D.E. Stevenson

It was a very satisfactory friendship, for Barbara profited by it too. Jerry enlarged Barbara enormously. In a new friend we start life anew, for we create a new edition of ourselves and so become, for the time being, a new creature. Barbara had never done this interesting thing before. She had lived all her life in Silverstream and her neighbors were people who had known her from childhood, and therefore had a preconceived idea of her, so engrained, that they never saw her at all, any more than they saw the sponge which accompanied them daily into their baths. In creating a new Barbara for Jerry Cobbe, Barbara created a new facet of herself and was enlarged by it. She had no idea she was doing anything of the sort, of course, and she merely felt that life had become very interesting, and that she, herself, was more adequate to its demands.”

Miss Buncle Married, by D.E. Stevenson

4 comments:

Sarah M. said...

(smile) I think you must be enjoying the series. I'm starting the next book after Miss Buncle Married tonight.

Noël De Vries said...

I did enjoy the Buncle books, Sarah, esp. the first. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. But I must say of the seven Stevensons I've read in the last ten days, Listening Valley was my favorite. Due, of course, to the fact that it's a companion to my alltime favorite, Celia's House. I can't believe it took me ten years to discover the companion!!

CLM said...

I enjoy Stevenson very much and was amazed at how much the Guernsey Potato book read like her books. Unfortunately, those who look for her books these days may not find many in the library, as many have been discarded.

Noël De Vries said...

I know, too many of her titles are hard to find, but I'm moving to London in January, and hope to find several in bookshops there.