This book is the tale of Christina, an orphan who is shipped off to Flambards to live in the care of her tyrannical uncle, who wants her to marry his oldest son so her inherited money can be used to maintain the house and lifestyle he loves.

The characters are beautifully vivid despite the book being quite short. Furious Uncle Russell, angry at the world and his own disability, with no respect for the children as individuals with their own desires. Shallow Mark, content with his disfunctional world so long as it provides him with hunting and good food and adventure. Dick, the servant, kinder and more talented than everyone else, twisted into impossible situations by his good heart and feelings for Christina. Will, the younger son, prepaired to cripple himself forever to escape the riding he hates. And Christina, thrown into the middle of all of this, Christina who hates Uncle Russell but finds herself loving the riding and the hunt, Christina who everyone falls in love with, Christina who is so lonely and powerless and passionate as she grows from being a girl to being a woman. ( )

Young Christina has been an orphan since the age of five and has been shuffled from relative to relative. Now her uncle Russell has requested that she come to live with him and his two young sons at Flambards, a once impressive estate, although it is now in disrepair. All the money (and there's not much of it anymore) at Flambards goes to the stables, as horses and hunting is the only passion Russell and his eldest son, Mark, have. Christina is nervous at first to be thrust into such an unknown life, especially since she suspects her uncle's motives may have something to do with the big pile of money she will age into at 18. But she takes to riding quickly. The younger son, William, has absolutely no interest in horses, and delights in his fate - he will remain lame after a fall from his horse and will not ride anymore. Instead, he is in love with the new-fangled idea of flight. Christina finds herself growing into a young woman caught between the differing passions of not only the Flambards men, but also of a certain young stable hand as well.

I enjoyed this story, although on the whole I think it has some flaws. It starts out as a coming-of-age, overcoming-a-hard-childhood type story but then seems to shift gears - and too abruptly - into a who-will-she-chose sort of love story. So the whole thing goes through a bit of an identity crisis, it seems, but nonetheless I liked the story enough not to mind so much. ( )

NA

When I was a young girl I read many of K. M. Peyton’s novels, particularly the Ruth Hollis series and the Flambards series. I’ve decided to revisit them.

The main character in the Flambards series is Christina Parsons, an Edwardian era orphan with prospects. She is an heiress, raised by aunts in London; and at the age of twelve Christina is sent to live with her mother’s half brother and his sons on the family estate, Flambards. The ulterior motive behind this is for her to eventually marry her cousin Mark and restore the estate to its former glory with her inheritance.

Her Uncle Russell is a hard, bitter man, crippled in a hunting accident. He expects everyone to be as dedicated to hunting as he is and has no patience with people who aren’t. Mark is selfish, reckless, arrogant and even though he is a good rider, he is the worst type of horseman. He is also good natured, fun-loving, forgiving and a surprisingly good sport. His younger brother, William is a budding socialist and reformer who completely rejects the mores and standards of British Edwardian society.

The Russells live the life of sporting gentry and the household is obsessed with horses, hounds and hunting, with the exception of William. William is fascinated by flight and airplanes and is determined to devote his life to being a pilot and aircraft engineer. As a result he is the black sheep of the family and the target for his bitter, intolerant father’s frustrations.

Christina becomes an avid hunter and horsewoman; but she also shares William’s passion for flight, which draws them closer and deepens their friendship. The result of this drives the plot to an ending much different than the path her family had chosen for her future.

The characters in this book are complex, realistic humans; all of them flawed and none of them perfect, by any means. .As a character, Christina is a resilient, smart and resourceful girl, doing her best in the circumstances that life has given her. She disobeys her uncle and saves the life of an injured horse that she loves and then tries to right the wrongs that result from her actions but fails. I can’t help but think that if this book were written by current standards, this teenage girl would have re-educated and enlightened her uncle, transforming him into a new person, before going on to single-handedly prevent the outbreak of the first world war and saving the entire world, making it a paradise for all of humanity. Unfortunately, this book was written at a time when fictional characters acted like real human beings instead of idealized comic-book super heroes, so it has little appeal at this time. There are no flags in this book for the virtue-signal readers to wave.

As for myself, I enjoyed the trilogy and will continue on with my re-read of the next two books.
( )

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

**Story of the orphaned Christina sent to live at 'decaying' Flambards...**

I was slightly disappointed with my re-read of Flambards, I think probably because it has dated more than I expected since it was first published (1967). The style of writing is a little stilted and the story comes across today as quite old-fashioned. Without giving anything away, the naive Christina grows up altogether a bit too fast at the end of the novel, laying out her plans for the future altogether too readily for her age of 16/17! I hope today's young readers don't follow her example...

So, what's the book about?

Well, by the age of 12 Christina, who has been orphaned since the age of 5, has been passed about amongst her relatives on a regular basis, and now she's going off to live with her uncle and 2 cousins at their country house, Flambards. The novel opens in the year 1908, so Christina is expected to fit in and do as she's told... But Christina isn't really used to country life. The whole of Flambards revolves around the hunting season - the horses are the best-cared for members of the household - and Christina doesn't yet know how to ride. Even more worringly, she arrived at the house on the same day her cousin Will had a dreadful riding accident... Still, her uncle insists she learn to ride so that she can go out hunting with cousin Mark. Christina doesn't know what to expect... And can she become friends with her very different cousins? ( )