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´A charming and brilliantly entertaining novel... shot through with the light-hearted Nesbit touch´ Penelope Lively, from the introduction

"When did two girls of our age have such a chance as we´ve got - to have a lark entirely on our own? No chaperone, no rules, no..."
"No present income or future prospects," said Lucilla.

It´s 1919 and Jane and her cousin Lucilla leave school to find that their guardian has gambled away their money, leaving them with only a small cottage in the English countryside. In an attempt to earn their living, the orphaned cousins embark on a series of misadventures - cutting flowers from their front garden and selling them to passers-by, inviting paying guests who disappear without paying - all the while endeavouring to stave off the attentions of male admirers, in a bid to secure their independence.

´To come upon any Nesbit today, hitherto unread... is like receiving a letter from a friend whom you have believed dead´ New York Times

´A wry, charming delight of a book´ The Pool

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She, of all the writers I have ever read, has given me over the years the most complete satisfaction Noel Coward

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Nesbit, E.
Edith Nesbit was a mischievous child who grew up into an unconventional adult. With her husband, Hubert Bland, she was one of the founder members of the socialist Fabian Society; their household became a centre of the socialist and literary circles of the times. E. Nesbit turned late to children´s writing. Her first children´s book, The Treasure Seekers, was published in 1899 to great acclaim. Other books featuring the Bastable children followed, and a series of magical fantasy books, including Five Children and It also became very popular. The Railway Children was first published monthly in the London Magazine in 1905, and published as a book in 1906, which has been in print ever since.

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