For the fourth book in the series, A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961), Boston won the annual Carnegie Medal, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. [6] She was a commended runner up for both the first and second books. [7] [a] Upon his arrival in a torrential rain, he finds the entire area is flooded but the cab driver tells him to wait and stay dry while he puts his baggage in the car and then they are met near the house by the groundskeeper in a boat. He is warmly welcomed by his great-grandmother who immediately tells him this is his home and shows him portraits of his ancestors.

Along with her books, Boston became well-known for her patchwork quilts. “The existence of the patchworks was scarcely known until 1976, when the celebrated conductor and keyboard player, Christopher Hogwood who was a close friend, arranged an exhibition of them at the King’s Lynn Festival.” (See the photo of Lucy Boston and two of her patchwork quilts.) Lucy lived to be 97, dying after suffering two strokes in 1990. Peter and his wife Diana lived at the manor until Peter’s death in 1999. Diana Boston still lives there, with home and gardens open to the public to help defray expenses. Fans of Lucy Boston’s books from around the world visit the manor every year.True to the women’s words, there is flooding as he arrives at the Penny Soaky station. The taxi driver takes him as far as he can, and then the boy has to be rowed by boat to reach his great-grandmother’s house, which is surrounded by the river on all sides.

The rest of the book is even more magical than this beginning is. Three children from long ago who used to live at Green Noah also, but who died from the Plague, come and go, sometimes playing with Tolly, sometimes lingering out of sight, teasing him. Great-grandmother has told Tolly that they visit her, too. As in their portrait in the room with the fire, Toby, the oldest, has a sword; Alexander, the middle son, plays the flute; and Linnet, the little girl – friend to all the animals – laughs constantly and teases Tolly. However, they never stay for very long, and Tolly never quite knows when to expect them. Brian Sibley dramatised an eponymous radio play adaptation of The Children of Green Knowe, directed by Marilyn Imrie, which aired on BBC Radio 4 on 18 December 1999. I love the above passage. Magic. As for the rest, you need to read it yourself. It’s a book meant for adults as well as children. Diana Boston, Lucy’s daughter-in-law, sums up the allure of the books in these words:During this holiday season, I re-read stories and books that I’ve collected over the years, each having something to do with Christmas or the spirit thereof. One of these books is Lucy M. Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe, one of six books that she wrote after the age of 60. All of them were inspired by an ancient Norman manor she bought in Cambridgeshire later in her life. The final shooting script had some changes (for example it is four 22 minute episodes long, not one feature-length movie), but otherwise remains close to John’s final thesis version. Plus, it had the approval of the original author too, despite John’s doubts about the how the original story would play in Hollywood: And so begins a wonderful, magical summer. Ida, Oscar and Ping are staying with Ida’s great-aunt at the ancient, river-encircled house of Green Knowe. They set out to chart the river in the canoe, and soon discover that it has some surprising and mysterious secrets. The conclusion of the story is exciting and the thought of a malicious tree that had been cursed, reaching out it's branches to grab you was something I thought of as very scary as a child, the relief when this man shaped tree's reign of terror comes to an end is a fitting way to end this book What a warm and wonderful book this is!! I wish I had read it when I was a child but am so glad I have gotten to read it now as an adult. This book is utterly charming.

When I returned, every place I’d tried was a ‘no thank you’ or a ‘we’ll let you know’. Except I couldn’t get in touch with the BBC ‘person in charge’ because he was out of town. The evening before I flew home, I tried one last time to get in touch — and there, in a phone box in Finchley — I got to talk to Paul Stone. Miracle of miracles, he was interested! Of course, he was frustrated because I couldn’t change my flight the next morning, so we couldn’t meet. But later in the process, he was able to fly out to the west coast so we could finalize the details of converting a screenplay to a television series, make some minor changes, sign contracts etc. He was wonderfully respectful and kind, and I’m still grateful to him for making that trip!”

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During ‘The Children of Green Knowe’s original transmission I had moved into a new house in Somerset, having had my life uprooted from our home in Oxfordshire when Dad moved with work. The transmission of the serial therefore resonated with me. I felt a lot like Tolly, coming to a new landscape and trying to make new friends, albeit my new friends weren’t ghosts. Of course, my new house was nothing like Green Knowe and I didn’t attend a boarding school. In line with many of these fantasy dramas, it feels like the BBC took a determinedly middle class approach to showing the lives of other children: Kay Harker in ‘The Box of Delights’ is a boarding school student, as are the Pevensie children in the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series. I can only assume this is a deliberate reaction to the twenty-four episodes of ‘Grange Hill’ that the BBC broadcast per year. 1986 was the year of the Zammo drugs storyline and you can feel the BBC wanting to distance itself from the comprehensives for a while. Listen & Live Audio, Inc. has published the unabridged audiobook recordings for each of the six novels, narrated by voiceover artist Simon Vance. The story behind a classic of children’s television drama, with insights from its screenwriter John Stadelman. It is down to Stadelman’s writing and Cant’s expertise that the encounters with the ghosts are not terrifying, as this would not be appropriate for the target audience. Instead they are magical. Added to this is the lightness of Peter Howell’s music. Using the flute motif throughout, Howell expertly crafts music that is both seasonal and historic. As one of the key BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers during the 1970s through to 90s, Howell’s work crossed drama and documentary and is remembered in ‘Doctor Who’ circles as being the man who had to take-up the baton when Dudley Simpson was let go. ‘The Children of Green Knowe’ remains one of his finest works, gentle and evocative.