I’m looking for the title (and author) of a particular children’s book
I read in the 1950s. Some details are as follows.
1 Probably published late 1940s or early 1950s.
2 Set in an old house which is found to have a secret passage.
3 A number of children foil a plot they discover various “baddies” are
hatching.
4 At one point a car is put out of action by putting sugar into the
petrol tank.
5 The “baddies”, when captured, are immobilised by tying their thumbs
together with string. |
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 08:11 PDT
Hi old_memories,
Any chance this is it? It was first published in 1946.
SECRET PASSAGE by Betty Cavanna.
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?ph=2&bi=83937581
hummer
|
Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 09:44 PDT
Hi hummer
I'm afraid I wouldn't recognise the title. I read the book nearly 40
years ago and it has stuck in my mind, but until now I haven't known
how to ask anyone about it, and it's obvious that I only recall
fragments.
The is probably no one "hero" in the book, but one of the significant
characters, who eventually solves the mystery is a boy. As the dust
jacket on your link describes the book as a mystery story for girls, I
rather doubt that this is the right book. If you could produce a
synopsis of the plot, that might help.
The setting is quite likely to be England, and somewhere near the sea.
Does that give you any more information to go on?
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 10:11 PDT
Hi old_memories,
Thank you for the clarification. The Cavanna book doesn't sound too
hopeful:
Cavanna, Betty. SECRET PASSAGE.
19th century Quaker girl sleuth investigates American Revolutionary
events, spies and secret passages in Haddonfield, NJ just outside
Philadelphia & discovers Abolitionist activities instead.
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=137045006
Here's another possibility although probably published a decade too
late:
THE HOUSE OF SECRETS by Nina Bawden:
"Delightful mystery story of three children who find a secret
passageway leading to a mysterious house next door."
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?ph=2&bi=91184908
Published in the UK as THE SECRET PASSAGE.
English seaside town.
Mallory children staying with aunt.
hummer
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 10:18 PDT
Here's a good page for the Bawden book:
http://www.fiona.co.jp/BOOK_JUV_PAGE/secretpassage.htm
I'm sure the it's not old enough, though. hummer
|
Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 13:15 PDT
Hi hummer
No, it's definitely not about a C19 Quaker girl. It doesn't sound like
Nina Bawden either. It was set around the 1940s or so, and there was
no element of being homesick for Africa. There's a definite cops and
robbers element, and the secret passage leads to somewhere other than
another house, I think.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
leli-ga
on
15 Oct 2003 13:46 PDT
Hello
What about this possibility?
An English book, first published in 1946, with children staying at a
seaside house with at least two secret passages, one accessed through
an old chest.
I couldn't find any reference to sugar in the petrol tank, or thumbs
tied together, but do any of the following details ring a bell?
At night, someone is signalling from a tower to nearby marshes with
mysterious lights.
The marshes are used by smugglers who oppose plans to drain them. At
one point, someone falls in and has to be rescued on planks. I think
one secret passage emerges near the marshes, but I'm not quite sure.
Some characters are captured by the baddies and held underground.
The butler, who's deaf, is suspected of being in league with the
baddies.
I did find a reference to a trail of string in the tunnels, but I
don't know if it came in handy for tying up thumbs.
Let me know if you think this is the one!
Thanks - Leli
|
Request for Question Clarification by
leli-ga
on
16 Oct 2003 00:56 PDT
One more detail about the book I was describing in my earlier message:
This picture was in the original edition, but in black and white:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/serge.passions/images/c5_vacances_soper.jpg
Note the 1940s (?) car in the foreground. It looks as if it might be
near the beginning of a causeway.
Leli
|
Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
16 Oct 2003 05:54 PDT
Hello leli
Though some bits of the book have stuck in my mind for years, my
overall recollection is a bit hazy, and I can't say whether this is
the book or not. However, the details you mentioned don't really
strike a chord. For example, I don't recall lights, or falling into
marshes, or planks. On the other hand your suggestion certainly sounds
like it more than the previous suggestions, because of its note of
high adventure, though my recollection is of of connections with
spying rather than smuggling. Immobilising the car by putting sugar
into the petrol tank, and immobilising the baddies by tying their
thumbs together with string, are definite features, and significant
because the "hero" does both these things at the end on his own
initiative, and throughout the book has talked about them but without
anyone thinking this could be useful knowledge. I'm aware that these
fragments don't give you much to go on, which has increased my
frustration over the years.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
politicalguru-ga
on
13 Nov 2003 06:38 PST
Dear Old Memories,
I've found a book, published in 1953, with sugar in the petrol tank,
and with Nazi spies as the baddies: the Marlow children spend Easter
on a sea-side house, and get into the adventure.
Could it be this book?
If so, please note that the question is about to expire, and that I
may not see your answer to my clarificatin request by the time you
manage to answer. If you think it is the book, but the question has
already expired, you could list it again, so I may be able to answer
it.
|
Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
13 Nov 2003 09:09 PST
Dear Politicalguru
The book you describe might well be the right one, but it's very hard
to be sure. Sugar in the petrol tank was definitely a key element, as
it was the means whereby the baddies were prevented from escaping. Is
there any reference in your book to immobilising people by tying their
thumbs together with string?
My book was probably set by the seaside, another point of similarity
with yours. Also, I'm pretty sure the baddies were involved in spying
rather than something like treasure. So, of the various suggestions I
have had to my rather vague request, yours appears to be the nearest.
What do I have to do to proceed further? Are you able to tell me the
title, or do you feel that involves a risk you might lose your fee?
Telling me the title might not help me much, in fact, as I probably
wouldn't recognise it, and I would have to get hold of the book and
read it before I was completely sure.
I'm not sure of the procedure at this point. What should I do,
assuming I agree that you have answered my question, or at any rate
decide that it's quite likely that you have?
|
