Fen Runners

Just a quick blog to heartily recommend this book, Fen Runners, to anyone with teens who like a read. Or adults, like me, who like a read too. In my days as a kids librarian, a book that treated young adults with respect was always welcome, and this one, a spooky tale of ghosts, maybes and growing up in a small Fenland town is perfect. Eerie, full of sense of space and self, it perfectly captures the area whilst spinning a tale of past and present in the manner of "Toms' Midnight Garden" , only a wee bit scarier. A rare sympathy with the young, and a good yarn to boot. Makes me want to strap on a pair of "Fen runners" , as ice skates were locally known, and seek out the dykes and the monsters therein myself.

And another recommendation that has popped into mind again is this: "Can any mother help me?". It's come to mind since doing this blog, as so many nice ladies have pitched in and sent me goodies. It tells the real life story of post war women who responded to a plea in a womans; magazine, asking "can any mother help me?". A woman was lonely, stuck at home and going crazy, and as a result of the response, women formed a round robin magazine that spanned decades, and covered domestic life, personal life, politics, everything, in the most interesting way. I felt that I knew the women involved after reading this, and it gave a fascinating insight into the situation of women post-war. Read it!