PBOTD 21st September: Monica Edwards - Fire in the Punchbowl

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Fire in the Punchbowl (1965) is another book in which the Romney Marsh characters are present. In this one, Rissa and Roger are staying. Having firmly slapped Andrea away from Meryon, Monica Edwards allows the other Punchbowl characters a bit more leeway when it comes to romance, because Rissa and Roger are shown to have feelings for Dion and Lindsay.


It's all terribly neat, pairing them off with each other, but that shouldn't distract from the rattling good story that is Fire in the Punchbowl. It's a terrifying read - I actually found it more so reading it as an adult, when how very close they come to disaster was much clearer to me.



In many children's books, danger is actually a controllable force, or at least one that's never life-threatening. Monica Edwards didn't shy away from the difficult, and Fire in the Punchbowl, is, for me, nearly as nerve shredding a read as Arthur Ransome's We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea. Disaster is only just averted.

~  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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