This was one of my favorite, favorite books as a child. In fact, I'm so surprised I don't still have my copy from that time as I have most of the others of my favorites.

I'm so afraid to reread it for fear of finding it not what it was. But I'm feeling more confident with it being published by the NYRB as they have only been bringing out the best.

I remember mainly a feisty waif, a bombed out area, and a garden.

ETA Still as good as I remembered. Truly lovely book.

I read this book very early in my writing career and loved the way the author moved through time. "As Jenny was to find out later...." was a sentence I never forgot. Sets the narrator apart from the character in one way, but draws the reader in. It's as if the author is whispering secrets in the reader's ear, but never with malicious intent. I love authors who love their characters, despite their faults, and Rumer Godden always does.

A sweet little book I picked up at a rummage sale and noticed the author was the one who wrote In This House of Brede. As another reviewer stated, "Godden writes about ordinary events with the heart of a mystic" and that is definitely one appeal of this book. Poor children, abandoned children, disillusioned children, living in the inner city and their craving for beauty and something to care for. Simple faith and devotion to (and miracles by?) Our Mother. Sweet but never sentimental, this book was a great find in Godden's ouvre.

Delightful. I always love children and a garden in books. It reminds me a little of The Secret Garden, with a hardened little girl who discovers the joy and beauty of making a garden in a barren and ugly place. It's not as deep and thought-provoking as others of hers, but very good just the same.

I really liked this. The writing was lovely (despite the comma splices) and the characterization was fantastic.

My only disappointment was with the ending - it felt abrupt. Maybe not by normal standards, but considering how much loving detail we'd gotten for everything else, it felt a bit rushed.

Still - I'm very glad I read it!

This is one of the first Godden titles I ever read. It hooked me on this unusually gifted author.

I really did enjoy this book, although Lovejoy was quite unlovable for the most part. I do believe she was her own worst enemy. Her life was extraordinarily hard and she tried to make things beautiful in her small world, she was determined and that saw her through many scrapes. Her friend Tip was endearing as he became so important to her, her life-line. Miss Olivia who saw these poor children as sparrows was a wise woman who needed to speak out for herself and stand up to her sister sooner.

Not as engaging as "The Greengage Summer," but even a so-so Rumer Godden book is pretty good...

I inherited this little book from my mother, so it sat on my shelves for many a year. What an absolute pleasure it was to eventually read it. It is London some years after WW11, the residents of Catford Street struggle to make ends meet. Lovejoy Mason is about 11 years of age, the single daughter of an absent mother who leaves her with mrs. Combie and her husband Vincent. Vincent is a chef, but his restaurant in Catford Street does not draw the clientele it deserves. By chance Lovejoy becomes the owner of a packet of seed of flowering plants. She decides to start her own garden in an open lot on Catford Street. And this small beginning becomes the wonderful story of Lovejoy's garden on a dreary, gray street of London. It describes how sheer determination transforms her life as well as that of Vincent and mrs. Crombie, and a sizeable part of the Catford Street community.

This is an absolute gem of a book, it brings pure joy to the reader. Do yourself a favour and read it.

Whenever I read a book by Rumer Godden I’m reminded why I like her so much. She writes about ordinary life with the insight of a mystic. Her novels are the fictional counterpart of Caryll Houselander’s inspirational prose.

An Episode for Sparrows took me a couple of tries to get into but I blame that on me rather than the book. I was mentally distracted at the time.

Sparrows may well be my favorite by Godden. It certainly contains one of the most memorable anti-heroines ever, impossible little Lovejoy, ironically named because she is unloved and without joy. Yet she is passionate and utterly endearing.

As her devoted Reader Lovejoy captured my heart as was undoubtedly Godden’s intent. Perhaps I should qualify my statement about Lovejoy too. She has been left by her mother with a Mrs. Combie and her horrid sister, Cassie. Yet Mrs. Combie is not without some concern for her young charge, although the interest tends more toward economic than filial. Mrs. Combie’s flighty husband, George/Vincent (which is real name?)—who leaves us constantly wondering at his sanity—a sometime restaurateur, shows the most genuine affection for Lovejoy but who knows if this is a good thing?

Some of the rest of the cast include: the spinster sisters, Angela and Olivia; the ever vigilant Sparkey (who watches everything happening on Catford Street) and his mother; Tip Malone and the large family of Irish Malones and Father Lambert, the local pastor. Tip also befriends Lovejoy, an even more unlikely association, yet how can this friendship do either miscreant any good, especially since their motives are at such cross-purposes?

The ‘sparrows’ in the title refer to the street children. As the story opens some ‘earth’ has been stolen. Can one ‘steal’ ‘earth’? Well yes, if by ‘earth’ you mean the soil from the village green. The suspects are the village urchins or children. The Misses Angela and Oliva refer to the street children as ‘sparrows’ but mean very different things in their use of the term. To Miss Angela it is derogatory. When Miss Olivia thinks of it, she means as it is used by Jesus; each sparrow that falls to the earth is precious in the eyes of the Lord.

Rumer has done it again. The characters are vivid and real. The strength of the plot is its simplicity. Her An Episode for Sparrows will stay with me. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a story this much! I'd give it 5.5 stars if I could.

An added bonus was learning how Godden was inspired to write the story. It came about due to a minor misfortune in her own life, which is always one of the best inspirations. Oh! Then there is the significance of the cover, which is Lovejoy, of course. The full meaning will only be revealed if you read the story.

I feel fortunate to have a to-be-read list that is quite long and also to have a public library that offers many of those books for me to borrow. I think I am somewhat willy-nilly in my choice of books - Christmas books at Christmas time, Victober, seasonal books at the appropriate time, a good non-fiction, a mystery story thrown in for good measure but other than that; I think my choices are haphazard. But recently I've had the feeling that my books are choosing me.

I moved house in December, 2023. It was an upheaval for me. Part of me would like to behave like a drama queen (quick, get the smelling salts!) but guess what? There are boxes to unpack and items to be sorted and organized. At the time right after I moved, a GR friend wrote a review of 'The Proper Place' by O. Douglas and mentioned that it was a comfort read. I needed a comfort read so I read it. And yes, it is a comfort read but it is also about MOVING HOUSE. How perfect for me. The three women in the story survived an upheaval move of their own and did it with dignity. I loved it. Did the book choose me?

Now I'm on to 'An Episode of Sparrows'. I chose this because Rumer Godden has been recommended by other GR friends. My choice of books by her was somewhat determined by what was available at my library... so this was it. I thought this was a book about children- and it is but it is also about so much more. It is about people, and how we treat each other, it's about having a dream, and it is about building a garden. When I moved (see above) I had to leave my garden. The garden I had tended for years. It wasn't a showpiece but the birds liked it and the butterflies swarmed all around and I was happy and content in my garden. And I had to leave it... (yes, I sobbed). But in my new place, I have 'a bit of earth' (Secret Garden) and am learning to build a new garden. The same way Lovejoy learns (and then marvels!) at her garden. It seems this book chose me.

This was my first Rumer Godden and I will certainly read more. I highly recommend.

Might I have a bit of earth?

This is a question that burned in the hearts of both Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden and Lovejoy Mason, so in some respects their stories are quite similar, and needless to say I love both their stories and these two female protagonists, love, love, love them. They might not seem like girls one would like to adopt but I would definitely; they have spark, they are resourceful, impulsive, reckless, at times inconsiderate