• Three weeks ago, a copy of Island to Abbey by Stella Waring and Sheila Ray appeared in my Post Office box, and I opened it with some trepidation.after all, it's been quite a time since news of this first appeared on the GGBP website, and now the finished product was finally here; was it going to live up to expectation?
  • Well, it's a beautiful volume; that's the thing that comes immediately to mind. First, and most obviously, it's a larger format paperback, which, given the large number of illustrations and the sheer amount of information, is necessary, but it's not too heavy to hold. There are numerous (too many for me to count) black and white illustrations taken from illustrations and dustwrappers, plus a large number of photographs of various places of interest that EJO used in her books.
  • There is an index, a bibliography, a list of EJO's works, with helpful notes that detail where the non-connectors intersect with the main Abbey series, maps, a 'Postscript' discussing locations in some detail and four pages of beautiful colour pictures of sixteen of the rarest wrappers.
  • And on to the content. The authors announce their intentions very clearly in the Introduction; firstly, they're interested in just why the books still appeal, and secondly, they intend to discuss two themes, the ideas of survival and sanctuary as they appear throughout the books.
  • Their organization is one of straightforward chronology; they start with Goblin Island, and work their way steadily through EJO's output to Two Queens, and a final evaluation of the significance of EJO's work.
  • I'll be honest here and say that I was a little doubtful about this at first, as it would be very easy for such an approach to assume the characteristics of a list, particularly given the sheer number of books that are under consideration. But I was worrying unnecessarily.
  • The authors convey a lovely sense of the individual nature of each book, both in its strengths and its weaknesses, and they are also aware of the place that each book has in EJO's overall scheme of things. This is something that they discuss both in terms of themes and ideas, but also with regard to how the books may have been written and published.
  • They also write with a clarity that is commendable, but at the same time do not underestimate the complexity of certain issues - for example, they acknowledge the problems caused by EJO's attitudes to social class and some of the jarring moments that this can provide, but do so in a way that also highlights that this was a part of EJO's own social understanding as well.
  • And they don't shy away from forthright character assessment at times; for example, when discussing Maid of the Abbey, the Joy of this stage of the series is referred to as a 'monster' and a few pages later, they refer to 'the lengths to which EJO will go to keep Joy out of the way.' Comments like this should give rise to much debate!
  • Although Island to Abbey focuses on the books of EJO, it is clearly impossible to ignore the person of the author herself, and Stella Waring and Sheila Ray enjoy themselves with much fascinating speculation as to what may have prompted EJO to write what she did in the way that she did. Of course, at one level it is impossible to know this, and the loss of so many papers that occurred after EJO's death can only be bewailed.
  • However, the authors of this study have provided a detailed and fascinating account of EJO's work that is informative (they do an admirable job in explaining the plots of the rarest titles, but in such a way that the underpinning themes and character development are not lost in a straightforward retelling of the story) and also entertaining.
  • Any reader of EJO will find this book to be of significant interest, and I anticipate that it will spark any number of lively discussions! And to answer my opening question - yes, it does live up to expectation.
  • Catharine Vaughan-Pow