Brownsmith's Boy, a Romance in a Garden, by George Manville Fenn.
_______________________________________________________________________
This is an absolutely delightful book, which has most of its early
action in a market garden, and then more in another one. The author is
a great naturalist, and he has much to teach us about the way in which
work should be done to raise fruit and vegetables to be taken to London
daily for the market. Somehow that sounds boring but there is so much
action entwined with these facts that they are made far from boring.
The action takes place about 1835. The hero lives with his mother in a
house overlooking the garden. When she dies he is taken in by Old
Brownsmith to be taught the skills of a market gardener. Another boy,
Shock, hangs about the garden, sleeping rough and living on a primitive
diet of snails, hedgehogs and rabbits and whatever he can get. There is
an uneasy relationship between the boys, with Shock constantly doing
unkind and strange things, and our hero, Grant Dennison, longing to get
to know him better.
I particularly loved the episode where an old worker, Ike, takes the
even older horse, Basket, for his regular overnight trip to the London
fruit and vegetable market, taking Grant with him.
There are plenty of the usual Manville Fenn episodes of terror and
near-disaster, and indeed it is a lovely book. Do read it.
NH
________________________________________________________________________