Tuesday 22 July 2008

Calling all booklovers

I'm on the hunt for a book. Not just any book but a special book. It's one I read as a child and I remember nothing more than the bare bones of the story.

It was a book given to me by an elderly woman in our country town church when I was probably about 8 years old, maybe 10. Her name was Mrs Ford and she was, I'm sure, very old. One Sunday, she handed me two hardcover books she thought I would love. I couldn't tell you what the second one was, but the one I remember was about a girl and her mother who, I think, lived and worked with the circus.

This wasn't a picture book. It was a novel and I remember at the time thinking they were very old books. They had that yellowed, dusty look to them. They must have belonged to Mrs Ford in her childhood.

Over the years, the books disappeared. Lost or given away probably and I've always remembered this one about the girl in the circus and wished I could find it again. I remember only that they lived in an old wooden caravan together, like gypsies I suppose, and they travelled with some kind of show - it might not have even been a circus. It might have been a travelling country fair.

I remember the book was very sad. I think maybe the mother died. I don't remember the ending more than that it was very sad.

Does anyone know this book? Or do any librarians among you have tips on how to find an old, half forgotten and beloved book without typing 'girl who lived with her mother in a wooden caravan and the ending was very sad' in google?

I'd really appreciate any help in finding it. When I was talking to Sean about it this morning, it was his suggestion to put the word out this way!

The Cardigan

The cardigan is going well. I might make it by the weekend, if 'by the weekend' means finishing it late on Sunday night! The sleeves will be cast off this evening and the fronts started shortly after that. I'm not doing that many stitches on straight needles again. The intensity and weight is killing my arms.

Bells