Summary: It's the fourth and final instalment of the Melendy Quartet. Left alone when Rush and Mona go away to boarding school, Randy and Oliver are lonely and bored until a mysterious letter brings the first of many clues to a mystery that takes all winter to solve.
MY THOUGHTS:
For years it seems Then There Were Five was meant to be the last book in the Melendy series. While the first three were all published between 1941 and 1944, this final novel didn't appear until 1954; ten years from the starting point with a seven year gap. That struck me as a red flag at the outset. (When Mary Norton did a similar thing with The Borrowers Avenged, it was a facepalm.)
Then the story concept fueled my misgivings. While Mona, Rush, and Mark are all away at boarding school, Randy and Oliver are at loose ends with nothing to do but mope around Four-Story Mistake by themselves. One day they receive an anonymous letter that sparks an intriguing scavenger hunt to occupy them all season while the others are away. I hated the idea of the older siblings being written out of most of the action, but being a Melendy book, I read it anyway.
It isn't half bad. The clever, poetic clues are a challenge for us readers as well as the two kids. The masterminds behind the challenge really intend for them to work hard for it, and it is great when we discover their identities. Not in the least surprising, given the extreme inside knowledge they evidently possess, but very satisfying.
The whole boarding school thread is a bugbear of mine. What a shame to break up such a close-knit family who all love their home. When Randy and Oliver suggests homeschooling their own kids, I'm right on board with them. Still, having said that, I understand Father Melendy's reasoning in this instance. Given their ages and exceptional talents, it is inevitable that Mona, Rush, and Mark require far more specialized training in their fields than Carthage Public School is able to offer.
Just the same, I can't help taking off a star for their absence anyway. Don't get me wrong, Randy and Oliver are both delightful. I love her endearing, whimsical nature and his self-contained nerdiness. But I feel we need more of the others to make any plot really shine. It lacks a certain spice without Mona's performative ways, and Rush's mischievous, spot-on sense of humor. Even though we never get to physically hear Rush's excellent piano playing through the pages, this final book is still a bar short of a symphony without him in it more. We need all four siblings as the corners of a whole package, the Melendy Quartet.
As a point of interest, I'm positive Randy is one of those rare, highly creative souls with synesthesia, that condition when one or more of the five senses crosses paths with awesome results. We're not told outright, but when she describes her perception of different days of the week as different colored, her unusual piquancy all through the series all makes sense. (She shares this attribute with The Story Girl, created by Lucy Maud Montgomery.)
Needless to say, my favorite chapters are the ones when they're all reunited, for Christmas and summer breaks from school.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Start with The Saturdays, then The Four-Story Mistake, followed by Then There Were Five.
(And for a treat when the Melendys grow up, click here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment