The Painted Garden

The Painted Garden
by Noel Streatfeild

First published in 1949.

This was one of my favourite books growing up and I re-read it at least once a year.  The Painted Shoes is also known as Movie Shoes, and is part of Noel Streatfeild's 'Shoes' series, which started with Ballet Shoes.  These books are essentially all pretty similar - they usually include several children in a family who each have a different talent or personality trait, and have to help each other to overcome some difficulty or achieve their dreams.  The Painted Garden is my favourite, as it incorporates film-making and travel, which I found exciting when I was younger and still find interesting now.

The Winters family from London are made up of the Mum, Dad, oldest daughter Rachel, middle child Jane and youngest son Tim.  Rachel is a ballet dancer, Tim plays the piano but Jane is descibed as plain, with no talent.  This makes her somewhat sullen and angry towards her siblings, as people often ask what she does.

The family get the opportunity to go to California when they are left some money, and the story follows them as they travel across the ocean and then across America.  While they are in California, Jane is discovered by a film director and producer, who cast her as Mary in their film of 'The Secret Garden'.
The story tells of Jane going to filming, costume fittings and school on set, as well as the characters she meets whilst doing so, including other child actors.  At the same time, Tim finds himself a piano and some Italian friends.

I particularly like Rachel's part, as Streatfeild brings in Posy and Pauline Fossil from Ballet Shoes to help her get to dancing lessons in California.  Having read Ballet Shoes I thought this was a clever way to let readers know what happened to the Fossil girls after their book finished.

Apart from Jane, the characters in this story are developed just enough for us to care about, but essentially they are there to help Jane grow and find what she is good at.  Although she becomes friendlier with the other children in the film, she never completely loses her 'black-doggishness', which for me is what makes her unique.  I think the story could have been too soppy and cheesy, but she keeps it from going too far.

It might not be the best-known of Streatfeild's work, but it's definitely worth a read if you want a behind-the-scenes look at a film set in the fourties.  It's a true classic of my childhood and will be on my bookcase for many years yet.