PBOTD 18th September: Monica Edwards - Punchbowl Harvest

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Today's PBOTD, Punchbowl Harvest (1954), was a Punchbowl Farm book I did manage to find. All mine were the paperback Armadas, illustrated by Mary Gernat. I do now have a very pretty first edition, which has a cover illustration by Joan Wanklyn, but I am still very fond of the Armada - in fact I think I prefer it.


Mary Gernat was one of Armada's house illustrators, and she, along with Peter Archer, provided the front cover illustrations for many Armada titles in the 1960s and 1970s. 


Mary Gernat is not to everyone's taste, but I think she captures the essential moments of a story wonderfully. Her style is spare and energetic (if not always anatomically accurate) and she is wonderful at catching moments in time. I particularly like her Punchbowl Harvest (the equally good Fire in the Punchbowl is appearing here soon).

Mary Gernat to me will always conjure up that childhood thrill of finding a new Monica Edwards - not a common experience, so I treasured it when it happened.
Monica Edwards' Armada editions with cover illustrations by Mary Gernat
The Outsider (1962)
Wish for a Pony (1963)
Summer of the Great Secret (1963)
The Spirit of Punchbowl Farm (1963)
No Mistaking Corker (1965)
Cargo of Horses (1965 - credited to Peter Archer but I think the style is much more Mary Gernat's)
Frenchman’s Secret (1965)
Punchbowl Harvest (1966)
Dolphin Summer (1966)
Fire in the Punchbowl (1967)
The Wanderer (1968)

~  0  ~

The Punchbowl Series
No Mistaking Corker
Black Hunting Whip
Punchbowl Midnight
Spirit of Punchbowl Farm
The Wanderer
Punchbowl Harvest
Frenchman's Secret
The Cownappers
The Outsider
Fire in the Punchbowl
The Wild One

More on Monica Edwards
Everything you ever wanted to know on Monica Edwards and her books: John Allsup's site

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