Brown has to take in mending and other sewing work to earn money, and even so, she has to work much harder than Rosemary likes. We do pick up straight away that both Rosemary and her mother are not really used to being quite so hard up, but determined to make the best of things. Brown has been killed in the Second World War, although this is never mentioned. We do wonder where Rosemary’s father is this is 1955, so one-parent families were not common. Then they would be able to use their own comfortable, shabby belongings again.” But it was cheap and would have to do until they could find some unfurnished rooms. It was not a very pleasant arrangement, because the furniture was ugly (most of it was covered with horsehair that prickled, even through a winter dress), and the bathroom was always festooned with other people’s washing. “Rosemary and her mother lived at Number Ten, in three furnished rooms on the top floor, with use of bath on Tuesdays and Fridays, and a share of the kitchen. Rosemary lives with her mother in a rather shabby flat, in Tottenham Grove, London. The black cat “Carbonel” in this novel is, as the title says, a royal cat, but the story first focuses on our young protagonist, the ten year old Rosemary Brown.
During the Norman Conquest of England, “Carbonel” continued to be used as a name in the same context, deriving its origin from the Latin word “carbo”, which means charcoal. It was first used in France, in the area called Gascogne, and was a name for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.
The choice of “Carbonel” as a name is significant. Barbara Sleigh has borrowed the idea for her series of novels, but their tone is light-hearted rather than frightening. The story is based on an old folk tale from the British Isles “The King of the Cats”, which was first found in the work “Beware the Cat” by a William Baldwin in 1533, although it is probably far older than this. My most recent “reading” of this was a delight, with the talented reader imbuing the character of Carbonel with a regal presence, his voice when speaking this part reminiscent of Noel Coward. It is particularly good read aloud, for the younger end of the spectrum. It is perhaps most suitable for those between 7 and 11 years of age, but its humour means that it can be enjoyed at any age.
Have you ever loved a book and its characters, been happy when their fortunes are good, and worried on their behalf when things are not going so well, been engrossed in their adventures, and delighted by the lively wit of the author - only to have everything destroyed by a careless, jarring ending? This is such a book.Ĭarbonel: the King of the Cats is a children’s fantasy book by Barbara Sleigh, which was first published in 1955.
0 kommentar(er)
