THE CASTLE ON THE HILL

by Elizabeth ge ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 1942

This somehow falls short of her best work, and yet it has the elements that have made for her popularity. There's romance and sentiment -- there's a nostalgic picture of old England, its best along with slightly rose-colored spectacled view of its worst. The story starts with two desperate lonely people, each at the end of hope, -- a spinster whose home and livelihood have been bombed out of existence, a Jewish musician, hounded from Europe, earning coppers on the street with his violin. His music breaks the pattern of her fears; her appreciation destroys his despair. Then the wheel revolves. She gets a job as housekeeper to a family of men, and -- eventually -- to two small London evacuees; he follows the little Londoners, in whose home he had found a home, and the threads are drawn together again. A Nazi bomber wrecks the castle -- and the two homeless ones are again brought together, while the two Birneys who are left find each his own way of life, facing a new England. There is charm, with all its unreality.

Pub Date: May 4, 1942

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward, McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1942

Categories: FICTION