Lost Lorrenden by Mabel Esther Allan

Phoebe Lyndhurst has gone to boarding school since she was nine, spending holidays with her grandparents in London, while her parents work in South America. One rainy July, she falls in love with a painting at the National Gallery:

The picture was of an old, grey stone house, with twisted chimneys and mullioned windows. There was a terrace that dropped to a lawn and brilliant flower-beds, and in a corner under a tree a party of ladies was having tea. At the top of the terrace steps, leaning against the balustrade, was a little girl in white, with golden curls showing under a big floppy hat and carrying a blue parasol. The whole was bathed in brilliant sunlight – the radiance of a perfect summer day. The artist’s name was Joseph Belling and his dates were 1800 to 1841. The caption on the picture was “Lorrenden Manor, Buckinghamshire.”

She is able to find a reproduction postcard in the gift shop but remains fascinated by the original which she visits regularly over the years. Then, at the beginning of her summer holidays when she is 13, her grandmother is ill, and arrangements are made for Phoebe to go stay with her aunt Marjory. Her worry at the idea of staying with an unknown aunt with four boy cousins is tempered by delight when she learns they live in Aylsbury in Buckinghamshire – the nearest train station is called Lorrenden Halt so she will be able to see Lorrenden Manor at long last!

Phoebe gets the train to the country at what I think of as my station – Baker Street, near my (June 2022) dorm in Marylebone (and although the story doesn’t seem all that dated, she is wearing a dress, hat, and gloves - later, her aunt makes her some shorts). The cousins are all outgoing and red headed but friendly, although Phoebe, with no experience of boys, feels awkward and tongue tied. Finally, when it is tea time, she is able to ask her burning question:

“Is Lorrenden Manor very far away?”

But they’ve never heard of it and Aunt Morjory doesn’t think there is any house by that name. One can absolutely imagine how crushed Phoebe is!

Of course, nowadays she would have been Googling Lorrenden Manor but it’s 1956 and Phoebe is more or less stranded in a strange place, although she does have a bicycle. She knows she needs a county map and once she locates one, she finds a Lorrenden Farm, which will be her first destination. When a farm laborer tells Phoebe the Manor is gone, she is very disappointed but is determined to solve what seems like a mystery. With the help of a new friend, a local girl named Cathie, and – to her surprise – her cousins, Phoebe undertakes a search for Lost Lorrenden.

Mabel Esther Allan

Phoebe is a great character, quiet but determined, easy to identify with as she doggedly pursues her long-held fascination with Lorrenden Manor, as well as learning how to cope with her quirky cousins and outspoken aunt. History fans will appreciate her quest to find out what happened to idyllic setting she admired in the painting. As well, MAE’s love of the outdoors comes through as Phoebe and Cathie cycle around Buckinghamshire. This was a delightful story, a very rare MAE, which deserves to be brought back into print (maybe Girls Gone By can be coaxed?). I had looked for it for years without success but a kind acquaintance sent me a PDF and I remembered I had it right after I too visited the National Gallery (I saw some impressive art but did not have Phoebe’s life-changing experience).  This joins Time to Go Back, Romansgrove, The Ballet Family, and We Danced in Bloomsbury Square as a favorite by Allan (she wrote about 170 books!).

Title: Lost Lorrenden
Author: Mabel Esther Allan
Illustrator: Shirley Hughes
Publication: Blackie & Son Limited, hardcover, 1956
Genre: Juvenile fiction
Source: Photocopy