I’m a big theatre nerd so I was very excited for this book. Being a theatre nerd, the fact that the title was spelled, “theater” and not “theatre”, bothered me a little bit too much… (I had an American copy so it wasn’t spelled like the original) This doesn’t change my views on the book of course, but just thought I’d share haha!

~SPOILERS BELOW~

Anyway, a great book with a beautiful insight to theatre and the people in it. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was how it just sort of ended. I was glad that their father appeared but there wasn’t much insight to how he got there or how Uncle Mose knew where he was. I also kind of wished that we got to see a little bit more about whether Mark ends up going to the proper school or not. I wanted to see how Sorrel and Holly’s roles went as well. However, I’m sure that the author had good reason for the ending and it’s probably just over my head lol
Overall great book and highly recommend to any theatre nerds or people starting theatre!

Absolutely loved re-reading this childhood favourite!

The two younger siblings in this books really come alive and are a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the focus is on Sorrel, who is dull. She is just too good, doing exactly what she is told. Useful in theater, but doesn't hint at the strength of personality needed for acting. I would have loved one final scene from her where she didn't act precisely to instruction but threw in something that surprised but delighted the audience and the cast. I suspect Streatfeild related too much to her, because of all the focus on what she was thinking and so little description of what she was doing. We get the most generic descriptions of her from other characters, even the witty Alice, Mark, and Holly.

The grandmother was fascinating and I thought the role she played was ironic. It could have had more bearing on the story, since she had also in real life been against an elopement. Did it make her accept what her daughter had done? I suppose it's hinted at by her growing affection for her grandchildren. She gets angry with Mark for wanting to go to regular school, but isn't too mean to him. If she was still bitter about her daughter she would probably have acted a lot worse. But we never really learn what she is thinking or what she spends all that money on in wartime. I was wondering if she was actually secretly paying a spy or mercenary to look for the children's father. Maybe a missing final chapter will someday turn up that will show that she had secretly funded his escape or was herself a secret spy, like Mata Hari but better. And will also tell us that Mark sang in musicals performed by the navy like the one in South Pacific and later became a radio star, guesting on his sister Holly's humorous variety show, and Sorrel became a character actress, to her grandmother's derision, but later became the star of Winifred's theater company that hired only plain performers.

I have 4 books in the Shoes series and I read and reread them all the time.