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The inhabitants of Green Knowe become involved with black magic when a modern-day witch attempts to find books of witchcraft supposedly hidden in the old house by a mad seventeenth-century alchemist.Tags
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bmlg themes of children in an old house in the English countryside withstanding a witch
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An Enemy at Green Knowe provides a steep departure for L.M. Boston, more Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or The Magic Thief than like any of her previous gentle books, which resemble The Water Babies or Alice in Wonderland.
First of all — hooray! — Toseland, nicknamed Tolly, returns in An Enemy at Green Knowe, as does his great-grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow. The latter adopted the refugee Ping, who appeared without Tolly in two previous Green Knowe books. All three live happily in the manor named Green Knowe, and the two boys have become great friends — and good thing, too, as the two will have to work closely together to battle a woman intent on unleashing great evil at Green Knowe. Melanie D. Powers, Ph.D., tries, by show more increasingly nefarious means, to find and steal an ancient book of magic. Soon Mrs. Oldknow and the boys discover that Dr. Powers is no mere academic, as she claims, but quite evil. To tell any more would spoil this wonderful, exciting story.
The books in L.M. Boston’s Green Knowe series A Stranger at Green Knowe vary more than you’d expect. The first two, The Children of Green Knowe and The Treasure of Green Knowe, are magical, gentle ghost tales which delight adults as well as children. The next, The River at Green Knowe, unfortunately, is a bit of a snooze fest. A Stranger at Green Knowe traces the strong bonds between displaced persons, both human and otherwise; it's equal parts Gorillas in the Mist and refugee's memoir. How happy that Boston chose to dabble in yet another type of book, a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game with the children and Mrs. Oldknow on one side and the forces of evil on the other. While Green Knowe books resonate more when read in order, this book stands alone quite admirably. After the very first book in the series, this ranks as my favorite. show less
First of all — hooray! — Toseland, nicknamed Tolly, returns in An Enemy at Green Knowe, as does his great-grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow. The latter adopted the refugee Ping, who appeared without Tolly in two previous Green Knowe books. All three live happily in the manor named Green Knowe, and the two boys have become great friends — and good thing, too, as the two will have to work closely together to battle a woman intent on unleashing great evil at Green Knowe. Melanie D. Powers, Ph.D., tries, by show more increasingly nefarious means, to find and steal an ancient book of magic. Soon Mrs. Oldknow and the boys discover that Dr. Powers is no mere academic, as she claims, but quite evil. To tell any more would spoil this wonderful, exciting story.
The books in L.M. Boston’s Green Knowe series A Stranger at Green Knowe vary more than you’d expect. The first two, The Children of Green Knowe and The Treasure of Green Knowe, are magical, gentle ghost tales which delight adults as well as children. The next, The River at Green Knowe, unfortunately, is a bit of a snooze fest. A Stranger at Green Knowe traces the strong bonds between displaced persons, both human and otherwise; it's equal parts Gorillas in the Mist and refugee's memoir. How happy that Boston chose to dabble in yet another type of book, a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game with the children and Mrs. Oldknow on one side and the forces of evil on the other. While Green Knowe books resonate more when read in order, this book stands alone quite admirably. After the very first book in the series, this ranks as my favorite. show less
As always, the mysterious Green Knowe is filled with ancient and semi-magical artefacts (all of which are actually real relics that belong in the author's home on which she based the books) and Grandmother Oldknow tells the children stories concerning the past inhabitants of the house. Now for the first time, she tells them a story that holds a more sinister edge to it. In the 17th century a young boy had a tutor that was said to dabble in alchemical practices, and have a number of magical books with which he created his spells. An author with astonishing vision for her time, Boston highlights the unfairness of such a man being thought of as noble and intelligent for following such a practice, whilst harmless women were often prosecuted show more for dabbling in herblore. Grandmother Oldknow tells the children that Doctor Vogel eventually burnt all his equipment with the help of the local minister (whose testimony was found in "The River of Green Knowe", but only now translated), but it is rumoured that one book of dark spells may have escaped the flames. show less
Another anomaly in the Green Knowe series: it's SCARY. If 'Stranger' had too little magic, 'Enemy' has too much of it: dark, spiteful, evil, black magic that nearly overcomes Mrs Oldknow, that takes everything that Tolly and Ping can throw at it, and that's even almost too strong for Green Knowe itself. In fact, forget scary – it's downright terrifying, and if I'd read it when I was a kid I would probably still be having nightmares.
Ping and Tolly love spending their vacations in the ancient manor house, but this summer, things are different. Granny Oldknow's story of a mad alchemist digs up the past and brings the odd Melanie Powers knocking on the door, in search of a certain unspeakable book.
Granny Oldknow, Ping, and Tolly soon find themselves defending Green Knowe from black magic. Plagues of maggots, wayward ghosts, nests of snakes - the attacks are as weird as they are relentless.
Will the three lose their beloved manor house? Or will good conquer the worst that evil has to offer?
Granny Oldknow, Ping, and Tolly soon find themselves defending Green Knowe from black magic. Plagues of maggots, wayward ghosts, nests of snakes - the attacks are as weird as they are relentless.
Will the three lose their beloved manor house? Or will good conquer the worst that evil has to offer?
An Enemy at Green Knowe has a different feel from the other, innocent stories in the series. Because it deals with a witch who practices black magic and literally worships the devil, I would hesitate to recommend it for children. I found it quite disturbing; any sensible person would request a police restraining order on the woman who so manipulated and threatened, not to mention invaded the privacy of, the residents of Green Knowe. There is magic in this book - but much of that magic felt satanic to me, while in the other books it felt playful. Now, I’m sure someone out there is rolling their eyes at the thought of me taking this book so seriously, but I honestly felt this book had less innocence and playfulness than the others had; show more so much less that this book was disturbing to me while the others had not been.
Thoughts on the entire series on my blog show less
Thoughts on the entire series on my blog show less
The darkest of the lovely Green Knowe series, this book is quite frightening, but ultimately an affirmation of the power of love and courage. It has stayed vividly with me over the years.
Well-written book; the author is, thankfully, not afraid to use big words and think about important things. There is an evil character in the story and kindness alone is not enough to defeat her; i.e., it is a disturbing story.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- An Enemy at Green Knowe
- Original publication date
- 1964
- People/Characters
- Tolly; Ping; Mrs Oldknow; Melanie Powers
- Important places
- Green Knowe, Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, England, UK (fictional house)
- Dedication
- To Giles Vellacott
who took me to Fydlyn
and
Claire Ryle
who asked me for a tale about the
Persian looking-glass - First words
- Tolly and his Chinese friend Ping, just back from a camping holiday, were emptying out of their haversacks the pebbles that they could not bear to leave behind.
- Quotations
- But the old-fashioned roses have always been a symbol for love, and like all ecstatic things they die and come again. And the flower is simply a cup for the scent, and the scent is an offering. But these thoughts she kept to ... (show all)herself.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.) "It's Ping's father! Daddy's friend is Ping's father. We have seen them in the glass coming in together at the garden gate."
And so it was.
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