Fire in the Punchbowl
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| Author | Monica Edwards |
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| Illustrator | Geoffrey Whittam |
| Cover artist | Geoffrey Whittam |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young-adult fiction |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Published | 1965 |
| Preceded by | The Outsider |
| Followed by | The Wild One |
Fire in the Punchbowl is the ninth book in the Punchbowl Farm series of novels by Monica Edwards, published in 1965 by Collins. The book was illustrated by Geoffrey Whittam. Punchbowl Farm is threatened by a fire which spreads northwards from the Devil's Punch Bowl to the farm itself in a story which has one of the author’s most dramatic and exciting endings. Roger and Rissa from the Romney Marsh series have returned to the farm and the story also tells of their developing relationships with Lindsey and Dion respectively.
[edit] Blurb from First Edition
Punch Bowl Farm, under Dion's influence, had been extensively modernised, and although his sister Lindsey mourned for the old ways, when milking had been done by hand and in some of the fields the bracken had been six feet high, there was no doubt that it was now more efficient.
It was summer and Roger and Rissa had come from Romney Marsh and were staying at the farm—the chief reasons for their visit being Lindsey and Dion. Never had anybody known it to be so hot, and each day seemed hotter than the day before. But the cows dropped their calves just the same, and Mr. Landis's bees droned in the heather. Roger and Lindsey, and Dion and Rissa rode in the fields and worked on the farm despite the intense heat.
And then, suddenly, almost without warning, it happened. It had happened before, of course, but then there had been no wind: a fire started in the Devil's Punch Bowl. Everybody went out to beat, but fanned by the wind the flames went leaping through the scorched undergrowth, and all too soon it was clear that the expensively modernised farm itself was threatened. Were all Dion's dreams to be reduced to a pile of charred timber?
Monica Edwards handles with her accustomed skill the mounting excitement of the fire and the increasing involvement of Dion with Rissa, and Roger with Lindsey.
[edit] Subsequent editions
- Children’s Book Club edition - 1966
- Armada paperback - 1967
- Evergreen Library - 1969
- Girls Gone By Publishers reprint of original - September 2010 [1][2]
[edit] References
- ^ Publication history from Parks, Brian. The Monica Edwards Punchbowl Companion
- ^ Publication history on official website
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