in society and the way in which the different groups simply fail to connect.  Mary, the little orphan girl in the book, is brought to live in a great house with 100 rooms, long dark corridors and many mysteries. People in the house just don’t talk to her. Outside isn’t much better. There are long paths, high walls and a door with no key. Barriers everywhere, obstacles which prevent movement forward, just like society at the time.

The book highlights divisions in society in three ways :-

Firstly  TSG opens in India where there is a clear division between the British who are in control and the Indians. Mary has a truly shocking attitude to her ayah,or local nanny. Her father is a member of the ruling class. Until of course Mary is orphaned.

Secondly Frances Hodgson Burnett ( FHB) was always very interested in the social divisions of  great houses - the Upstairs/Downstairs. This is a recurring theme in her books – 53 novels in all. It is worth noting that she was one of the highest paid authors of her day and ranked as one of the top 5 novelists, together with Henry James.

Thirdly, the unequal and unfair treatment of women in the nineteenth century.

FBH wanted to portray the harmony that can exist despite these divisions and she is on a mission. At the centre of her argument is the character of Mrs Sowerby. She is the mother of Dickon the country boy who tames animals and lives in a cottage on the moor with his large and happy family. 

According to FBH, Mrs Sowerby, “is the most important character in the book. You only see her for a moment at the end of the book but she is the chief figure in it.”

Mrs Sowerby represents goodness, healing and an affirmative life force.

“I found out,” says Susan Sowerby, “that the world was shaped like an orange and I found out before I was ten that the whole orange doesn’t belong to nobody.” So there’s no sense in grabbing at the whole orange which is what many of the characters in TSG try to do. They have to be prepared to cross barriers, and bridge the divisions between themselves and others in the novel. Colin, Mary, rheumaticky gardener Ben, the maid Martha, Mr Craven, all make this journey.

Once Mary begins to see her maid Martha as a human being she starts to respect and then admire her. FBH demonstrates throughout her wonderful novel that the way to overcome the divisions in society between classes and socio-economic groups is simply to get them talking to each other. Simple! And very current!

It is Mrs Sowerby who points the way. Just like the robin!