Her full length novel, Gipsy’s Way goes very much against type by having a misunderstood gipsy hero who may (or may not) have stolen a pony. The author neatly plays with the preconceptions people make, but this isn’t a simple moralistic tale: Deva the gipsy is released from prison at the end, but there is the possibility that this was only because of a theft committed elsewhere.
Finding the books: none of her titles are impossible to find: Gipsy’s Way and Martello Tower are easy to find and not generally expensive. Elmwood Hall is pricier and not quite so easy, but not impossible.
Links and sources:
Many thanks to Mr P Scott for the information on Martello Tower.
Gipsy’s Way
A & C Black, London, 1939, 216 pp. Illus Cecil G Trew
Felicity has a grey Welsh Mountain pony, Topsy. Deva, a gipsy boy, rescues Topsy
when her field floods, and
Felicity wants to reward him and get to know him better.
Deva however was intending to steal Topsy, so doesn’t
think he deserves any reward.
Time passes: Felicity and her cousin Raymond ride in a pageant, and then they
meet
Deva and his family and buy a skewbald from them. Deva, it appears, is caught red-
the pony (Gipsy) back, and is to be sent to a remand home. Felicity
decides she must bail him out of the home
by selling Gipsy.
Martello Tower
Frederick Warne, London, 1949, 253 pp.
A story in two halves, the first being a conventional adventure story, and the second
introducing elements of
Pony Club.
Bibliography -
Elmwood Hall
E O Beck, London, 1956, 206 pp. Illus Cavesson
“Terence and Bridget love riding, but have only one pony between them. Then a new
riding school opens
and they have many adventures gathering together a string of ponies
and children to start off the school.
One of the ponies is circus trained, and two
of the children are wonderful acrobats which helps them all
put on a circus to raise
funds.
