A Vicarage Family is the first part in a fictionalized autobiography in which Noel Streatfeild tells the story of her own childhood, painting a poignant and vivid picture of daily life in an impoverished, genteel family in the years leading up to the First World War.
In the story there are three little girls - Isobel, the eldest, is pretty, gentle and artistic; Louise the youngest, is sweet and talented - and then there is Vicky, 'the plain one', the awkward and rebellious child who doesn't fit in at school or at home. Growing up in a big family Vicky feels overlooked but gradually begins to realize that she might not be quite as untalented as she feels.
The Vicky of this story is, of course, the much-loved Noel Streatfeild who went on to write so many wonderful family stories, the most famous being Ballet Shoes.
This is Book 70 in the A Puffin Book Series. See all A Puffin Book books here.
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Noel Streatfeild was born in Amberley, Sussex in 1895. Her first novel, Ballet Shoes, is her best-known book but she went on to write many well-loved books for children, including Circus Shoes which won the Carnegie Medal in 1938. In 1983 she was honoured for her contribution to children's publishing when she was awarded an OBE. She died in 1986.
More about Noel StreatfeildElizabeth Klehfoth (Author)
Elizabeth Klehfoth holds an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University, where she taught fiction writing and composition and served as an Associate Fiction Editor for the Indiana Review. Her short stories have appeared in the literary journals Gravel and Devil's Lake. She currently lives and writes in Los Angeles.
