Classics Out Loud

Even before Valancy receives a letter from Dr Trent in Montreal about her diagnosis, she commits her first act of rebellion, decimating a rose bush that she is frustrated with since it never blooms. Fortuitously, her mother is furious that she wasn't consulted before the hacking commenced, and will now not talk to Valancy for several days. When the news arrives that Valancy only has a year to...

The visit to Dr Trent is unusual - after some discussion he received a telephone call and rushes out, leaving Valancy alone in his office. She's without a diagnosis, but as Dr Trent's son has been in an automobile accident in Montreal, she feels a little less foolish. Still, she's without any real information on her condition which is disheartening after such a fraught adventure. Sh...

A visit to Uncle Benjamin's grocery store is in order, it would be unacceptable to get tea from anywhere else. Much as his jokes prod Valancy painfully, she buys her tea and  realises his jokes are painful primarily because that are in fact true - she is getting old, she's not married, and feels unloved and unwanted.   Resolving to be honest with herself from now on, she passed by her ch...

Valancy laments the fact that some girls seemed to have everything, and others, nothing. She manages to exit the house even though her mother and cousin try hard to have her nearly wrapped in cotton-wool before leaving.

We learn more how Valancy interacts with her family.  She his piecing a quilt and goes to her room to get a different thimble, and we get glimpse into her beloved John Foster book when she opens a page at random.   The rain has stopped, so she tries to engineer a trip uptown to get a new book. We know her plan is actually to go see Dr Trent. Eventually, her mother relents and her adventure begins.

Valancy drags herself out of bed on this dreary, cold, wet May morning. She wakes at 7:30, and breakfast is at 8:00am. Like every other day, she works her way through her morning routine.  She looks at herself in the mirror and feels that there was not a gleam of beauty anywhere—"exactly like my life", she says to herself.  From the plain view out her window to the clothes she wears, Mon...

We are delighted to tackle L.M. Montgomery's classic tale, one of her few adult books. Published in 1926, we are pleased to present The Blue Castle . Best known for Anne of Green Gables , Montgomery sets the scene in chapter one of our protagonist Valency. Considered an old maid at nearly 29 and unwed, her life is dull and uneventful, living with her mother and cousin who direct her every mov...

But what about the remaining Lost Boys? Will they find a home among the Darlings? And will Peter come back to request spring cleaning from Wendy? Since he is so prone to forgetting, will he remember her? We find out as Wendy herself grows up and has a child of her own.   In the conclusion of our adventures, Barrie wraps up our story of youth  by opening  the prospect of Neverland to all children....

Back at number 14, Mr Darling is asleep in his kennel - his self-imposed punishment for not having kept Nana tied up and thereby losing the children. In fact, he spends all his time in the kennel, being taken in it to and from work - and become a minor celebrity as a result. This particular evening, he asks Mrs Darling to play him to sleep on the nursery piano, which she does so.   It is just as t...

In chapter 15 we reach the climax of our story. The boys and Wendy are tied up aboard the pirate ship, but Peter is planning a rescue. Still making a crocodile-like ticking sound, he sneaks about and begins to take the pirate crew one by one.    Peter and the pirate captain have their final confrontation. Will this be Hook's final battle?

Hook ruminates on his lonely life as a pirate captain, before offering two of the boys a job as a pirate themselves. Ultimately, John and Michael refuse, preferring to "die like English gentlemen". So Hook's men prepare the blank and our merry band of children appear doomed.   Except, what is that ticking sound coming from the water? Could it really be that the crocodile is finally...

The children are taken away by the pirates and in the process, Hook discovers Slightly's secret - that he had been hollowing out the tree used to reach the home under the ground, and that even Hook could fit down it.    Of course Hook takes advantage of these and lays a trap for Peter who is sleeping down below. Tink is the unexpected saviour, but only you, the listener, can save her now.

Though Hook used dubious tactics, the surprise attack of the pirates happens at last and the guarding Redskins do not fare well. The Lost boys and the Darlings await to find out the result of the battle and are delighted to hear - they think - the Redskins signalling their victory via the tom tom.   In a stroke of brilliance, it is actually the pirates that are beating the tom tom, and the boys an...

In telling her regular story about her parents and the flight to Neverland, and their eventual return to the real world, John and Michael realise what is in fact at risk living in their fantasy land. They beg to return home and the Lost Boys join the plan, much to Peter's frustration, not that he would admit it. Tink agrees to lead them over the sea, and the Redskins get them safely across th...

After the adventure in the lagoon, the Redskins dedicate themselves to protecting Peter and the boys. Inside their home under the ground, Peter and Wendy try to determine what they are to each other while the boys prepare for Wendy's bedtime story.

The Never Bird was always grateful that Peter had declared that its nest should not be disturbed despite falling in the water. In this short chapter, the bird gets the chance to return the favour. Despite their struggle communicating, the Never Bird works to save Peter from his precarious situation on the Marooners' rock.

While enjoying a nap after lunch at the Mermaids' Lagoon, the pirates come to the lagoon to leave the captured Tiger Lilly on Marooner's Rock to be drowned at high tide. Peter impersonates Hook and engineers her escape, but while the rest of the boys get away, Wendy and Peter are themselves are left on the rock and the tide is rising.

We learn about the Lost Boys' home under the ground, with it's giant bed that everyone sleeps in, save Peter, Michael and Wendy. There's a tree trunk that grows in the middle of the room which they set a door on top of to make a table at night, before sawing it off at floor level so it never grows too tall. We learn that food might be real - or not - but that pot needed to be watche...

Discovering that the "kiss" has in fact  saved Wendy from Tootles' arrow, and Tinker Bell suitably scolded, the Lost Boys build a house for Wendy.  Having found a place in Neverland, they ask Wendy to take care of them as their mother. We learn how the real world and the imaginary one are fluid and interchangeable on the island.

With Peter returning, the island awakens. We learn of Hook's pirates, the background to Hook's anger at Peter and the ticking crocodile. It's no wonder Hook has plans for revenge on Peter. But wait, have the pirates discovered the Lost Boys' underground home? Meanwhile the Lost Boys, and particularly Tootles, are tricked by Tink into shooting Wendy out of the sky now she is sep...

After flying over several seas and perhaps days and nights, Wendy, John and Michael work out how to eat and sleep on their long flight. Finally, they have their first view of Neverland island. Tink gets an opportunity to create mischief for Wendy when she is separated from the others.

Peter returns to the nursery to get his shadow, and can't find it. His sobbing wakes Wendy, and they meet in real life.  Peter enchants Wendy and promises her all of her play-dreams if she would come to Neverland and tell stories to him and the lost boys.   Wendy won't leave without Michael and John, so Peter teaches them all to fly.  The Darling parents rush home when Nanna works out th...

The chapter opens with Mrs Darling working out what to do with Peter's shadow that was left behind after his abrupt exit. The Darlings recall the never-to-be-forgotten Friday evening. where all the usual aspects of the night-time routine are present, except for the clues the author gives us that this evening doesn't end up the way they usually do.

Strikingly different to the Disney version in our memories, J.M.  Barrie's novel, rich in allegories and metaphors, is as much for adults as it is for children. The novel opens by introducing us to the Darling family. Exploring the what it means to be young and free to imagine your own world, we see already that the Darling children's view of the real world is translucent.  It is Mrs Dar...

Gregor, injured from the last encounter with his father, retreats to his room while experiencing family life only as a voyeur.  His family adjusts to their new financial circumstances, including taking on tenants. But it is upon hearing his beloved sister's violin playing that Gregor makes his presence known and causes his family to decide that they must be rid of Gregor, once and for all.