Treasure of Green Knowe

Tolly has returned to Green Knowe and his Grandmother full of excitement at being there once more, but an unhappy surprise lies in wait for him: the portrait of the children Toby, Alexander and Linnet is missing from the wall. It would seem a small loss but for the fact that its absence means that the children's spirits are also not present in the house.Grandmother Oldknow explains the painting's loss due to poor finances, though soon sparks hope in Tolly for its return due to the tale of the missing treasure of Green Knowe (which he vows to find), and stories of another family ancestor: Susan Oldknow. Born to a vain mother, a kind but absent father, a spoilt older brother Sefton, and an overly pious grandmother, Susan knows her blindness is a terrible blow to the family's pride: "I can't take her into society, she'll never be married, and I'll have her *always*!" her mother laments when the sad truth is revealed.Smothered by a good-hearted but utterly disillusioned Nanny, Susan is not allowed to do a thing on her own, till her Captain father brings back a gift from his travels that shocks the entire family: a West Indian boy named Jacob to keep her company. Their extraordinary friendship can only be describe through L. M. Boston's beautiful prose, as when the two meet:"'Who is it Papa?' Susan asked. Jacob answered for himself, in a voice whose smallest half-utterance she was never afterwards to mistake for any other. 'It's me, Missy.'"As with Tolly's previous summer in the house, the line between past and present blurs, and he once again interacts with the older inhabitants of the house, though this time in a far more influential manner, going so far as to actively participate in the stories his Grandmother tells him each night. While other time-travelling stories leave me completely cross-eyed, the "Green Knowe" stories treat it as something utterly natural, and thus so do the readers.As a sequel to "Children of Green Knowe", this second part (also published as "Chimneys of Green Knowe") is undoubtably superior to its predecessor. Though I missed Toby, Alexander and Linnet, their part in the first story was as whimsical spirits - Susan and Jacob have a definite story assigned to them, and interact with Tolly in a more important way, stirring events into being on both sides of the centuries.Lucy Boston creates a sophisticated commentary on prejudice that still rings true today in her use of blind Susan and West Indian Jacob. As she comments, blind people were either poor and beggars, or rich and had servants to live for them, and Susan was certainly of the latter group. As such, the poor girl often finds herself strapped to a chair with her doll tied to its arm, disliked by her grandmother who thinks her condition a judgement for her mother's vain lifestyle, and punished for fingering things. Boston's descriptions of blindness in both Susan's life: "things stuck out of space like icebergs out of the sea", and Tolly's experiments (he discovers feet are more useful than hands in such an instance) are evocatively written, and so imaginatively told that it won't simply be children so have their minds expanded.Second is Jacob, whose place in the story is still whilst England allowed slavery. This book was first published in 1958, and I was both impressed by Boston's distaste for slavery, and refreshed by the lack of extreme political correctness that so often clogs books on the subject written today. Boston presents the Slave Trade as a simple factuality, that could be neither explained nor excused, but simply a reality.Truly, the "Green Knowe" stories are among the lost masterpieces of children's literature. Do everyone in your family a favour and read them - the house, the characters, the situations, and the sublime use of language that Lucy Boston uses is unforgettable.

I will never forget reading this book - and the others in this series - when I was in grade school. This was actually the first volume I read, although it's not chronologically the first in the group. It was one of those wonderful discoveries you sometimes make wandering aimlessly through the stacks in the local library - cracking a random volume, reading the first little bit, and realizing at once that you are beginning a literary love affair.Then, as now, I was captivated by the magical "otherness" of L.M. Boston's Green Knowe and by the wonderful characterizations and tales within the tale. I couldn't put it down until I'd learned the fates of all the characters, and I wished that my suburban row house had even half the romance of the old manor house, and that my own prosaic grandma was a bit more mysterious.Now that I'm much older (although not nearly as old as Grandmother Oldknow), I realize that the book is quite well-written - accessible for children but sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by anyone with a taste for the supernatural. And I've purchased a copy for my 11-year-old niece, who thankfully shares her auntie's interest in reading and love for stories with an otherworldly component. A must-read for book-lovers young and old.

I read "The Children of Green Knowe" a year or so ago, and I just finished this second book this afternoon. I was so completely submerged in the engrossing story and I can't wait until I have time to read all the remaining books in the series. Beautifully written, effortless (for the reader) characterizations, and a mysterious and charming plot that weaves generations of children together as they live and love Green Knowe and all its ages of family. Fantastic. I can have no higher praise for these books that to say that have a kinship with the best of children's fantasy and fiction and they belong on the shelf next to the Narnian Chronicles.

The Green Knowe books are full of the kind of Celtic magic one finds in Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. A lot of authentic magic here.

When Tolly returns to spend his Easter holiday with Great-grandmother Oldknow, he meets new friends from the past (1801 this time) and plays with his new puppy Orlando. Information he gets from his ghostly playmates leads him on a treasure hunt for long lost jewels. Another great book by Lucy Boston!

I first read these in grade school, and checked the same books out from the library over the years from time to time. They are bittersweet fantasy, sweet and beautifully written. Tolly's and Ping's and Ida's and Oskar's adventures are timeless, set in the same timeless English manor house the author lived in. I consider these a necessary series of fantasy literature, good for children of all ages.

I read these when I was a kid and loved them. My mum sent me one of the books recently and I read it and wanted to get the whole series for my grandchildren. Each book is great. If you like the Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe and or The railway children you will love these books.

Saw the movie about The Treasure of Green Knowe and was very intrigued about the ghosts. A good book always goes into the depth of and heart of a book. And ghosts, oh my!! And lost jewels!! A very good book, a must if you like mysteries and ghosts!

イースターの休暇に大おばあさんの住む古い館グリーン・ノウに帰ってきたトーリーは、不思議な友だち一家を描いた油絵が壁から消えているのに気づきます。大おばあさんは、古い館を修理するためにその絵を売るつもりだというのです。そしてこうも「ずっと昔に失われた宝石があれば喜んでそれを売るのだけどね」。トーリーは、大おばあさんのために不思議な子どもたちのためにグリーン・ノウのために宝石を探し始めるのです・・・。　大おばあさんは古いキルトを繕いながら館に住んでいた人々のことを話してくれます。目の見えないスーザンやジェイコブ少年、オールドノウ船長やマリア夫人。トーリーは、十八世紀の終わりに生きていたその子どもたちにグリーン・ノウで出会います。　お話しも面白いですが、なんと言っても魅力的なのは、古い館に住むウズラみたいな大おばあさん　Mrs.Oldknow　の生き方です。トーリーも言っています。大おばあさんと一緒だと『being a schoolboy』だってことを忘れると。トーリーと大おばあさんは、『just two people』なのです。

I am not a fan of sequels.However, I just had to see if the magic of the first book could carry over to the next.I opened the book and didn't put it down until I had read it from cover to cover.As someone who is pretty much obsessed with the first book, I can honestly say this one lives up to all my expectations. The atmosphere of the house, the way past and present are mingled effortlessly and, most important of all, the way she describes Tolly's thoughts seem to have been written effortlessly by Mrs Boston. Forget the Harry Potter books (I never liked them), this is what all budding children's authors should look up to - a truly magical formula that has yet to be equalled.