Penelope Farmer
Author of Charlotte Sometimes
About the Author
Image credit: Picture of Penelope Farmer from the back panel of the First UK edition of The CHina People
Series
Works by Penelope Farmer
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1939-06-14
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Westerham, Kent, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Birmingham, England, UK
Lanzarote, Spain
London, England, UK - Education
- University of Oxford (St. Anne's College)
University of London - Occupations
- teacher
fiction writer
anthologist
children's book author
novelist - Short biography
- Penelope Farmer was born in Westerham, Kent, one of twin sisters. She attended boarding school and read history at Oxford University. She did postgraduate work at Bedford College, University of London. Her first book, The China People, a collection of literary fairy tales for young people, was published in 1960. Her first novel for children was The Summer Birds (1963), which was followed by two sequels, Emma in Winter (1966) and the now classic Charlotte Sometimes (1969). Other notable books for young readers include A Castle of Bone (1972), Year King (1977), Thicker than Water (1989), Penelope: A Novel (1993), and Granny and Me (1998). She also writes fiction for adults.
Members
Discussions
2 girls from different times hiding letters to each other in bedpost in Name that Book (March 2013)
Reviews
Charlotte Sometimes (The New York Review Children's… by Penelope Farmer
4.5 — this is great. Can see why it left an impact on Robert Smith. A nice creepy, suspenseful story, with period details. Unsurprisingly, very reminiscent of the books I read as a child. Nice bits of existentialism in there, and some almost hallucinatory scenes. Very nicely written.
Charlotte starts at a boarding school for the first time and is allocated a bed in a small dorm room. [return][return]On her first night she sleeps fitfully, and then wakes to a different view outside the window - and everyone calling her a different name! She then swaps bodies and timeframes with a girl called Clare, and between them have to navigate a new school as well as two different timeframes. There is plenty to threaten them both, including the flu epidemic, and the fact that Charlotte could be evauacted to the countryside during the war whilst stuck in Clare's body. Everytime they switch, there's always a chance that they will become "stuck" as the other.[return][return]I have to re-read this as an adult, but remember enjoying it as a child - it was the first book I really remember having a sci-fi/fantasy aspect to it (time travel & switching bodies being such sci-fi staples).[return][return]I dont *think* I knew this was the third part of a series although reading the synopsis of book 1 makes me think i've read that one too.… (more)
Although published in 1969, this book felt much older in writing style. This book told the story of Charlotte, who for some reason switched places every other day and became Clare, 40 years in the past. It was convenient that both Charlotte and Clare were at the same boarding school in England. I can see why this book would not have been a popular check out, as least in the 2000's. However, I found the read to be mildly entertaining as it did portray life in England during WWI. 186 pages
I read this when I was young but it must have been a library copy because I never had a copy. Memory made it much better than it was, the writing is clumsy and far too modern and misses the beat all too often. Still, there is a little spark here and there, I did feel Charlotte's sense of dislocation at times. The oddest bit was to have the 1918 flu pandemic be such a feature while I am at home in COVID shutdown.
Lists
1960s (1)
Five star books (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 31
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 1,433
- Popularity
- #17,954
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 35
- ISBNs
- 108
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 3
