The Maplin Bird by K.M. Peyton

In this historical novel set in 19th century England, orphaned siblings escape their abusive relatives and try to make a new life for themselves in a coastal fishing village.

After Emily and Toby Garland’s parents die from cholera, they are lucky to have a home with Uncle Gideon and Aunt Mercy, although it’s hardly charity, as Toby (16) is beaten often and works unpaid on his uncle’s boat while Emily (15) slaves away on household chores. Realizing there is no future for them, they run away in the middle of the night on their father’s old boat, and sail to Southend. They live on the cramped boat, but while Toby makes a friend and starts fishing, Emily’s shabby appearance prevents her from finding employment. 

On a stormy night, the Garlands rescue unfortunates from a shipwreck and when Emily is brought with the survivors to a prosperous home in the area, she is offered a job as housemaid. Her new employer is a widow, with offspring as rebellious (but more affluent) than the Garlands: Selina longs to study nursing while her older brother, Adam, bored by the family business, stays out all night on his yacht, The Maplin Bird, up to no good. Emily, settling into her new job (£10 a year less breakages), is fascinated by Adam and protects him when the authorities come asking awkward questions. He abuses her trust by risking Toby’s life, which starts a chain of events that puts all three of them into deadly peril.

Peyton has long been a favorite author, and I particularly love the four Flambards books about orphaned Christina Parsons (yes, even the controversial fourth) for which she is best known as well as the series about Patrick Pennington and Ruth Hollis. As you can see below, I have quite a collection of her books but did not own this one so was delighted to find it in the used book section of the Brookline Library recently. Like all Peyton’s heroines, Emily may have inner doubts but she is brave and resilient, whether it is rescuing those drowning or facing down the police. She is grateful for the security of employment but misses the sea:

Emily knew she had gotten her heart’s desire, but it was at a price.

“Oh, you sea!” she whispered, leaning out of her window in the roof to cool her face. The woods of Kent were gold in the evening sun, far away across a golden haze of calm water. The tide roamed with a breadth that Emily envied; she felt like a trapped animal in the house. She had paid for her security with physical freedom and sometimes, as at this moment, she felt it was like paying with her soul.

She misses being able to roam freely by the shore but while the work is hard, she is treated fairly and can begin saving for her dream, a cottage for her and Toby. That is, until Adam Seymour interferes with her plans by involving her and Toby into his smuggling operation. The contrast between the two industrious Garlands, desperately trying to make an honest living, and the spoiled Seymours, bored by their affluence and frustrated by Victorian restrictions, is acute. Selina somewhat redeems herself by nursing Toby when he needs it but Adam is selfish (although one can see his appeal) and has only an occasional pang of conscience for exploiting Emily and her brother. It is left to his mother to make partial amends.

This is a fast-paced and dramatic read with memorable characters and, like the Flambards series, it is illustrated by the wonderful Victor Ambrus. I don’t remember reading it as a teen but it ticks a lot of boxes for me: intrepid heroine, orphan, below-stairs servant, loyal sibling, and an exciting, Geoffrey Trease-like adventure. I am not a boat fanatic like Peyton or Arthur Ransome but Peyton makes me feel I am traveling on the My Alice or The Maplin Bird and I suffered with every possible capsize. Emily is both capable of loving the wrong person yet sensible enough to know it’s a bad idea and nothing will come of it – she does not have ambitions above her station, she just wants to protect her brother, as she promised her dying mother. And as I have said before, no one conveys yearning so well as K.M. Peyton, who died in December, having written more than 50 books (of which I own 34).

This is book 6 of my 20 Books of Summer and my seventeenth book for the 2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  Here is my review of Flambards, which I have read so often I know bits by heart.

Title: The Maplin Bird
Author: K.M. Peyton
Illustrator: Victor Ambrus
Publication: Gregg Press, hardcover, originally published in 1965
Genre: Juvenile Historical Fiction
Setting: 1860s England
Source: Personal copy

Happy Fourth of July!