Number of books: 4, with 2 published under various titles.
The full list is:
Gemma
Gemma and Sisters
Gemma Alone (also published as Gemma The Star)
Good-Bye, Gemma (also published as Gemma In Love)
Availability
They seem quite difficult to get hold of, compared to many
Streatfeild, which is a real shame. Ebay/second hand bookshops appear to be
your best bet.
The premise
The Robinsons are perfectly normal, thank you very much…
Oh, wait, I think I’m getting confused with a future post
there. Anyway, the Robinsons ARE perfectly normal (except for Lydia, who’s
dance-mad, anyway.) There’s two parents, daughters Lydia and Ann, and son
Robin. The not-so-normal thing about them is that their aunt Rowena and cousin
Gemma are famous film stars. But then Rowena writes to say that Gemma has
become the wrong age for films, at 11 – no longer a child star but not ready
for older movies – and asks them to let her stay with them. Gemma moves in and
has to try and be part of a big family for the first time ever, and cope with
her fears about school, while also hide her identity as she doesn’t want people
to think she’s “washed up.”
Why I like them
Rather than the good, sweet, kind-hearted girls I was used
to reading about when growing up, Gemma is a complete brat for a fair amount of
the first book, and for parts of the others. She’s a flawed character, but far
more interesting than the majority of heroines from this time period. Lydia is
even more flawed, being basically interested almost solely in dancing to the
point of lying through her teeth if it helps advance her career, but is just
about likeable enough that you can forgive her, while understanding her parents’
frustration.
Speaking of her parents, I also think the adults here are
more rounded – and more present, for that matter – than in most books of the
era. Alice and Philip, the Robinsons’ parents, along with Gemma’s mother, and
dance school teacher Miss Arrowhead and her niece Polly are all great
characters. And the couple who run the West Country farm they stay at in one
book are gems. (And give us such wonderful dialogue as “Sweetly pretty it do
be.”)
I’m also fascinated by the stage and think Streatfeild does
a great job here of portraying the worlds of the theatre, TV and movies. In
addition, it’s interesting that there’s real changes as the characters grow up –
so many mid-20th century series seem to have their main characters
locked at the same age forever, but my favourites have always been the ones
like this where they grow older and have to cope with new experiences.
Best books
I think the first two are superb, personally, and the others
are good but not great.
Who they’ll appeal to
Anyone who loves reading about the stage will like these. I
think fans of Lyn Gardner’s Olivia series would feel at home, in particular.
Books by the same author
Tons and tons! Ballet Shoes is of course the most famous.
(And has led to a bunch of others being reprinted as Something or Other Shoes.)
The Painted Garden is another favourite of mine. (That would be Movie Shoes in
some editions, which makes me want to bang my head against a wall.)
Thurday’s Child and Far To Go are both excellent from what I
remember, as is her semi-autobiographical trilogy the Vicarage books.
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