Mantlemass series by Barbara Willard

[mambojambodothetango]

Has anyone else read these? Written in the 1970s and aimed at teens I think. I'm hooked. The descriptions of rural life in the 16th and 17th centuries with political events in the background and exciting plots involving very well-drawn characters. Family dynamics, the turning of year, changes in the seasons, beautiful descriptions of nature.

I am sourcing them second hand when I spot them online. However I can't find the next one in the sequence (The Eldest Son) for less than £30!! I tried jumping ahead but the generations had moved on and I didn't know who anyone was.

Anyone else read them?

I absolutely love these books! The first two (The Lark and the Laurel, A Sprig of Broom) are my favourites. I read those, The Iron Lily and A Cold Wind Blowing in primary school/early high school and finally finished reading most of the set (ebooks) a few years ago.

Yes I love them so much!

Be warned that The Eldest Son, when you find it, is pretty sad... as are most of the later ones, really.

Love them, and have all of them signed by her - my grandmother was the family maid to Barbara Willards family and they were about the same age. She used to send each book to her, and A Country Maid (not part of the Mantlemass series) came with a lovely letter about how the book is based on nana

I love the Mantlemass series and think I have an ex Library Eldest Son, bought in a big Leeds City Libraries sale in my teens. I read them quite young but there's something there for tween bookworms with a reading age slightly over their calendar age, for teens and for adults.

Oh, so glad I'm not on my own here! Yes, the Cold Wind Blowing ending is very sad so am bracing myself for the rest. Life was hard then. I love the strong female characters and the men who seem to understand the inequalities between the sexes.

I loved these! Re read them recently and realised how advanced they are. Am a teacher and the average 11 year old would not cope with the level of vocab or knowledge needed. I live in the neck of tge woods these are set - we have lots of old iron forges in local names.

I would suggest that an 11 year old with a reading age ahead of their calendar age - many of us were and/or know such kids - might not understand everything but would still enjoy reading. And this conversation was not about "teaching" these books - they could be in the school library or classroom collection or public library or at home. I really didn't like those reading age related quizzes, I'd just got my boys to be independent readers when they started secondary school and I don't think those quizzes really helped because they're limiting. The boys got to a reading age of 15 some time in year 7 and then were stuck there or went backwards.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-barbara-willard-1395691.html

Here is her obituary. They didn't have mass popularity but most have been reprinted in some form in small print runs at various points. I think that her Mantlemas series is very like several early Jane Gardam books, they're about kids and got published in Puffin etc but they're not written down. Or for another longer ago historical comparison, Cynthia Hartnett, Leon Garfield, Hester Burton, Geoffrey Trease. They're not written down. Even Michael Morpurgo. In fantasy, Diana Wynne Jones does something similar, with lots of complicated words.

I love the Mantlemass series and have all of them, including the short story collection The Keys of Mantlemass, which was the last one published and fills some narrative gaps in the earlier books. There are nine in total. Only five were published in Puffin, so those that weren't are harder to find now, and the hardbacks can be expensive. NB the chronological reading order of the books, and the publication order, are not quite the same; some titles were published retrospectively. I'd suggest getting hold of the ones you easily can for now, and fill in the gaps when possible.

Are you still wanting " The Eldest Son"? I'm trying to shed a few books and you're welcome to have it if you'd like it. Also any of the next three:
A Cold Wind Blowing
The Iron Lily
A Flight of Swans
All paperbacks, not new but the condition is not bad.

Yes! I would love it. That's an extremely kind offer. Interesting to know they can be read out of order - however I find I have to keep the family tree in mind the whole time so this might throw me. I'd love to know if Willard published a family tree. I might even try making one!

I should add it's just the Eldest Son I lack. I've got my Mum's copy of The Iron Lily and I got Wings of the Swan second hand.

@catterthunthose last comments were for you, sorry

CMOTdibbler, what a lovely piece of family history.

Elkiedee, your mention of Hester Burton has taken me right back to being 11 years old, sitting on the garage roof reading Castors Away.

I read these as a child, and have thought about going back to them - I re-read a lot of other children's fiction - but do remember them as bleak.

I’ve never heard of this series or the author. I’ll investigate.

I read the early ones in the series as a child, and loved them. A few years ago I inherited a large chunk of my aunt's extensive children's book collection, which included a lot of Barbara Willard (also the complete works of LM Montgomery and quite a few Chalet Schools). I have a hardback copy of the Eldest Son and would be happy to send it to anyone who would like it. I don't think I have the complete set, but I've also got A Flight of Swans and The Keys of Mantlemass if anyone is interested.

Absolutely love Castors Away! And yes CMOTdibbler that is a lovely family story and Barbara Willard sounds great too.

I’m so pleased I saw this thread, I used to absolutely love these books but they got lost when my parents moved house and I couldn’t remember the titles. Are they online at all?
I think I will start to rebuild my collection!

@DistractMe- just seen your post. What a lovely offer. I’d love to take you up on that.

I love these books and like @Pippatpip live in the area where they are set. Now mostly very rural it was once the centre of the British iron industry. BW created some superb characters and the women are generally stronger than the men. They are in places very sad. The awful bit where the horses die of glanders! Can’t remember which book that is. I do still have them all so must check.

Indeed some of them are available to read online:

https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL408549A/Barbara_Willard?page=3

I don't think a complete Mantlemass family tree exists online, though from various articles about Barbara Willard online it would be possible to construct one, at least in outline.

In 1975, a partial family tree was published as a looseleaf giveaway with a literary journal the Children's Books Review, accompanying an article. This tree was incomplete as four of the nine books in the series hadn't yet been published, but it's a beautifully illustrated (and now rare) collector's item that does cover the main family connections. It is too large to photograph I'm afraid but if anyone on the thread has specific questions about who is related to who in the series, I'll happily have a look at my copy of it for answers.

Oh great, thanks for this!

If you message me with your details, I'll post you the book.