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Noel Streatfeild: A Biography
254 pages, Hardcover
First published August 28, 1984
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About the author
Angela Bull
48Ìýbooks3ÌýfollowersAngela Bull (Mary, née Leach) was born at Halifax, Yorkshire, England on September 28, 1936.
She was educated at Badminton School and at Edinburgh University where she graduated with honours in English 1959.
She was educated at Badminton School and at Edinburgh University where she graduated with honours in English 1959.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2020
I did enjoy this very much. It gives a good overview of Noel Streatfeild's life: I had no idea just how dedicated a community worker she was, even while I had suspected that some of the war time scenes in I Ordered a Table for Six were probably from life. (Streafeild survived a direct hit on her night shelter, only to arrive home the next day to find her flat had been destroyed.)
But its at its weakest in two places, where it discusses her emotional life and where (oddly) it discusses her books.
Bull doesn't seem to consider that what goes in the diary may not be what's in the head: so that Streatfeild's diary lacks self analysis leads her to propose and argue more than once that this means Streatfeild was not self analytical. I think that is a rather large jump. There are people for whom a diary is a means of self analysis and people for whom it is not, but that does not mean that self analysis is not going on elsewhere. At the same time as Bull makes this argument she continually argues that Streatfeild puts herself in books and is continually working out her experience as the 'difficult child'. It does not seem to cross her mind that *this too is self analysis*. As a corollorary to that, Bull continually erases the discussions of sex and passion in the adult books: Streatfield *does* depict several extra-marital affairs, and her depiction of them depends very much on how they are conducted: in modern terms there are at least two poly scenarios where everyone knows. In It Pays to Be Good, it's fairly clear the wife is probably gay and in love with the mistress, and this becomes clearer after the death of the husband. What Streatfeild thoroughly disapproves of (far more so than of the ruthless social climbers) are women who are so overtaken by bodily lusts for men that they can't think straight, abandon their friends and neglect their kids. As I've met at least two in my life -- they drop you the second they begin dating, and expect you still to be there when they break up--I have some sympathy here.
That takes us to the books. Apropos of a conversation I had with a friend on FB this morning: Bull mistakes her own preferences as judgements of quality. She regards Sorrel in Curtain Up as insipid and the book a failure: it's actually my favourite book because to me, the book is about different ways of being talented, and that there is more to life success than being a child genius. But more depressingly, she completely dismisses the Gemma stories. What's odd about this is that one of the reasons Streatfeild was originally regarded as radical, is that her stories have urban settings, money is short, and while it is mostly genteel poverty that she depicts (tho the more I read of her adult books, the more I'd say that, while her working class characters have stock roles they don't have stock inner lives or dialogue), it is a life that many of her readers experienced of money having to be thought about very carefully. In Gemma and its sequels she stripped away the long gone accoutrements of a lower middle class household and created one many of us knew: a small terrace, only two bedrooms for the children, but three kids; and a life dependent on the next pay cheque which has just disappeared (father is disabled and there is no miracle cure around the corner). Anne goes to a comprehensive. I'm not sure I'd read a book set in a comprehensive school. And I also loved Anne actively resisting her parents hopes (something I now realise is a trope) but in this case to *reject* the music career.
It's worth reading, and it's more open about Streatfeild's sexuality than a biography even a decade earlier might have been (But seriously Bull, if a woman writes in her diary in the 1920s, 'Much was said between us--we now have perfect understanding.', and she has read the Well of Loneliness and been chatting about lesbianism to Margaret Rutherford 'all lunch' then she is waving a flag in your face!). But I had constant little moments of frustration. On the other hand I also had constant little moments of delight: one of her best friends was Roland Pertwee, father of Jon...
ps there is enough evidence in there to suggest that Streatfeild may have been dyspraxic and dyslexic. She was relatively late to read, considered slow, struggled with spelling and grammar and was regarded as incredibly clumsy by her friends.
But its at its weakest in two places, where it discusses her emotional life and where (oddly) it discusses her books.
Bull doesn't seem to consider that what goes in the diary may not be what's in the head: so that Streatfeild's diary lacks self analysis leads her to propose and argue more than once that this means Streatfeild was not self analytical. I think that is a rather large jump. There are people for whom a diary is a means of self analysis and people for whom it is not, but that does not mean that self analysis is not going on elsewhere. At the same time as Bull makes this argument she continually argues that Streatfeild puts herself in books and is continually working out her experience as the 'difficult child'. It does not seem to cross her mind that *this too is self analysis*. As a corollorary to that, Bull continually erases the discussions of sex and passion in the adult books: Streatfield *does* depict several extra-marital affairs, and her depiction of them depends very much on how they are conducted: in modern terms there are at least two poly scenarios where everyone knows. In It Pays to Be Good, it's fairly clear the wife is probably gay and in love with the mistress, and this becomes clearer after the death of the husband. What Streatfeild thoroughly disapproves of (far more so than of the ruthless social climbers) are women who are so overtaken by bodily lusts for men that they can't think straight, abandon their friends and neglect their kids. As I've met at least two in my life -- they drop you the second they begin dating, and expect you still to be there when they break up--I have some sympathy here.
That takes us to the books. Apropos of a conversation I had with a friend on FB this morning: Bull mistakes her own preferences as judgements of quality. She regards Sorrel in Curtain Up as insipid and the book a failure: it's actually my favourite book because to me, the book is about different ways of being talented, and that there is more to life success than being a child genius. But more depressingly, she completely dismisses the Gemma stories. What's odd about this is that one of the reasons Streatfeild was originally regarded as radical, is that her stories have urban settings, money is short, and while it is mostly genteel poverty that she depicts (tho the more I read of her adult books, the more I'd say that, while her working class characters have stock roles they don't have stock inner lives or dialogue), it is a life that many of her readers experienced of money having to be thought about very carefully. In Gemma and its sequels she stripped away the long gone accoutrements of a lower middle class household and created one many of us knew: a small terrace, only two bedrooms for the children, but three kids; and a life dependent on the next pay cheque which has just disappeared (father is disabled and there is no miracle cure around the corner). Anne goes to a comprehensive. I'm not sure I'd read a book set in a comprehensive school. And I also loved Anne actively resisting her parents hopes (something I now realise is a trope) but in this case to *reject* the music career.
It's worth reading, and it's more open about Streatfeild's sexuality than a biography even a decade earlier might have been (But seriously Bull, if a woman writes in her diary in the 1920s, 'Much was said between us--we now have perfect understanding.', and she has read the Well of Loneliness and been chatting about lesbianism to Margaret Rutherford 'all lunch' then she is waving a flag in your face!). But I had constant little moments of frustration. On the other hand I also had constant little moments of delight: one of her best friends was Roland Pertwee, father of Jon...
ps there is enough evidence in there to suggest that Streatfeild may have been dyspraxic and dyslexic. She was relatively late to read, considered slow, struggled with spelling and grammar and was regarded as incredibly clumsy by her friends.
July 31, 2011
Streatfeild is best remembered for her children's books, notably et al, but last year I read , her WWII novel of lost childhood, which has been reprinted by Persephone. Much of her other work remains hard to find and even this biography is out of print; hurrah for public libraries.
I thought Saplings was fantastic and I wanted to learn more about the writer. This biography answered the basics but I felt it skipped or glossed over parts of her private life. Perhaps this was from lack of sources but I wondered if it reflects the period in which it was published (1984) as it seems pretty clear that Streatfeild was gay. She died in 1986.
I thought Saplings was fantastic and I wanted to learn more about the writer. This biography answered the basics but I felt it skipped or glossed over parts of her private life. Perhaps this was from lack of sources but I wondered if it reflects the period in which it was published (1984) as it seems pretty clear that Streatfeild was gay. She died in 1986.
March 26, 2013
A fantastic and informative biography about one of my favourite authors. I always identified with her troublesome characters as I was a trouble maker myself and it was interesting to find out that they were based on Noel herself and how the characters from her autobiographical novel "A Vicarage Family" were based on members of her family. I also enjoyed reading about her acting career and how she helped in the war and ended up writing books. Angela Bull's enthusiasm for Streatfeild's writing comes across and enhances the reasearch and interviews she had with Noel. A must read for any Noel Streatfeild fan.
April 6, 2021
Fascinating book about one of my favourite authors - sorts fact from the fiction of the three 'Vicarage' books, although somewhat oblique about NS's private life. While there is plenty here about NS's writing, the biography does skim over some of the later books. I would love to know what prompted the Gemma series, what research NS did, how she reconciled them to her comments about what children's books should be, their critical reception - but Gemma only gets about half a sentence in passing. But overall, a must-read for NS fans, or indeed anyone who enjoys reading about extraordinary women.
February 1, 2010
This is a short but serviceable biography, particularly interesting on the differences (and there are a lot) between Streatfeild's "autobiographies" and her real life. This makes me want to track down more of Streatfeild's adult novels, as I've only read Saplings (ETA: and have now read a few others, though they're hard to find). I'd have liked it a little more in-depth in places; Streatfeild's personal life gets rather lost later in the book.
July 28, 2024
A very interesting biography of Noel Streatfield, particularly in dealing with her early life, her vicarage childhood, and her years as a moderately successful actress before she becomes a writer. And the account of her wartime work with the WVS is fascinating. Some of the book is speculative,especially when dealing with Noel’s love life (or lack of it). I don’t always agree with what the author says about Noel’s books, Angela Bull is very dismissive of the Susan Scarlett novels, which I find highly enjoyable. And. I quite like Wintle’s Wonders. Caldicott Place barely rates a mention. But in general I found this book very enjoyable.
May 31, 2015
Noel Streatfeild (1895 - 1986) was an English author best known for her children's book "Ballet Shoes". This thoroughly researched biography describes a strong and energetic character who, after a conventional childhood in a provincial vicarage, worked in the London theatre and became a prolific writer of books for both adults and children.
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