‘Apple Bough’ by Noel Streatfeild, like all the best Streatfeild stories is centered around a large and closely knit family, who struggle to manage the family dynamic when the flourishing musical career of one of the four children threatens to destroy the sense of stability required for the well-being of the remaining children in the family.

The Forums consists of four children : Myra the eldest, Sebastian, the next eldest, then Wolfgang and the smallest child, Ethel. The children’s father, David, is an accomplished accompanying pianist and their mother Polly, a scatter brained artist who loves her children tremendously, but whose mind is so caught up in her art, that she struggled to manage her household.

At the start of the story, the children come to stay at a rambling cottage in the heart of the English countryside called Apple Bough. The cottage comes with a rather unkempt, sprawling garden.

Raspberries, strawberries, currants and gooseberries which nobody had planted would be discovered suddenly, buried under some other plant but with fruit growing on them. Plants that usually are considered wild come into the Apple Bough garden to flourish – cowslips on the lawn, primrose and a wild kind of daffodil in the weedy drive, dog roses grew where ordinary gardens had proper rose trees …

The children are rather small when they come to Apple Bough, ranging from about 2 years old to 6 years old. Named after world famous musicians by their music mad parents, Myra is named after Dame Myra Hess, Sebastian after Bach, Wolfgang after Mozart and Ethel after Dame Ethel Smyth. The children are watched closely for any traces of musical genius and it is Sebastian, the second eldest, who proves to have a natural flair for playing the violin.

In the next few years, Sebastian trains dilligently at his violin and the children spend idyllic days, growing up at Apple Bough. The children have a governess called Miss Popple, who not only teaches them lessons at home, but also cares for the house, cooking their meals and taking charge of their general well-being. Myra, even has a little dog called Wag, who makes their life complete. But Sebastian’s violin playing progresses at an enormous pace and a public concert places him in the eye of many prominent people in the music world.

An important American concert arranger called Paul Ruttenstein offers to sponsor a concert tour for Sebastian around America and the children’s parents jump at the opportunity. In a matter of a few weeks, Apple Bough is sold, the entire family with Miss Popple start a whirlwind tour of America and unfortunately, Wag the dog is left in the care of Miss Popple’s brother. The immense popularity of the US Tour leads to other tours and Sebastian enjoys worldwide celebrity and acclaim. The children’s parents are determined not to break up the family- so they stay together and their Mother always reminds them that they are lucky not to have to learn geography from their world atlases but instead from their personal experience.

Soon, however, the other children grow tired of their whirlwind life, never stopping at a place for more than a few days, never seeing their grandparents, not being able to pursue their individual passions, not having a permanent home and moreover, always being seen as appendages to Sebastian’s name and fame. After four years of touring the world, Myra, Wolfie and Ettie spend the summer with their grandparents in Devonshire and confide their woes to them. Ettinger wants to train as a Ballet dancer, Wolfie wants to write popular music and Myra, having no particular talent of her own, just wants to have a home again and longs for Apple Bough. They know that Sebastian must continue his concerts and their Mother will never agree to splitting up the family but Grandfather tells them to keep up their courage,focus on setting up ‘Operation Home’, feeling sure a means and a way will, be shown to them in due course.

What follows is a period of learning and self-discovery and the children gradually learn that with vision and determination, dreams can come true.

‘Apple Bough’ on one level is a family story. It is about family togetherness and the dynamics between siblings. It also deals with finding one’s own path in life – be it a path of prodigious talent or perhaps a path that is more shaded from the limelight. One of children feels quite upset that she doesn’t have a natural talent towards music or dance but instead just dreams of having a home. Her grandfather assures her that her greatest gift is that having a kind and loving heart and being a solid rock that her siblings can rely on. Streatfeild shows us that wherever and in whichever direction one’s path in life leads us, each path has its own value and being happy and healthy is important too. The child with fame and fortune wanted nothing more than to return home at the end of the day, to a house where belongings had their rightful place. Streatfeild shows us fame and fortune are desirable, talent has to be nurtured with effort and discipline but home is where the heart lies.

I reviewed ‘Apple Bough’ for Simon (stuckinabook.com) and Karen’s (kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com) #1962club where bloggers pick a book published in a particular year and review them in a concerted effort to see what the landscape of literature looked like in a particular year.