I was sure that I had read Susan Cooper’s books as a child, but I was equally sure that I didn’t really remember them. When I ordered a copy of ‘Under Sea, Under Stone’ from my library’s fiction reserve – a copy old enough that it could have been the copy I read back in the day – I began to understand why. In the case of this book it is for the very best of reasons: it is built on such classic lines, with elements familiar from many stories for children, that I found that I knew it without realising that I did, that it had almost become a part of my consciousness, something I always knew.
This is the story of three children – Simon, Jane and Barney – whose summer holiday to Cornwall turned into an extraordinary adventure.
It begins with their arrival in Cornwall, and it was clear from the start that Susan Cooper knew and understood Cornwall. She caught it perfectly, and that reassured me that I was in the safest of hands.
The children and their parents had been invited by their Great Uncle Merry – an architect and traveller, with a habit of disappearing for long periods of time – to stay with them in the house he has rented for the summer, in a Cornish seaside village.
What starts as a classic summer holiday changes on a rainy day. The children notice that there seems to be space unaccounted for between two rooms, and when they move the furniture they find a door. A door that leads into a dusty, disused storeroom where, among the debris, they find an old manuscript.
They realise that it is a map. A treasure map, maybe?
They realise that there are people, ruthless people, trying to get their hands on that map. And so it must lead to something extraordinary?
The story of the hunt for the treasure plays out beautifully, with just the right amount of twists and turns, and Simon, Jane and Barney were utterly believable and wonderfully engaging. It was a little predictable maybe, that Simon was sensible and took charge, that Jane was thoughtful and practical, that Barney was bright and curious, but it didn’t matter because everything they spoke, they behaved like real children.
They’re scared of what might happen, but they aren’t prepared to give up, and the dangers they face are greater than they know …..
I cared about them, I worried about them, and I was anxious to know what would happen. There were moments when I saw what was going to happen, when I wanted to warn them, but of course I couldn’t. I could only keep turning the pages, and keep hoping for the best.
There’s a hint of magic, a hint of something fantastical, but no more than a hint. it’s enough though to make it clear that this story is a beginning, not an end.
I had one or two niggles: some of the characters were rather predictable, some things fell into place a little too easily, and I couldn’t believe that the children’s parents didn’t notice that something was going on.
But the good things more than outweighed them. The writing and the storytelling was lovely. The evocation of Cornwall was lovely, and I was so very taken with the way Susan Cooper wove local myths and legends into her story, and with the way the she used nature and the character of the Cornish coast.
‘Over Sea, Under Stone’ is one of those timeless stories for children that also works very well for grown-ups. And now that I have read it again I am going to have to go back to the library catalogue to look for the rest of the series …..
Fleur in her World 
I loved this book when I read it (and a couple sequels) to my children about 10 years ago. I think I might have to read it again soon.
It definitely stands up well to re-reading – and because I live in Cornwall I’m very picky about books set here. So many authors get it wrong, but Susan Cooper gets it exactly right.
Well, I have never read anything by Susan Cooper, but I did see her at the Bodleian the other day!
Well spotted! And do keep this in mind if you need a book for 1965 for your second century,
I started reading the series with The Dark is Rising, and I didn’t discover this book til some time after, when I’d already read Greenwitch. This reminds me that The Dark is Rising is a perfect book for Christmas reading.
I’m tempted to place an order, but the number of books I have line up to read over Christmas is ridiculous already.
I never read these, and have been meaning to for ages. An omnibus edition of the whole set has sat in my bedside bookcase waiting for some time … Definitely one for my reading from my TBR challenge after Christmas.
I read the whole series many, many moons ago and loved it. I still have the battered old volumes I read then and I feel maybe this would be a good time to dig them out as I did love them…
I was sure I had an omnibus edition, but I can’t find it. but do dig out yours – I an quite sure it would stand up to re-reading.
I read this series to my son, and it is one of my fondest memories.
I can understand that. The story is timeless, it’s beautifully written and it speaks to children and grown-ups.
‘The Dark is Rising’ Quintet, of which this is the first, has been on my shelves since it was first available. (I read each book as it came out) and I think it’s one of the great works of Children’s Literature. In fact I was only thinking about it this morning because the Christmas scenes in the second book are some of the best that I know. In fact I think I’m going to have to fetch it down off the shelf and read it all again – except for the bit in ‘The Grey King’ on Cader Idris, which I can’t read because it scares me too much!
Maybe I should all the second book to the Christmas stack. I read library copies as a child, so the details have slipped away, but it’s going to be lovely rediscovering them.
It is timeless, I loved the whole series.
Yes, they are timeless and the Cornwall in the books is definitely the same Cornwall I grew up in.
I have an omnibus edition of all ‘The Dark is Rising’ books, they were a 9th birthday present and were read over and over. I think ‘Greenwitch’ is the other one specifically set in Cornwall – I want to go and read these again now too.
I’ve just found my own omnibus – more recently acquired because I read library copies as a child – and i suspect i will be reading more very soon. They really do stand the test of time.