Book Review: Oxus in Summer

[osprey_archer]

I have read Oxus in Summer, the third and final volume and Katharine Hull and Pamela Whitlock’s Far-Distant Oxus trilogy! In this volume you will find:

Further adventures of the Hunterley children and the Mysterious Maurice, who lives in a hut called Piran-Wisa with his pony Dragonfly and his dog Ellita. (The Cleverton twins don’t show up till nearly the end of the book, possibly because Hull & Whitlock realized they simply crowd the page without adding very much.)

A QUARREL when Maurice thinks that the Hunterleys have been reading his diary to find out more about him! Maurice knocks over a candle which sets Piran Wisa on fire and it BURNS TO THE GROUND.

An attempted reconciliation! The Hunterleys, who did NOT read Maurice’s diary, chase Maurice across the rooftops of a nearby town until he escapes with a daring leap across a wide alley.

A new alliance! Maurice enlists the help of the Deptford family by promising to give them the Persian dagger with the ivory sheath that he beat them out for at an auction. (He paid nearly a hundred pounds. A mysterious RICH boy!)

A DUEL. Bridget challenges one of the Deptford boys, Jeremy, to a duel with riding whips, on the theory that if she wins he’ll have to tell her where Maurice is, but when she wins, he refuses! This leads to

An attempted drowning! Bridget drags Jeremy into the Oxus and holds his head under the water. When he comes up sputtering, he yells that Maurice is hiding out at the highwayman’s grave, and also are you INSANE? (The Deptfords remain convinced that the Hunterleys are dangerously nuts for the rest of the book. I fully realize that if I found myself parachuted into a mid-twentieth century British children’s book, I would be a Deptford, who lies around at home reading and Does Not Understand True Adventure.)

Finally: a reconciliation! The Hunterleys tell Maurice they did not read his diary, and still have no idea who he is. They all have a glorious canter across the moors to reaffirm their bond!

In this volume, you will not find:

A solution to the mystery of Maurice’s background. Where does he come from? Where does he go? “Why do you want to know?” ask Hull & Whitlock, doll-eyed with innocence, but probably also capable of holding you under the waters of the Oxus until you cease and desist your questioning.

I kind of admire the chutzpah BUT ALSO… I do want to know more about Maurice. But this is the last book, so I never will! Is this a clever ploy to ensure that the story stays with readers? MAYBE.

Hull & Whitlock wrote one other book together, a fantasy novel called Crowns, which of course I must read. It appears from Worldcat that Whitlock also pursued a solo writing career, and this fascinating website about horse books calls Whitlock’s short stories “fine, subtle pieces of work” - apparently more focused on the Bond Between Horse and Rider than the Oxus books, which do tend to treat the ponies as vehicles. But her solo books appear to be pretty much unavailable, so I will content myself with Hull & Whitlock’s duo efforts.

Comments

[cyphomandra]

I love Jane Badger’s website and own her nonfiction book (as well as one of her Jill continuations). I had a very brief horsey phase in my 20s but a much more prolonged horse book phase :D

[osprey_archer]

My attempt at an actual horsey phase stopped the moment I got on horseback (they are so big!!! I was eight at the time), but that never got in the way of my horse book phase.

[asakiyume]

When you said "a mysterious RICH boy," I suddenly pinged on The Thief Lord--did you ever read that? That was a strange, memorable story.

A duel with riding whips sounds intense. How old are these kids again?

[osprey_archer]

I have a strong memory of the cover (dark blue! a figure on a bridge!) but I never read the book.

As seems to be characteristic in mid-twentieth century English children's books, the book is vague about everyone's ages, but I think Bridget is early- to mid-teens? This is the vaguest of impressions, however.

[asakiyume]

I think you should read The Thief Lord! I found it very strange. The plot seems to be doing one thing, then does this other totally weird thing. I can't say I loved it--it totally foiled my reader expectations in a way I found, well, disappointing/unsettling, but I really was entranced by the set-up (and think you would be, too) and the kids' interactions were interesting, and you have built up a huge tolerance for books that are weird/odd/disappointing, and I think you'd probably have things to say about where this is situated in the tradition.

It's by Cornelia Funke, so part of what I'm experiencing as weirdness may just be different cultural expectations. I dropped out of Inkheart partway through and never read any sequels. But this one I did read all the way through, and I'd be curiuos what your more widely read opinion of it was.

I realize I'm not exactly selling it! But if you are curious...

[osprey_archer]

I finished Inkheart, but I didn't find it engaging enough to continue the series - the characters felt wooden to me, but it's hard to know how much of that might have been a translation issue.

I have such a backlog of books to read that I don't know when I might get to The Thief Lord. There is an audiobook, though, so it might end up on my audiobook list...

[asakiyume]

I understand: I feel the same way with book recommendations (especially ones that sound like mine did). You absolutely should keep with your own plan of what to read when. I guess a better way of saying what I was saying would be, if you ever did read The Thief Lord, I'd be interested in your thoughts. But I myself haven't thought of the book in ages. It's not a burning desire, just curiosity.

[superborb]

The sadness of growing up is realizing you are the Boring Character in children's books!

[osprey_archer]

Not in all of them! There are a few children's books where I am one of the interesting characters... But not in mid-twentieth century British adventure novels, it's true. The characters are all outdoors frolicking all day and have no time for anyone who would rather read a book.

[ethelmay]

One of the things I like about Monica Edwards's books (which do admittedly sometimes exhaust me with just how much the characters are DOING all the time) is that they occasionally have a lazy afternoon reading in their tents or something.