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The Exiles #1
The Exiles
The four Conroy sisters spend a wild summer at the seaside with Big Grandma, who tries to break them of their reading habit by substituting fresh air and hard work for books and gets unexpected results.
191 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
12 people are currently reading
718 people want to read
About the author
Hilary McKay
137books378followersHilary McKay was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and is the eldest of four girls. From a very early age she read voraciously and grew up in a household of readers. Hilary says of herself as a child "I anaesthetised myself against the big bad world with large doses of literature. The local library was as familiar to me as my own home."
After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew's University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.
One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them
Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.
After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew's University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.
One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them
Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
November 27, 2024
Today the first snow of the season had blanketed the surroundings here. Somehow I wasn't as thrilled and exited upon seeing it as I usually am. I was craving for the summer warmth lately and this book spoke to me. It's lovely and the writing style of the author pulls you in and makes you invested into these four sisters' adventures. It's the first book ever written by Hilary McKay and was inspired by the author's childhood growing-up as one of four sisters. I've been meaning to read it for a long time. Just think, a whole summer vacation ahead! Seeing the first snow is an enchanted moment, nonetheless - such a pretty winter wonderland is stretching outside, which I'm sure I would appreciate and marvel at when I'll come to my senses :)
27 N. 24
And guess what the second snow of the season made me feel 🙂🌲❄️.
25 N. '24
The great fun of reading a book is when your brain flips from your perspective into a character's point of view and is letting you experience the adventures and feel the emotions the characters have. And this one was a fun experience, allowing me to live for a while in the summer with grass hills, the illusive island you can only glimpse when the rain threatens to come, the cave with echoes, shadowing the footsteps and voices where the shining candle-lit walls reflect the bird calls, sounding otherworldly and hauntingly in a dim, dark space. Those were the places I was drawn to and fascinated by and thought that that village in Cumbria was definitely a place worth to remember in the years to come.
A happy feeling floated in the air while the Conroy kids were navigating the life they unexpectedly were thrown into - that feeling was there when the sisters were cooking on a campfire with Graham or when exploring the cave, or making an umpteenth search for books, or even when pondering whether the gran's house is haunted. A world of sunlight, the sea and friendship, a world where you can face and overcome the fears and a world of discovering that there's more to life than you knew before. Did the Conroy sisters themselves think so? And would they have pleasant memories in the years to come after spending the summer at gran's house in Cumbria?
Now let's take a few steps back where Ruth and Naomi want to spend their summer vacation reading all the books they can get their hands on, but her grandma has something different on her mind for all of her grandaughters, and it so occurs that she is seemingly have only boring books in her houshold they grudgingly had arrived to. A endless exile they were destined to, and wasn't able to evade and escape from. No library, no books in a little shop nearby, the only one in the village it seems like. How they supposed to survive? Maybe a boy the sisters met on a path can lend them some?
August 12, 2011
by Hilary McKay
Opening lines--"It was the last weekend before the summer holidays. Naomi Conroy crouched uncomfortably at the end of the garden reading a book."
This is one of those books where I finished and immediately thought, "WHY, oh WHY have I never read this before?" As I mentioned , I tend to love books about families, so that was in its favor from the beginning. Also, I fell in love with Cumbria when I was there a year ago, so although Big Grandma's house is in a different part of the region, that also helped.
Really, when it comes down to it, this is just a fun, sweet story. I would have loved it when I was, say, twelve, but my 22-year-old self enjoyed it just as much. Back then, I would have been almost entirely caught up in the girls' story, but now I read it with a lot more sympathy for and understanding of Big Grandma. Although McKay makes the fact that she has ulterior motives fairly obvious from the beginning, I think that the ten years between then-me and now-me allowed me to understand why Big Grandma acts as she does.
The four sisters (Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe) are still delightful, though. I sympathize entirely with their voracious appetite for books. It's literally a laugh out loud book--I can't quite remember where I laughed especially hard, but these girls do manage to get themselves into situations. And they usually drag their friend Graham into them too.
For those who might be concerned about such things, there is a bit of language in this one (I don't think there is in the sequel, but I can't quite remember). I read past it personally.
Book source: public library
Book information: Macmillan, 1992
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HOW did I never read these books before this year? They’re hilariously funny, especially the first two, and I love the characters, especially Big Grandma. [2010 in books]
Opening lines--"It was the last weekend before the summer holidays. Naomi Conroy crouched uncomfortably at the end of the garden reading a book."
This is one of those books where I finished and immediately thought, "WHY, oh WHY have I never read this before?" As I mentioned , I tend to love books about families, so that was in its favor from the beginning. Also, I fell in love with Cumbria when I was there a year ago, so although Big Grandma's house is in a different part of the region, that also helped.
Really, when it comes down to it, this is just a fun, sweet story. I would have loved it when I was, say, twelve, but my 22-year-old self enjoyed it just as much. Back then, I would have been almost entirely caught up in the girls' story, but now I read it with a lot more sympathy for and understanding of Big Grandma. Although McKay makes the fact that she has ulterior motives fairly obvious from the beginning, I think that the ten years between then-me and now-me allowed me to understand why Big Grandma acts as she does.
The four sisters (Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe) are still delightful, though. I sympathize entirely with their voracious appetite for books. It's literally a laugh out loud book--I can't quite remember where I laughed especially hard, but these girls do manage to get themselves into situations. And they usually drag their friend Graham into them too.
For those who might be concerned about such things, there is a bit of language in this one (I don't think there is in the sequel, but I can't quite remember). I read past it personally.
Book source: public library
Book information: Macmillan, 1992
-----
HOW did I never read these books before this year? They’re hilariously funny, especially the first two, and I love the characters, especially Big Grandma. [2010 in books]
May 25, 2011
And the moral of the story is that you should not let other people's ill-behaved children stay with you because they will wreck your house and burn up your books.
May 26, 2019
Ohhh this book made me so happy. At the end, I let out a sigh of pure pleasure - that patented good-book sigh we all want to rush out of us at the end of a really wonderful story! - and along the way, I laughed out loud so many times (and also came close to crying at one point).
This is a new and updated edition of The Exiles, and I hadn't read the original, so I can't speak to any differences. But this book is an absolute masterclass in creating living, breathing, and wonderful complicated characters who all feel SO real and so compelling. In the hands of a lesser writer, there would be a really simple didactic message in the story's structure (where a grandmother in the rural Lake District forces her bookish granddaughters from the city to go without any new books for a wild, natural summer - and they're better for it because She Knows Best). This story is anything but simplistic, though, and the grandmother is just as flawed, blindered and fascinating in her own ways as the four granddaughters all are.
She doesn't know best and neither do they; she does great things and makes mistakes just like they do, too - and I loved every single one of them by the end of the story.
Hilary McKay is my very favorite children's writer working today. She's the reason I started writing MG fiction in the first place (after falling SO hard in love with the first series of hers that I read), and every new (to me) book I read from her feels like an amazing gift. I loved this.
This is a new and updated edition of The Exiles, and I hadn't read the original, so I can't speak to any differences. But this book is an absolute masterclass in creating living, breathing, and wonderful complicated characters who all feel SO real and so compelling. In the hands of a lesser writer, there would be a really simple didactic message in the story's structure (where a grandmother in the rural Lake District forces her bookish granddaughters from the city to go without any new books for a wild, natural summer - and they're better for it because She Knows Best). This story is anything but simplistic, though, and the grandmother is just as flawed, blindered and fascinating in her own ways as the four granddaughters all are.
She doesn't know best and neither do they; she does great things and makes mistakes just like they do, too - and I loved every single one of them by the end of the story.
Hilary McKay is my very favorite children's writer working today. She's the reason I started writing MG fiction in the first place (after falling SO hard in love with the first series of hers that I read), and every new (to me) book I read from her feels like an amazing gift. I loved this.
June 24, 2017
অ্যাডাল্� লাইফের যাবতীয় টেনশ�,কমপ্লেক্সিটি,ঝামেলা থেকে অন্ত� একদিনে� জন্য হলেও দূরে থাকা� জন্য কো� বই পড়ত� চাইল� এই বইটা সাজেস্� কর� (if you are way too tired to be adulting already)� বইটা নস্টালজিয়ায� ভোগায় পড়া� সময়, ছোটবেলায� গ্রীষ্মে� বা শীতে� ছুটি� সময় স্কু� ছুটি দি� যখ� বে� কিছুদিনে� জন্য, তখ� কত কিছু� না কর� হত! জীবনের অসাধার� সময়টা যে পা� কর� আসছি আর তা যে কোনভাবেই ফিরে পাওয়া সম্ভ� না এখ�, ভাবত� অসহায় লাগে এখন।
August 22, 2012
When I first read this, I wondered why I couldn't get my kids to stop slouching around my house, reading or watching TV or playing games, unless I took it all away from them. Now I know it's because I don't live near the seaside and have a garden like Big Grandma. One of the things I love about this book is that despite its premise--lazy kids forced to shape up by their tough but loving grandmother--it doesn't follow the pattern. There's no initial violent resistance followed by a gradual mellowing as the kids learn that Big Grandma's way is right, or discovery that she's really very nice under her crusty shell. The kids have moments of rebellion right up to the end. Big Grandma is firm in her rules from the beginning, and the only mellowing she does is at the end, when she doesn't let her justifiable fury at her granddaughters' carelessness destroy their relationship, an attitude that much earlier in her life had prevented her from rebuilding a relationship with her son. The girls are different at the end of the book, but not in a twee way from discovering the Power of Family or something. And it feels like a good change that will persist into the next book.
July 23, 2016
This was McKay's first book, and is possibly somewhat autobiographical (McKay was one of four sisters). It has some first book flaws. Would anyone as sensible and deep down kind as Big Grandma really have tried to institute such a harsh reform as she does here? And oh that ending, it gives one an aversion to rereading. But if you can manage to put your knowledge of what's coming into a separate compartment of your brain, it's still immensely enjoyable. As always with McKay, the characterizations and dialogue are enchantingly funny.
August 20, 2007
We listened to this on tape when we drove Holly to camp one year - and we could not stop laughing! Geo and I listened to it on the way home, and then out on the deck, because it was so darn funny. As soon as Holly came home from camp, she finished this first one, and the rest are now yearly rereads. I highly recommend this series....
August 27, 2019
I adore the Casson family series and have enjoyed all of McKay's more recent works, but somehow had never read the Exile series. When I was in England recently, I saw that they've all been re-released in pb and bought this one, which I enjoyed thoroughly. My only quibble is that I found three of the four sisters pretty much indistinguishable, although they are all strong characters with that indomitable self-interest of the young that McKay is so clever at capturing. If I want to read the other two in the series I shall have to order them from the UK, as I read reports that the US versions have been altered to reflect difference in usage, a practice that annoys me intensely.
December 3, 2010
I think the moral of this book is: Don't hide books from bookworms in the attempt to "cure" them of reading... because consequently something catastrophic will happen!!
I really enjoyed this funny, little book! It reminded me of "The Magic Summer" by Noel Streafeild.
I really enjoyed this funny, little book! It reminded me of "The Magic Summer" by Noel Streafeild.
September 6, 2018
This was a classic for me as a tween. Uproariously funny!
August 10, 2009
The Exiles is pretty much perfect. When I first started it years ago, I was quite put off by how annoying they were, but the more I read the more I lost my mom's perspective and regained my child's perspective. The book is funny and exciting with some unforgettable characters.
When Mr. and Mrs. Conroy announce that they have unexpectedly inherited some money, their four daughters immediately divide it up so that they all get a chunk. No, no, say the folks -- we're going to spend it on a new kitchen and you're going to spend the summer with Big Grandma while we do it. This is not at all what the girls want to hear and the youngest never quite relinquishes the idea that she will soon have her own little fortune.
This is a Little Women for our time. Also, if you love The Penderwicks, you'll love the Conroys.
When Mr. and Mrs. Conroy announce that they have unexpectedly inherited some money, their four daughters immediately divide it up so that they all get a chunk. No, no, say the folks -- we're going to spend it on a new kitchen and you're going to spend the summer with Big Grandma while we do it. This is not at all what the girls want to hear and the youngest never quite relinquishes the idea that she will soon have her own little fortune.
This is a Little Women for our time. Also, if you love The Penderwicks, you'll love the Conroys.
March 2, 2024
This was a re-read for me. I read it about ten years ago and wanted to enjoy it again. It is one of McKay's earlier series and I do think her writing just got better and better with time. Still it was quite funny and struck a cord...I do think that she may have gotten the idea for this book through her own childhood experiences.
June 5, 2019
This was a lovely, fun tale that I enjoyed very much.
While I totally relate to anyone forced to spend a holiday without books, I also see why Big Grandma did it and found myself cheering her along as much as I did the children.
Happily, the library has the next two books in the series and I hope to get to them over the course of the year.
While I totally relate to anyone forced to spend a holiday without books, I also see why Big Grandma did it and found myself cheering her along as much as I did the children.
Happily, the library has the next two books in the series and I hope to get to them over the course of the year.
July 26, 2021
Are you an Anglophile who loves The Penderwicks? If so, please read this delightful book!
May 3, 2009
It's not earthshaking or anything but I have to admit I enjoyed the nostalgic, funny account of four sisters staying with their dreaded "Big Grandma" for the summer. Here's why:
I like the "staying with grandma" theme in general in books (such as "A Year Down Yonder") and a nostalgic summery ambiance too (like "The Penderwicks" for example). The most fun for me was in the unabashed warts-and-all depiction of the girls, which revived for me some long forgotten truths about childhood. The Conway girls are rambunctious and likable, but also realistically a bit impetuous, self-centered, slovenly and lazy! The girls' true nature, especially their undeveloped problem-solving skills, are a big source of the story's humor.
I also like that "Big Grandma" is a complex character. She is not highly maternal, but not too remote either. She has flaws too, but the sisters learn from her (and she from them.) And of course she ends up winning their affection.
I was also intrigued by the theme of information/entertainment addiction and withdrawal, and how this theme has intensified in the years since the book was first published. (The sisters have no tv and therefore can never get enough to read, but there are no books at Big Grandma's!) Their despair is believable, but this story's info source (books) is so low-tech compared to all the technoamenities we would miss today in such a rustic setting!
I like the "staying with grandma" theme in general in books (such as "A Year Down Yonder") and a nostalgic summery ambiance too (like "The Penderwicks" for example). The most fun for me was in the unabashed warts-and-all depiction of the girls, which revived for me some long forgotten truths about childhood. The Conway girls are rambunctious and likable, but also realistically a bit impetuous, self-centered, slovenly and lazy! The girls' true nature, especially their undeveloped problem-solving skills, are a big source of the story's humor.
I also like that "Big Grandma" is a complex character. She is not highly maternal, but not too remote either. She has flaws too, but the sisters learn from her (and she from them.) And of course she ends up winning their affection.
I was also intrigued by the theme of information/entertainment addiction and withdrawal, and how this theme has intensified in the years since the book was first published. (The sisters have no tv and therefore can never get enough to read, but there are no books at Big Grandma's!) Their despair is believable, but this story's info source (books) is so low-tech compared to all the technoamenities we would miss today in such a rustic setting!
May 27, 2017
Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe are sisters, aged between 13 and 6. Their lives seem rather dull to them, as they never seem to go anywhere, but they do read a vast number of books.. and appear to get into various scrapes at school and elsewhere. Then their parents decide to do some house renovations, and the girls are packed off to stay with their rather fearsome grandmother.
'Big Grandma' turns out to be less of a slave driver than expected, but she does expect the girls to do some chores, to take responsibility for themselves, and to go out whatever the weather. She has no books in the house, other than a few recipe books and a large Shakespeare volume, and they have no idea how they will spend the summer...
I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy this at first; the family didn't have the instant appeal of the Casson family (in the author's series beginning with 'Saffy's Angel'). But they grew on me, and I found myself liking it more and more. The pace is just right, there's a little light humour, the girls gradually develop as individuals, and the whole reminded me at times of Noel Streatfeild's 'The Growing Summer'. The climax was somewhat predictable but exciting nonetheless.. I shall be looking out for others in this series in the future.
Suitable for any age, really, but will probably appeal most to girls of between about eight and twelve. Recommended
'Big Grandma' turns out to be less of a slave driver than expected, but she does expect the girls to do some chores, to take responsibility for themselves, and to go out whatever the weather. She has no books in the house, other than a few recipe books and a large Shakespeare volume, and they have no idea how they will spend the summer...
I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy this at first; the family didn't have the instant appeal of the Casson family (in the author's series beginning with 'Saffy's Angel'). But they grew on me, and I found myself liking it more and more. The pace is just right, there's a little light humour, the girls gradually develop as individuals, and the whole reminded me at times of Noel Streatfeild's 'The Growing Summer'. The climax was somewhat predictable but exciting nonetheless.. I shall be looking out for others in this series in the future.
Suitable for any age, really, but will probably appeal most to girls of between about eight and twelve. Recommended
December 13, 2014
This is a sometimes it was 3 stars, sometimes 5, 4 star book!
I thought I'd looked the page for this book before and none of my friends read it, which was slightly confusing (given how many of you love the Casson family books) and slightly worrying because a lot of what I want to talk about is spoilers. But a lot of you HAVE read it. Yay!
I didn't get the kids's attitudes at the beginning of the book.
And ohhhh of course I didn't like the end.
But it also made me laugh out loud lots and eager to read the next one!
I thought I'd looked the page for this book before and none of my friends read it, which was slightly confusing (given how many of you love the Casson family books) and slightly worrying because a lot of what I want to talk about is spoilers. But a lot of you HAVE read it. Yay!
I didn't get the kids's attitudes at the beginning of the book.
And ohhhh of course I didn't like the end.
But it also made me laugh out loud lots and eager to read the next one!
August 5, 2016
I like the author's intent for this book--to have the four sisters develop into less selfish, book-dependent girls. And I enjoyed the journey quite a bit. The girls and their adventures are funny. But by the end I just don't see the growth. They don't seem much more helpful and less bratty, at least not enough for the story to really have an impact. Their attitudes about books also don't seem to have changed, and I also don't see a strong connection with Big Grandma at the end.
i do want to continue the series, however. Although I can't say I exactly like the girls--and they are hard to keep straight--I'm curious to find out what else happens to them. They definitely amuse me.
i do want to continue the series, however. Although I can't say I exactly like the girls--and they are hard to keep straight--I'm curious to find out what else happens to them. They definitely amuse me.
April 26, 2015
The Exiles by Hilary McKay Makes me wonder if Ms. McKay made a bet with her children, something on the order of "you can too live without books," and she wrote this book as an I told you so.
It's sweet and funny and very suitable for the kid audience who don't have their heads full of superheroes and smash-em-up video games. I didn't fall in love with it like I did the Caisson family series, Saffy's Angel and etc. Those kids were so different you could tell who was speaking just by the words and tone--these kids sort of blend together and don't jump out as individuals. Listening to the audiobook might have helped with that--maybe I'm a lazy reader.
It's sweet and funny and very suitable for the kid audience who don't have their heads full of superheroes and smash-em-up video games. I didn't fall in love with it like I did the Caisson family series, Saffy's Angel and etc. Those kids were so different you could tell who was speaking just by the words and tone--these kids sort of blend together and don't jump out as individuals. Listening to the audiobook might have helped with that--maybe I'm a lazy reader.
September 6, 2009
I like the premise of this book, but it somehow didn't seem to come to fruition as much as I wished. The book seemed to meander without focus. That isn't always bad, but it wasn't until the end that I felt it getting anywhere, and then there seemed to be too much crowded into the ending. Nevertheless, I did like the characters - enough so that I am seeking out the sequels. I guess that says a bit for the story after all.
March 31, 2015
These sisters are laugh out loud funny. I have not been able to get into the author's non-Exiles books yet.
August 29, 2015
Tremendously appealing book about four sisters spending the summer with their grandmother with nothing to read. Please ignore the hideously dated cover.
Library copy
Library copy
December 30, 2017
A fun, understated book with excellent characters. Captures the childhood feeling of everything being possible except when frustrated by grown ups!
June 9, 2022
This was actually a super fun read!
March 17, 2022
In The Exiles, we meet four sisters : Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe (aged 13, 11, 8 and 6 respectively) who have been sent/exiled, against their wishes to spend the summer in Cumbria with their maternal grandmother, unceremoniously dubbed Big Grandma. The girls love to read but Big Grandma is determined that the four bookworms will work hard, do a lot of chores and rarely find time to sink their grubby little noses between the pages of a book.
You would think that what would follow, in the tradition of our beloved childhood reads, would be pages of adventure, mystery and crime which would be bravely handled by our young heroines.
But no.
Said heroines are daft, witless, prone to misadventure, mayhem, convoluted schemes that almost always backfire and a sense of completely innocent self-absorption. And therein lies the charm of The Exiles. The interactions between a sarcastic Big Grandma and her equally precocious granddaughters, the innocuous and often unexciting (by today’s standards) antics of the foursome, the way they nudge their quirky personalities into the hearts of the bewildered villagers, all while being innately decent children keeps you entertained from start to finish. The dialogues are hilarious and yet laced with a good degree of satirical flair. This is wry British humour at its best.
This story is an example of how a book can be written flawlessly without resorting to unnecessary drama and convoluted plotlines. I thoroughly enjoyed this return to childhood and the simple pleasures and follies that made that one scorching summer so much more memorable.
You would think that what would follow, in the tradition of our beloved childhood reads, would be pages of adventure, mystery and crime which would be bravely handled by our young heroines.
But no.
Said heroines are daft, witless, prone to misadventure, mayhem, convoluted schemes that almost always backfire and a sense of completely innocent self-absorption. And therein lies the charm of The Exiles. The interactions between a sarcastic Big Grandma and her equally precocious granddaughters, the innocuous and often unexciting (by today’s standards) antics of the foursome, the way they nudge their quirky personalities into the hearts of the bewildered villagers, all while being innately decent children keeps you entertained from start to finish. The dialogues are hilarious and yet laced with a good degree of satirical flair. This is wry British humour at its best.
This story is an example of how a book can be written flawlessly without resorting to unnecessary drama and convoluted plotlines. I thoroughly enjoyed this return to childhood and the simple pleasures and follies that made that one scorching summer so much more memorable.
February 11, 2023
ich habe grad sooo lange nach diesem buch gesucht, bis ich es gefunden habe. wir durften in der schule während dem werkunterricht mal das hörbuch hören und es war stellenweise total creepy (dieses titelbild passt überhaupt nicht zu der geschichte, wie ich mich ab sie erinnere) und die ganze geschichte war voller schrägem humor, den ich so nicht kannte aber ich habs (vielleicht gerade deshalb) geliebt! die erzählerin war irgendwie edgy und ungewohnt aber einfach perfekt. ich glaub ich hab mir die cd dann mal ausgeliehen, jedenfalls habe ich ganze sätze noch total im ohr. eine weile habe ich diese vier schwestern dann immer mit den vier zauberhaften schwestern durcheinandergebracht, bis ich auch die irgendwann wiederentdeckt habe. closure!!! ich will dieses hörbuch finden, scheiss auf originalsprache!
aaaah ich hab grad das titelbild gefunden das ich kannte und es passt soooo viel besser! und auf deutsch heisst die geschichte "vier verrückte schwestern", kein wunder hatte ich ein durcheinander!
die erinnerungen kommen dank einigen artikeln grad alle zurück! oma die grosse (die immer auch ein bisschen oma slättberg aus den wilden hühnern für mich war und elinor aus tintenherz sowieso wegen der bücher). die mädchen dürfen nicht lesen, obwohl sie doch nichts anderes lieber wollen (kein wunder liebte ich die geschichte und fühlte mich verstanden). ach, wie hätte ich mir doch drei schwestern und ein aufregendes leben gewünscht.
hab grad gemerkt, dass das hörbuch eine gekürzte fassung war. nevermind :) allein die hörprobe auf audible hat meinen serotoninspiegel verdreifacht
aaaah ich hab grad das titelbild gefunden das ich kannte und es passt soooo viel besser! und auf deutsch heisst die geschichte "vier verrückte schwestern", kein wunder hatte ich ein durcheinander!
die erinnerungen kommen dank einigen artikeln grad alle zurück! oma die grosse (die immer auch ein bisschen oma slättberg aus den wilden hühnern für mich war und elinor aus tintenherz sowieso wegen der bücher). die mädchen dürfen nicht lesen, obwohl sie doch nichts anderes lieber wollen (kein wunder liebte ich die geschichte und fühlte mich verstanden). ach, wie hätte ich mir doch drei schwestern und ein aufregendes leben gewünscht.
hab grad gemerkt, dass das hörbuch eine gekürzte fassung war. nevermind :) allein die hörprobe auf audible hat meinen serotoninspiegel verdreifacht
August 8, 2022
August: Junior Fiction
Hilary McKay is an expert at capturing the voice of children and young people in a way that is endearing, realistic and utterly hilarious!
The Exiles is tells the story of the four Conroy sisters who are exiled to their Big Grandma's house in Cumbria for the summer while their parents redecorate the house. Though they want to have a summer adventure, Big Grandma hates them and they have no access to their main source of joy in life--books.
Anticipating weeks of boredom and torture, what the Conroy girls discover are new hobbies, adventure, friendship and an abiding affection for their unflappable, no nonsense, warm-hearted Big Grandma.
I love that the Conroy sisters are not the March sisters of Little Women, with a set type to fill. Each sister is in her own measure rebellious, stubborn, impolite, kind, funny and sweet, with her own idiosyncrasies.
The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job of bringing all of the characters to life and imbuing them all with the humour and joie de vivre that is present on the page.
Hilary McKay is a master of children's fiction and reading her books is a treat that is over far too quickly!
Hilary McKay is an expert at capturing the voice of children and young people in a way that is endearing, realistic and utterly hilarious!
The Exiles is tells the story of the four Conroy sisters who are exiled to their Big Grandma's house in Cumbria for the summer while their parents redecorate the house. Though they want to have a summer adventure, Big Grandma hates them and they have no access to their main source of joy in life--books.
Anticipating weeks of boredom and torture, what the Conroy girls discover are new hobbies, adventure, friendship and an abiding affection for their unflappable, no nonsense, warm-hearted Big Grandma.
I love that the Conroy sisters are not the March sisters of Little Women, with a set type to fill. Each sister is in her own measure rebellious, stubborn, impolite, kind, funny and sweet, with her own idiosyncrasies.
The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job of bringing all of the characters to life and imbuing them all with the humour and joie de vivre that is present on the page.
Hilary McKay is a master of children's fiction and reading her books is a treat that is over far too quickly!
August 10, 2021
This was delightful and unexpected. There are many recognizable tropes in here, but they aren't followed in a recognizable way. Kids don't learn their lessons, gruff adults don't magically become softer, and in the end when you think it's all going to end on a predictable note (if you don't want to read the spoiler, the gist is that it didn't end predictably, at least to me, at all).
I laughed a lot while reading this and found these children incorrigible in the best kind of way. They are infuriating and hilarious in equal measure, and I kept sharing little vignettes with my SO while reading. I was sold on this book when a friend's review called it a Penderwick-like story for Anglophiles, and that is definitely an accurate description, but this does have more bite than the Penderwicks. Everyone is a little less kind and good, but they are all very entertaining.
I will absolutely be reading the rest of the series.
I laughed a lot while reading this and found these children incorrigible in the best kind of way. They are infuriating and hilarious in equal measure, and I kept sharing little vignettes with my SO while reading. I was sold on this book when a friend's review called it a Penderwick-like story for Anglophiles, and that is definitely an accurate description, but this does have more bite than the Penderwicks. Everyone is a little less kind and good, but they are all very entertaining.
I will absolutely be reading the rest of the series.
September 17, 2024
The four Conroy sisters are sent by their parents to stay with their grandmother for the summer - a horrific prospect because they don’t like Big Grandma, she appears not to like them and, even worse, she lives in a house without books in a village without a library. It all works out sort of, the girls find other activities to do that don’t involve reading, they make friends and somehow muddle along without anyone getting too badly hurt.
I loved spending time with the Conroys and their grown-ups. While each of them could be very annoying, especially to their close family, all were immensely lovable. I’m looking forward to finding out what they do next.
I loved spending time with the Conroys and their grown-ups. While each of them could be very annoying, especially to their close family, all were immensely lovable. I’m looking forward to finding out what they do next.
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