Elsie J. Oxenham "The Abbey Girls Play Up"

I have to start this post by saying how much I love the Abbey Girl books. Although, I am aware they are very much for a select audience. They are now collectibles although I am by no means an expert on what is considered rare or valuable. My own collection has been obtained through ebay and secondhand shopping and all have been less then $25 (Australian) and in most cases a lot less! The books show all the classic stereotypes of their times as is to be expected. If you are going to try them, this is simply a product of the genre.

If you have not come across them before, the Abbey Girl books are a series written for girls set around a restored abbey in the set of a manor house in England during the twenties and thirties. The early books rotate around three girls. Cousins, Joan and Joy and their friend Jen. Later Rosamund, Maidlin and Mary-Dorothy are added as key figures. As the series progress, they grow up, their circle of friends is extended and they all have children. Later still, their children become the key figures in many of the books. The Hamlet Club, their school's folk dancing group, and the role they all play as Queens play a key part in the series. Alongside helping others and the "Abbey's" spirit of adoption.

"The Abbey Girls Play Up" chronologically is set around the middle period of the series. Joan, Joy and Jen are all married with young families. This particular story is one of the books that is a little different in the sense that it focuses on a friend rather then one of the main "family". Cecily Brown is an orphan who loves music. Through a series of events Cecily comes in contact with Abbey family and they make her dreams come true, in ways she never could have hoped for.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who likes Elsie J. Oxenham's other books or books by Dorita Bruce, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, Enid Blyton's school stories and others by that type. I have been reading these since I was about 8, although if you were looking for one to introduce to a younger reader, I would suggest going with one of the earlier books. I would also suggest that it would have to be a girl (at the risk of stereotyping) who was already fairly well read. My own girls (12, 10 and 8) have yet to "get" these books although they have all had a go at reading them at some point. At this point in my house they are still my books!