The Borrowers

Arrietty wandered through the open door into the sitting -room. Ah, the fire had been lighted and the room looked bright and cosy. Homily was proud of her sitting-room: the walls had been papered with scraps of old letters out of old waste-paper baskets, and Homily had arranged the handwriting in vertical stripes, which ran from floor to ceiling. On the walls, repeated in various colours, hung several portraits of Queen Victoria as a girl; these were postage stamps, borrowed by Pod several years ago from the stamp-box on the desk in the drawing room. There was a lacquer trinket-box, padded inside and with the lid open, which they used as a settle; and that useful standby - a chest of drawers made of match-boxes.

The room, and its occupants, are part of the enchanting world that exists beneath the floorboards in the Big House, in Mary Norton's classic children's book, The Borrowers. OK, I know it's a children's book, but adults can still enjoy it and, since it was first published in 1952, I thought it would be just perfect for The 1952 Club. I was prompted to read it again because I couldn't find my little embroidery scissors, or my skein of green thread, and I found myself thinking 'the Borrowers have taken them'. For those who don't know, Pod, Homily and little Arrietty are Borrowers. Everything they have is 'borrowed' from the Big People (otherwise known as Human Beans) and put to ingenious use. All the small day to day items that disappear from your home - pins, safety pins, razor blades, scraps of food - turn up in their minuscule domain. 

The Borrowers, drawn by Diana Stanley, the 
original illustrator of the books.

They have a deep red blotting paper carpet, a table made from the base of a pill box, and a mustard pot which now does duty as a coal scuttle, filled with slack and candle drippings. Homily makes soup in a pewter thimble and uses pins and a reel of thread to knit jumpers for her family. Arrietty reads miniature Victorian books (as big as church Bibles to her) and keeps a diary in Bryce's Tom Thumb Diary and Proverb Book, which has a saying for every day of the year, and space for her to write. In her hands, the small pencil from a dance programme is as big as a rolling pin to us.  

Pod, Homily and Arrietty are the Clock family, because the entrance to their home lies behind the kitchen clock. Once upon a time there were dozens of Borrowers living in the Big House, including the  Overmantels, who lived in the Morning Room on a limited diet of breakfast food (what else would be served in the morning room!), and the Harpsichords (who changed their name from Linen-Press) and Rain-Pipes. In those days the house was full of people; now only Great-Aunt Sophy, who took to her bed 20 odd years ago, is left, and the army of servants dwindled to Driver the cook and Crampfurl the gardener, who care for the old lady and the building. It means there are slim pickings for the Borrowers, so gradually the families have moved elsewhere, and only Pod, Homily and Arrietty are left.

Homily hard at work while Arrietty writes in her diary. (illustration
by Diana Stanley)

Like all Borrowers, they believe the Big People are there for their benefit, to provide the necessities of life for them, but at same time they are frightened of the consequences of being seen. Poor Uncle Hendreary was forced to emigrate to a badger's sett when a cat was brought in after he was spotted by a maid on a mantlepiece and he sneezed when she dusted him!

So the little Clock family continue their uneventful, hidden lives - until the day a Boy comes to stay, sent home from India to recuperate after illness. The Boy sees Pod, and actually helps him 'borrow' a cup from the dolls' tea set. This is obviously a crisis, and a very shaken Pod considers moving home, but the family stay put, and Pod even teaches his daughter how to 'borrow'. But this leads to their downfall, because Arrietty makes friends with the Boy, who 'borrows' all sorts of wonderful things for them, and is eventually caught by the two servants (who have always believed he is sly and up to good). There are some heart-stopping moments when it seems the Borrowers' lives are threatened but, thankfully, they escape to the outside world, with a helping hand from the Boy who is being shipped back to India.

And if you want to know what happens to them in the great outdoors, the next book in the series, The Borrowers Afield, is even more magical. I'm aware there are people who think adults shouldn't read children's books (unless, of course, they are reading aloud to children), and I've probably made it sound very silly and whimsical, but it really is a lovely book, and I adore the concept of these little people living beneath our feet, and making good use of items we don't look after. 

The 1952 Club, runs throughout the week, and there are links to the many other books published or written in 1952 at https://www.stuckinabook.com/, andhttps://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress, the blogs run by Simon and Karen, who are hosting the event.