The Stones of Green Knowe

The Stones of Green Knowe, the sixth and final volume in the Green Knowe series, reveals the beginning of the manor house at Green Knowe, both in its physical and magical sense, and of the Oldknow family.

The book begins in 1100, when 11-year-old Roger d’Aulneaux — whose surname will eventually be corrupted into “Oldknow” — excitedly awaits the finishing of a grand new manor house, built in the most up-to-date Norman fashion. The new stone manor will replace the wooden, one-story Saxon hall where Roger, his sisters, parents and paternal grandmother live, along with some of their livestock! Roger, the second son of the d’Aulneaux family, will found the Oldknow line. Although Roger’s three-quarters Norman and one-quarter show more Saxon, he’s been taught English and the old Saxon tales by his Saxon grandmother — much to the dismay of Roger’s totally Norman mother. Roger’s the first child to move into the newly built manor, and he’s the first to discover the magic in the area, too, when he stumbles across two chairs — ancient even in the 12th century — that were each cut out of a single stone block.

Using these chairs, Roger discovers he can time-travel. First, Roger travels forward 540 years, where he finds Linnet, Toby, and Alexander, the children who were living at Green Knowe in the 17th century. (Those children would become the ghostly children alluded to in the title of the first book in the series, The Children of Green Knowe.) Roger is able to foil an attack on 6-year-old Linnet. Later, Roger travels even further ahead in time and meets other children who have called Green Knowe home, who were featured in the five other Green Knowe books, including 20th century Tolly Oldknow (The Children of Green Knowe, Treasure of Green Knowe, and An Enemy at Green Knowe) and 18th century Susan Oldknow and her freed slave, Jacob (The Treasure of Green Knowe). Roger also returns back 540 years and witnessed a Saxon invasion circa A.D. 600 of his ancestral land. Naturally, readers learn a great deal about Green Knowe, including the origins of the St. Christopher statue.

The Stones of Green Knowe will prove a great, if bittersweet, pleasure to fans of Green Knowe; however, readers who haven’t read the previous books will likely not enjoy it nearly as much, as they will miss much of the significance of the various time-traveling encounters. show less

In this final volume, the origins of Green Knowe are recounted. Roger, the son of a Norman lord, is the first child to live in the grand old manor. Roger finds some ancient stones which magically transport him through time so he can befriend Toby, Linnet, Susan, and Tolly--the future inhabitants of Green Knowe.

The last in the "Green Knowe" series takes us back to the very beginning of the story, to half-Norman, half-Saxon Roger, who sees Green Knowe being built and becomes the first boy to live there and to love the place. Later he finds a pair of ancient, chair-like stones in a nearby wood, which prove to have magical properties, enabling him to travel back and forth in time and check on Green Knowe's safety in the future. This allows him to meet the children (or most of them) from the earlier books, although he's frightened and horrified by Tolly's 20th century world – with reason, as the book ends with an act of heartwrenching vandalism.

I am so glad that L.M. Boston came back twelve years later to finish the series with The Stones at Green Knowe. This again has the playful, magical feel that the first three books had, and I loved how it brought all the series together. It takes place in the years just after the Norman conquest, as young Roger d’Aulneaux watches his father building a grand manor house, to be called Green Knowe. He wonders about the children who will live in it after him. When he discovers a set of stones that take him backwards and forwards in time, he is able to meet Toby, Alexander, and Linnet; Susan; and Tolly and Mrs. Oldknow. This was again light-hearted and I loved how it made various points in history come alive.

Thoughts on the entire series show more on my blog show less

My least favourite Green Knowe book, to me it reads like the afterthought it is in the timeline of the series. Told from the point of view of one of the "others", Roger, the first boy to live at Green Knowe somehow I don't quite feel the mystery and magic in this one. Enjoyable but not quite up to the standard of the previous books.

Set at the Manor of Hemingford Grey
Diana Boston, daughter-in-law gives tours with prior arrangement

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