February’s Road by John Verney


published 1961




February Rd party 1February Rd party 2


[Narrator February arrives at a rather grand party at the same time as an old acquaintance, another teenager]

Without speaking, Helen and I gave one another a critical once-over, to see which was on top. She was easily; indeed, she had changed entirely in the few months since we last met. Her hair, long before, had been cut short and swept up with a highly artificial effect of casualness, on top of her head. She wore lipstick, high-heeled silver shoes, and a fur wrap, which she handed, with a gracious smile, to a maid. Underneath she had on a long-sleeved frock of blue moire silk and altogether looked about 17 instead of not yet 14 – my age.

“Pretty frock,” I commented. My own red velvet dress had belonged to my mother in her youth.

“Oh, this old tea-gown. Lelia bought it for me in Paris last September. It’s absurdly demode , of course, but all right for the country. I rather like yours too – velvet has such old-fashioned ingenue charm. And doesn’t red have something to do with hunting? You still ride I suppose?”

“Madly.”

Toujours le tomboy…”


commentary: This was one of my favourite books when I was a child: I had managed to find a cut-price hardback in one of Liverpool’s splendid bookshops, and I read and re-read it: the dust-jacket long ago fell into tatters. Heroine February lives a comfortable life in the affluent south – there are boarding-schools, ponies, and – get this – the children are going to have a parent-sponsored DANCE in their barn, inviting their schoolfriends. The grown-up cocktail party above is a very posh affair indeed, given by the local MP, with titled guests.

Well, as the Irish say, it was far from ponies & private dances that I was raised, but I loved every moment of February’s Road, then and now - and as it happens I moved down south and live maybe 30 miles from the Callendars’ converted-farmhouse-with-eight-acres (at least according to the map in the endpages – maps so often lost in paperbacks and library-bound editions, another great gift from the bargain find).

February is a splendid heroine – relatable despite the privilege, and telling an excellent story of road-building, devastated landscapes, and possible corruption, a story that is just as relevant in 2018 as in 1961. She is funny and witty and endearing, as is her whole family. Verney wrote very well, and certainly made a good job of getting inside a young girl’s head – if I read the passage above blind, I would swear a woman wrote it.

I never hear John Verney mentioned these days, though in his day his children’s books, and his memoir of war (which I kept taking out of the library because I thought it was another children’s book) were all well-known. I guess his affluent middle-class settings are not to modern tastes – though in this book there is a funny passage where February considers the expensive education she and her brother are getting at boarding-school, while her younger sisters go to the village school for nothing and apparently learn much more. It’s a pity that he’s forgotten, because this book has great charm as well as an interesting cause at its heart.

He was a marvellous illustrator of other people’s books as well as his own - he did the illos for some editions of the much-loved Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge. The pictures in February’s Road are wonderful – here’s one of them, the children cleaning up the barn ready for their teenagers’ dance (I know, I’m obsessed with this event – which, spoiler, doesn’t actually happen - it was just so different from any kind of life that I had ever come across…)


February Rd party 3


One feature that puzzled me as a child and still does so many years later: there is a character in the book who is called Mike Spillergun. Simple Spoonerism suggests that this is meant to be Spike Milligan, but the book character is a crusading journalist and columnist, and doesn’t seem to bear much relation to the British comedian. It’s a mystery.

Blue dress is from Kristine’s photostream.














Comments

  1. That is interesting about the name, Moira. The story sounds great, too. I can see how it would be an enduring story for young people; at the same time, though, I can see how adults would enjoy it, too. It's not easy for an author to strike that balance.

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    1. Thanks Margot - it probably works because he is not winking at adults in the background, but aiming it solidly at young teens. I think most young readers will sometimes see that February is missing the point, but it is cleverly done.

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  2. I look at that Mike Spillergun name and can only think of Mike Hammer and Mickey Spillane. But then the character is a reporter. So even that doesn't really work out, does it? As an American you're probably not surprised to read that I've never heard of John Verney nor even seen any of his artwork though I used to deal in children's books of all types in addition to the thousands of mystery and supernatural books I sold. But this one book does remind me of a series of books I read as a boy about The Happy Hollisters. Not sure if those were exported to the UK.

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    1. I know - you're convinced that the author is getting at something with that name, but I've no idea what! A fascinating detail that you dealt in children's books too, wouldn't have known that. And now I will look up the Happy Hollisters.

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    2. Aha! they were mysteries. and a lot of them..

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  3. I remember Friday's Tunnel, and the mad King of Chichiboo's cookery ("hot, with lots of grated cheese on top"). Inventor of the Dodo Pad!!!! (Funny illustrated diary.) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-john-verney-bt-1470737.html

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    1. What an interesting life he led. I do remember the Dodo Pads, they were lovely.

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  4. Well, well, well...according to WorldCat, I can get a copy through inter-library loan from the University (two counties over). This goes on the list.

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    1. Oh good - you'll have to let us know how you get on with it.

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  5. And those teenage dances? You didn't miss anything!

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    1. Giggle giggle, I knew you'd know. I can just imagine. All teenage social events are horrible whether it's the church youth club disco, the boys-and-girls-school combination, or the private dance...

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  6. Another one I can easily swerve.

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    1. Yes, indeed you can. Back to the noir with you...

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  7. i'd be in touch about all this if i knew how to work this thing

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  8. i'm learning gradually .. i like your blog .. i'm the boy standing on his head (friday) the man referred to was the irish comedian spike milligan.

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    1. oh how lovely to hear from you! This was such a favourite book - are the Callendar children all your siblings? I am so glad to get confirmation that it was Spike Milligan. Would love to hear more from you. Do email me moirar@msn.com

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  9. I just came across this through Twitter after posting Seven Sunflower Seeds a favorite book. I adored Verney's books as a child and desperately wanted to be part of the Callendar family. I love the mix of family story and international intrigue.

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    1. How lovely to find another fan, that so is the joy of blogging, particularly when it is a forgotten book. I read all the books, and loved them, and loved the family. Did you see John Verney's son commenting above?

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    2. I found this blog while reminiscing about The Mad King of Chichiboo with a friend who is on a Rhine cruise and visiting the Lorelei rock. The name struck a chord and I remembered suddenly that it was the name of one of the ladies-in-waiting in the book. It was one of my utterly favourite childhood books, I still have it!

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    3. Oh how lovely to find another fan - sorry for the late reply, I have been away from the blog. I haven't read the Mad King, but now I want to find it.

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    4. I adored his books as a young person. I still do! I used to give ISMO to all my most intelligent friends (teenage and adult!) to see if they could work out which Raphael Madonna and Child got switched for which in the penultimate scene. None could. I must re-read the lot while we're all quarantining.

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    5. What a good idea! I reckon to be pretty good on keeping plots straight but I completely lost track of those pictures - were they called the Bolting Madonnas? February's Road still my favourite, but they are all excellent.

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  10. Just chanced upon this looking up John Verney. I loved his books as a teenager, particularly February's road and Ismo. Verney managed to conjure a secure, comfortable environment and then intrude an air of menace. Thanks for a wonderful post.

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    1. Love it when this happens - every so often another fan shows up here. Those of us who loved them as children never forget them. And I agree - I can see where people think dismissively middle england middle classes, but he looked at life, and was way ahead of the game of environmental issues. The road-building...

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  11. sorry I haven't replied to your reply in october 2018. been rather busy, and also I don't really understand how to use blogs. I tried to post a comment a couple of hours ago, but failed to send it and as a result found that I had been "signed out" by Google. So I've sent an email.

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  12. Ok good. I've succeeded in posting a comment instead of merely "signing out" and finding myself "signed out" from Google, as happened earlier because I hadn't scrolled to the bottom and found "publish". Why is "sign out" even there? For anyone interested, February's Road, Friday's Tunnel, Going to the Wars and A Dinner of Herbs have all recently been republished in America by Paul Dry Books.

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    1. Hello, and thanks for persevering! The comments and signing in and out are always difficult to negotiate - right now I am on a different computer, and have had to go through hoops to answer people. I have been moving house and not doing much online, but now hoping to come back - was delighted to get your email and will answer in due course. I love that people do pop up at these entries still admiring your father's work... It is one of the good things about the internet that people plainly remember a book they loved and think 'I wonder if I can find something?'

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  13. I have, and treasure, all the books, plus the Mad King, and Under the Sun (a compilation from Young/Elizabethan) which I read regularly still. I think I missed them as a child, as I was 16 in 1960. However I read Young Elizabethan avidly as a child, and was even published in it, under the pseudonym Lesley Parker. A poem. I've just finished February's Road again, which I manage almost every year at the right time!

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    1. How lovely to read your comment, thanks for stopping by! February's Rd is my absolute favourite, and I too have read it multiple times. I used to read Young Elizabethan in the library, and loved it, it made me appreciate the big world out there. I envy you your publication! I entered all kinds of things as a child and never got picked. I have just found a secondhand copy of that compilation, Under the Sun, online and have ordered it! Thanks for the tipoff

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  14. Also, I always thought Mike Spillergun was of course Spike Milligan. As I write I've been looking at Under the Sun, which has a piece written by Spike Milligan and wonderfully illustrated by Quentin Blake, called Gone Fishing, which was published in Elizabethan. Of course I and my brother were huge Goons fans and listened to every one.

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    1. Well now I'll be able to read it myself, when my copy arrives...

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  15. Just found this lovely review and thank you for writing it. I loved Ismo as a teen. I found it at a book fair and it's a continuation of Callendar family adventures. John Verney was an excellent YA writer, although no-one used that term at the time, of course! It's odd that people may not care for Verney's upper middle class tone when Jane Austen is still adored and she's a snooty person's dream.

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    1. Thank you! I love the fact that every so often a new fan wanders by here because they love the books. I am sure a new generation of readers would read them.

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