The Painted Garden

Life is tough for the Winter family in London, with little money and Dad out of work. Luckily Aunt Cora comes to the rescue with an invitation to live in California. From that moment on, talented Rachel and Tim dream of stardom in America. The family couldn't be more surprised when a movie producer picks plain peevish Jane for the lead part of Mary in "The Secret Garden". No one's ever noticed Jane before. Could this be the chance of a lifetime?

60 years ago I liked this book. It hasn't aged as well as I have and that isn't good. Middle child plain Jane, literally, staying in Santa Monica with her family for her father to recover from PTSD, is recruited to play Mary Lennox. Difficulties happen and are met and I wanted to strangle Peaseblossom every time she opened her mouth. What sort of family has an unrelated grownup living with them doing their work for no wages post WWII.

A typical Streatfeild family feature in this book: a gifted ballet dancer, a talented musician, and an irritable un-artistic middle child. The family have the chance to spend the winter with a relative in California, and the middle child gets a chance to shine. Family dynamics push this book forward; a lovely gentle read with humour and moving moments.

Most of the story takes place in California, with some mildly amusing scenes as they try to adjust to American culture and language, and discover that children are expected to earn pocket money rather than being given it by parents.

One of the things I particularly like about this book is a side story about two of the sisters from Streatfield’s classic ‘Ballet Shoes’. I also enjoyed show more the children’s gradual changes in outlook and motivation, and the way they come to love their new environment and the people around them. There are caricatures amongst the minor characters, but I don’t see that as a problem.

I very much enjoyed re-reading this, and would recommend it to anyone who likes children’s fiction of this kind.

Longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-painted-garden-by-noel-streatfe... show less

This book is one of the most "well-loved" (to put it euphemistically) books in my library, second only to The Princess at Chalet. The story seems simple, being a spin on the well-loved classic "The Secret Garden".

The story revolves around Jane Winter, literally the plain Jane of her family. She feels hemmed in by her brilliant pianist younger brother, and her talented ballet older sister, with only her dog that understands her. As a result, when her family has to move to California, she's understandably upset and doesn't plan to enjoy herself, until she's unexpectedly cast in the role of the lead for the movie The Secret Garden.

What I loved about the book were it's depictions of America. Being weaned on British stories, such as books show more by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, I loved how the America was depicted using a British "lens". The life on the boat, the ice-cream sodas in New York and how all the children struggle to adapt to a different lifestyle was brilliantly portrayed.

If you're a fan of British writing, you should give this book a try. show less

I've read many books by this author, the most famous of which probably being Ballet Shoes, and my favourite perhaps being White Boots. This one is one I'd not heard of before, and was lent to me by Jan, in return for me having lent her Party Shoes which she hadn't come across either. It seems a fair swap. As usual we have a family of close knit siblings, who argue but not to excess, some or all of whom are unexpectedly talented. And as usual they go through some awkward and unusual situations, and have to struggle to make ends meet, but in the end their talents help, and it looks like they might end with their own measure of fame. This one is slightly interesting in that in fact the least talented member of the family ends of with most show more of the excitement for the book, though she admits it is sheer chance that she is equipped for the part she is chosen for, and not due to any acting ability. Also the book brings back some of the characters from Ballet Shooes as mentors to one of our sibling, which is a neat touch. It's a charming little book, but less original than some of the others, and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to read it again. show less

I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.

A really happy book. We talked about whether it is realistic for all these talented children to have such fantastic opportunities! We really liked the sunshine and the warmth... California here we come! We talked about London and how it really was smoggy then... We liked the book, but commented on how it was so of its time - 1940s Britain. Famous children and nannies... This was a childhood favourite of one of our group. We read this book in conjunction with The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett