Kate Seredy seems to be a fairly unknown author here in the UK. I had heard her book The Good Master recommended by US home school forums and wanted to read it as I am looking for books about Europe for the book club. The book had a Newbery Honor award in 1936 which made it sound promising.
The Good Master was published in 1935 but is set in Hungary in the years preceding the First World War. The author was brought up in Hungary and it is based on the summers that the author spent on the Hungarian plain.
Kate is a motherless city child whose father is unable to control her so she is sent out the the country to her Uncle Marton, his wife and ten year old son, Jancsi. The first few chapters have scenes where the cultures clash: Kate thinks that Jancsi in his peasant clothing must be a girl and Jancsi thinks that Kate is swearing when she uses the previously unknown words: phone and taxicab. Kate also turns out to be wild, fearless and determined. Uncle Marton, who is the good master of the book, rapidly succeeds in taming Kate who starts to enjoy country life even though she resists the ten skirts thought necessary for wearing at Easter. The children have many adventures; Kate helps Jancsi and some of the farm hands learn to read by setting up an evening school and there are retellings of Hungarian tales before, of course, a happy ending, set at Christmas time.
In many ways the book reminds me of Farmer Boy: the self-sufficiency, the lack of waste (there is a comment about not wasting one apple), the hard work but also the generally prosperous farm.
I recommend this book for children aged 7-11. It is an insight into rural life and a long gone style of living.
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The Good Master was published in 1935 but is set in Hungary in the years preceding the First World War. The author was brought up in Hungary and it is based on the summers that the author spent on the Hungarian plain.
Kate is a motherless city child whose father is unable to control her so she is sent out the the country to her Uncle Marton, his wife and ten year old son, Jancsi. The first few chapters have scenes where the cultures clash: Kate thinks that Jancsi in his peasant clothing must be a girl and Jancsi thinks that Kate is swearing when she uses the previously unknown words: phone and taxicab. Kate also turns out to be wild, fearless and determined. Uncle Marton, who is the good master of the book, rapidly succeeds in taming Kate who starts to enjoy country life even though she resists the ten skirts thought necessary for wearing at Easter. The children have many adventures; Kate helps Jancsi and some of the farm hands learn to read by setting up an evening school and there are retellings of Hungarian tales before, of course, a happy ending, set at Christmas time.
In many ways the book reminds me of Farmer Boy: the self-sufficiency, the lack of waste (there is a comment about not wasting one apple), the hard work but also the generally prosperous farm.
I recommend this book for children aged 7-11. It is an insight into rural life and a long gone style of living.
If you enjoyed this post you may like to follow Delivering Grace by Google Friend Connect, G+,Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or e-mail.
Just encase you're on a Seredy reading roll; another book we also enjoyed by Seredy is Chestry Oak. (Worth the effort, if you are able to procure a copy.)
ReplyDeleteThank you. I will look out for it. I'm hoping to read the Singing Tree, at some point, too.
DeleteIs this a read aloud book, or would a newly confident reader be able to manage it on her own? It sounds like a lovely book to add to our library :)
ReplyDeleteClaire, I would go for a read aloud. The Hungarian names would be a bit confusing.
DeleteClaire, I would go for a read aloud. The Hungarian names would be a bit confusing.
Delete