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The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix P)
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Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $16.29
You Save: $ 7.66 ( 32% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Average Customer Rating:
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The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix P) Description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425216552
ISBN: 0425216551
Label: Berkley Hardcover
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2007-09-04
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Studio: Berkley Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425216552
ISBN: 0425216551
Label: Berkley Hardcover
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2007-09-04
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Studio: Berkley Hardcover
Editorial Review of The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix P)
A brand-new mystery in the endearing Beatrix Potter series from a national bestselling author.
During Sawrey's annual summer fte, Miss Beatrix Potter receives an unexpected visitor in the form of Baby Flora, left in a basket on her doorstep with a note, a sprig of hawthorn, and a scarab ring. All Beatrix knows about Flora's previous guardian is that she was a gray-haired woman, capable of scaling a brick wall in seconds.
An investigation reveals that the ring was pawned and reclaimed in Sawrey by a resident of Hawthorn House. The legendary manor is supposed to be vacant-and rumored to be haunted. Now Beatrix and her animal friends are left pondering the possible involvement of fairy folk in these utterly puzzling happenings.
During Sawrey's annual summer fte, Miss Beatrix Potter receives an unexpected visitor in the form of Baby Flora, left in a basket on her doorstep with a note, a sprig of hawthorn, and a scarab ring. All Beatrix knows about Flora's previous guardian is that she was a gray-haired woman, capable of scaling a brick wall in seconds.
An investigation reveals that the ring was pawned and reclaimed in Sawrey by a resident of Hawthorn House. The legendary manor is supposed to be vacant-and rumored to be haunted. Now Beatrix and her animal friends are left pondering the possible involvement of fairy folk in these utterly puzzling happenings.
Customer Reviews of The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix P)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Tale of Hawthorne House
Review: Wonderful book, as all of Susan Alberts books are. If you haven't started this series, don't delay, they are great.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: There's all kinds of family and each has their rythm and rules
Review: Family. It's all about family. Beatrix Potter can only have short visits to her farm because her parents don't approve and they need her to run their home in London. Her brother Bertram Potter has escaped to his own farm but he can't escape all the demands of his parents either. Jemima Puddle-duck wants to hatch her own eggs and have children to cherish. Dimity Woodcock has put her chance of love out of her mind because she knows her brother won't approve. A woman made a mistake and a baby is left on Beatrix Potter's doorstep, needing a home. But in August 1908, women didn't always have the freedom to do choose their own path, pick their own mates, or have a career. The Tale of Hawthorn House is a tale of an abandoned child and the impact it has on the residents of New Sawrey.
Once again Albert has crafted a tale that lets us enjoy the English countryside of the Beatrix Potter paintings and the inhabitants of Near Sawrey and its environs. The omniscient point of view allows us to enjoy observing everyone in town and yet be outside the story. This viewpoint can annoy some people but I find it, when used as here as a guide to the story with occasional asides to fill us in, to be amusing and in a way adding to the comfort of the story. There's the story of the humans and that of the animals that populate a village surrounded by farms. Sometimes the threads of their stories cross and affect each other but only the readers get to see how these two tales interact with each other.
The central mystery of who is the baby's mother and why was the child abandoned would normally be moot as the child would be placed in a work house and raised there. Luckily, this child was left on Beatrix Potter's doorstep and thus has an advocate. This is a look at the times, putting faces to the beliefs and prejudices of those times -- that some of those beliefs haven't changed much in the intervening years, or at least not for some people.
Families are something all of us can relate to in one way or another and in The Tale of Hawthorn House. There are the families we're born into, the families that we make for ourselves, and the families that we hope to achieve. Ideals, idealism, roles, and attitudes are important but, at heart, it's all about families.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: derivative
Review: Mrs. "Overthewall" is Madeleine L'Engle's Mrs. Whatsit (complete with a lonely night, slamming doors, layers of crazy clothes, and mysterious knowledge), with no attribution. An author has lost all credibility when her characters are derivative, without any acknowledgement or recognition for the original author's creativity. What a disappointment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Another charming story
Review: I have truly enjoyed all the stories in this particular series. The characters (both human and animal) are all likeable and well-developed. The mysteries are gentle, and a pleasant change from the stress, blood, and guts of the average new mystery produced. The only other author who I have found to have written anything in a similar vein is Van Reid in his "Moosepath League" novels (also excellent). I hope Ms. Albert keeps these coming, and often! True quality!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The grownups win this time.
Review: The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries)
Albert and the Folk score one for the grownups. This "tale" is a melt-in-the-mouth, high-class bon-bon that has one reaching for the next one out of the box. It is genteel excitement with a few catch-on-quick puzzles. Enjoy.
Review Summary: The Tale of Hawthorne House
Review: Wonderful book, as all of Susan Alberts books are. If you haven't started this series, don't delay, they are great.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: There's all kinds of family and each has their rythm and rules
Review: Family. It's all about family. Beatrix Potter can only have short visits to her farm because her parents don't approve and they need her to run their home in London. Her brother Bertram Potter has escaped to his own farm but he can't escape all the demands of his parents either. Jemima Puddle-duck wants to hatch her own eggs and have children to cherish. Dimity Woodcock has put her chance of love out of her mind because she knows her brother won't approve. A woman made a mistake and a baby is left on Beatrix Potter's doorstep, needing a home. But in August 1908, women didn't always have the freedom to do choose their own path, pick their own mates, or have a career. The Tale of Hawthorn House is a tale of an abandoned child and the impact it has on the residents of New Sawrey.
Once again Albert has crafted a tale that lets us enjoy the English countryside of the Beatrix Potter paintings and the inhabitants of Near Sawrey and its environs. The omniscient point of view allows us to enjoy observing everyone in town and yet be outside the story. This viewpoint can annoy some people but I find it, when used as here as a guide to the story with occasional asides to fill us in, to be amusing and in a way adding to the comfort of the story. There's the story of the humans and that of the animals that populate a village surrounded by farms. Sometimes the threads of their stories cross and affect each other but only the readers get to see how these two tales interact with each other.
The central mystery of who is the baby's mother and why was the child abandoned would normally be moot as the child would be placed in a work house and raised there. Luckily, this child was left on Beatrix Potter's doorstep and thus has an advocate. This is a look at the times, putting faces to the beliefs and prejudices of those times -- that some of those beliefs haven't changed much in the intervening years, or at least not for some people.
Families are something all of us can relate to in one way or another and in The Tale of Hawthorn House. There are the families we're born into, the families that we make for ourselves, and the families that we hope to achieve. Ideals, idealism, roles, and attitudes are important but, at heart, it's all about families.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: derivative
Review: Mrs. "Overthewall" is Madeleine L'Engle's Mrs. Whatsit (complete with a lonely night, slamming doors, layers of crazy clothes, and mysterious knowledge), with no attribution. An author has lost all credibility when her characters are derivative, without any acknowledgement or recognition for the original author's creativity. What a disappointment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Another charming story
Review: I have truly enjoyed all the stories in this particular series. The characters (both human and animal) are all likeable and well-developed. The mysteries are gentle, and a pleasant change from the stress, blood, and guts of the average new mystery produced. The only other author who I have found to have written anything in a similar vein is Van Reid in his "Moosepath League" novels (also excellent). I hope Ms. Albert keeps these coming, and often! True quality!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The grownups win this time.
Review: The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries)
Albert and the Folk score one for the grownups. This "tale" is a melt-in-the-mouth, high-class bon-bon that has one reaching for the next one out of the box. It is genteel excitement with a few catch-on-quick puzzles. Enjoy.