Katharine Harrison-Wallace was the god-daughter of the Duke of Atholl, who wrote
a foreword to her book. Written and illustrated by her when she was 12 years old,
it was reproduced in facsimile form. It is that very rare thing: a book written
by a young author which I would seek out and read again. The author is a trenchant
observer, so much so that she convinced Colonel CEG Hope, of Riding Magazine, that
she was worth reading. Colonel Hope was not a fan of the book written by a very
young author, but he liked Sambo and Susan. The book is made up of three short stories.
Katharine Harrison-Wallace is a trenchant observer: Sambo and Susan are husband
and wife, but Susan’s head is turned by a handsome white horse, with whom she goes
off without a second glance. Poor Sambo is left bereft, and Katharine simply observes
that “Whenever Sambo passed a familiar place, the tears rolled down his cheeks.”
Finding the book: very difficult to find.
Sources and links:
Sambo and Susan
Sambo and Susan
Collins, London, 1938, 60 pp. Illus the author
A review of the book
A collection of 3 short stories: Sambo and Susan
is the tale of two horses and the
whit e horse who
turns Susan’s head. Jim the Huntsman sees a
local fox escaping and
living happily ever after, and
The Story of a Disobedient Salmon makes plain
what happens
to those who will not listen.
