CAN I GET THERE BY CANDLELIGHT?

by Jean Slaughter Doty ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1980

Gail is probably twelve but narrates speciously in the voice of a seasoned writer (""Two long gardens, edged with tall crisp hedges and massed with beds of pink roses, curved back toward the summerhouse""). The title is a double pun on the well-known rhyme, since Candlelight is Gail's horse and Babylon the mysterious and sumptuously maintained estate she comes upon while riding in unfamiliar woods. Canny Gall instantly notices something strange about its inhabitant, a girl her age who wears long gowns and high-button shoes, proffers lemonade and tea cakes, and says ""shan't""; but she calmly reasons that it might be a movie set or the girl's idea of a joke. Then an examination of the neighborhood from the main road shows the estate known as Babylon to be an untended ruin behind rusted gates, soon to be razed for condominiums. With too many questions unanswered, this is not wholly convincing as a time-warp story, but Doty's fans will appreciate the usual horsey details--plus some lessons in riding sidesaddle that Hilary gives to Gaff in their short, ill-fated friendship.

Pub Date: March 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION