REVIEW: Heroines on Horseback - Jane Badger

Heroines on Horseback is a book by Jane Badger. It was first published in 2013 by Girls Gone By.

The blurb reads:-

The pony book galloped onto the children's book scene with a flick of its rosetted bridle, and has remained a fixture ever since. Brave girls and nervous ones, scruffy ponies and ornaments of the show ring cantered through pony tale after pony tale, all fallen upon by an audience desperate to read anything that reflected their own passion for the pony.

Heroines on Horseback looks at the pony book from its beginning in the 1920s and 1930s to the glory days of the 1940s and 50s and beyond. The pony book expert Jane Badger writes about the lives and contribution of noted exponents, including Primrose Cumming, Monica Edwards, Patricia Leitch, Ruby Ferguson and the Pullein-Thompson sisters, as well as providing a wide-ranging view of the genre as a whole, its themes and developments, illustrators and short stories.

This book has a chapter devoted to the Pullein-Thompson sisters hence why it is on this blog. However I am not going to focus solely on the PT chapter, but a review of the book in general.

This book is ideal for anyone who is interested in the history of the pony book as it covers everything from the early days to the hey days of the pony book of the 1960s and the 1970s. It also covers major illustrators of the pony books. The book is also aimed at adults who want to relive their pony book days. It also covers British authors, which is not surprising as the author is based in the UK. However that's not to mean that the non UK authors are excluded, Elyne Mitchell (an Australian author) does get a mention.

I found it interesting and it gave a quick summary of some of the books without giving the plot away. The author has a knack of keeping the author interested without making the subject into a boring tome - something which could be easily done. The only downside is that it skimmed through the more modern stuff (1990s onwards), briefly giving them a mention. I felt as though they werent given the same time to the book. Perhaps the author simply ran out of room - after all you cant fit everything into a book. Though admittedly there are new pony authors coming out all the time. The major authors (Pullein-Thompsons, K M Peyton) are covered along with lesser authors such as Patience McElwee (though like modern books they arent all covered). Judith M Berrisford (who wrote the longest running pony book series) is another author who is barely covered. However the author has a superb website which is full of biographical information of many authors - I suspect that she didnt want to reiterate what is available essentially for free thus making the book redundant.







The Pullein-Thompson chapter is very informative and full of a wealth of information about the sister, including little known gems. It focuses on their works up until 1970, which means that later books such as the later Phantom Horse series, A Job With Horses (Josephine) are largely forgotten about. It also contains a review of the Black Beauty Family's series by Susanna Forest (author of If Wishes Were Horses).

It makes you want to buy many authors that you missed out as the author of the book has a knack of describing hidden gems.

There was a couple of things that I didnt like. Personally I didnt like the yellow on the front cover, I felt cream or something more neutral would have been more appropriate. Also I didnt like the fact that covers of pony book depicted internally where in black and white - I would prefer them in colour. I suspect that both decisions were taken by the publisher rather than the author however. The black and white does fit in however with the illustrations, of which they are plenty and sympathetically chosen to display what the author is trying to convey. Similarly the quotes of the various pony books are well chosen and fit with what the author is trying to convey well.

It is a well written book and definitely worth the money paid for it. Despite my criticisms, I highly recommend it. Heroines on Horseback is available through Amazon, abebooks, Girls Gone By, Waterstones (at least online, I dont know about their physical stores) as well as through the author's own website (link below). If you order through Jane herself she will sign it for you at no extra cost. (Mine is!)

http://www.ponybooksales.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=5145&keyword=badger,+jane&searchby=author&offset=0&fs=1

An interesting personal note is that I am mentioned in the acknowledgement section by name. Obviously I am not going to put my real name on a public blog, but my initials are DH. If you own such a copy you will work it out yourself.

Review: JOSEPHINE - Gin and Murder

Gin and Murder is the first one of a series of books. They are less well known than many of her works: though they are horse related, the horses are less of an key element to the books. They are aimed at adults: in fact they are murder mystery books. Josephine is following in the steps of her mother, who was alive when this was published. This book is dedicated to her.

It was first published in 1959, though the image shown is a 1990 reprint. All 3 books are quite hard to find, though not as hard as Mystery On the Moor. The "Linford Mystery Library" editions are easier to find than the first, however they are in large print, making them quite bulky. However they are complete and unabridged, so you do not miss out on any story.

I have added it into 2 series: the series should really be called "(Chief) Inspector Flecker", as he is the character that appears throughout the whole series, and quite a key. However, because of the relative obscurity of the books, it may not be obvious to people, and therefore I am also adding a "Adult Murder Mystery" tag, which makes more sense.

The blurb reads:-

When Guy Vickers died after Commander Chadwick's cocktail party, murder was the last thing suspected by East Wintshire. Murder was something one read about in the Sunday newspapers; it just didn't happen to people like them.

But murder it was. And when Inspector Hollis of the County Police began his rather ham-handed investigations, he found plenty of motives concealed behind those conventional façades.

It took a second murder to stampede the Chief Constable into sending for help from Scotland Yard, and when help came in the person of Chief Inspector James Flecker, he began to wonder whether it had been a wise move...

The horse element is somewhat lesser than her horse books. It is mainly confined to the fact that the book is set against a hunting background. Part of the book dwells on the party of the hunting franiterny, and the politics of the hunt. Apart from a couple of visits to the kennels by James Flecker, and a somewhat minimally detailed hunting day, there isn't much horse related. The majority of the story is taken up by Inspector Hollis' and later Chief Inspector James Flecker's investigations.

Although it is meant for adults, it could be read by older teenagers too. There is a small amount of swearing here and there, so it would definitely not be suitable for children. Also, one of the characters in the book drinks a lot, and therefore it makes it also unsuitable for young teenagers.
If you do not like hunting or want more horses, then perhaps this is not the book for you: then you are better off with Josephine's other (fictional) works.

The books is not too graphic: to be honest, Josephine's other adult book: A Place With Two Faces (written under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann) is more so. But then again, that is a different genre: that is a gothic terror novel. If you dont like hearing (in graphic detail) about how the person died, worry not, apart from the cause of death, there is very little detail about the two people die.

I do not know if this is a good or bad murder mystery book: to be honest, I have yet to read any other murder mystery book. Although her mother (Joanna Cannan) was famous for writing detective novels (Rue Morgue Press compare to her to other famous authors at the time, including a friend, Georgette Heyer), it is probably a decent one. Joanna Cannan herself wrote one book which is along the lines of this (having a horsey background I mean) which is Murder Included, which I will review at a later date.

The characters are well thought out, and the situation is believable. It is neither a heavy read or a light one, it falls in the middle. The action flows along nicely, though the plot is not over complicated. For me personally, I was put off in detective/murder novels because I was worried about the plot and the book being very complicated, and therefore hard to follow, worry not. This is not the case.

Still it has a decent enough ending, and everything is nicely sown up, though the ending has a slight twist in it. Enough to keep most people amused, and perhaps not for everyone, but if you can get past the lack of horses. It is enough to keep people who are perhaps interested in murder mysteries but not horses happy. Quite a good book in all, and a decent enough departure from Josephine's usual style.