THE NEW MOON WITH THE OLD

I started reading The New Moon With the Old by Dodie Smith, who is best known as the author of 101 Dalmatians. I love her book I Capture the Castle, which you should read. You should also see the movie that came out recently. (Actually, I recommend that you follow my preferred plan of action in these matters and watch the movie first, then read the book, then see the movie again. That way, you can accept the movie on its own terms instead of obsessing about what was changed or left out, and then reading the book just amplifies and expands on the movie—because of course the book is always better—and then you can go back to the movie and look at it with your increased knowledge and calmly examine the filmmakers’ choices in adapting the book.) So I started tracking down other books by her, wondering what they would be like. The New Moon With the Old is out of print; I got it at the library. It’s newer than ICC (from the 1960s, I think), but the plot is similar: A family of four quirky, precocious teenage/young-adult siblings has to make their way in the world after their father flees the country to escape prosecution for fraud. The book is sort of charming, sort of odd. I like how unconventional the characters are: so far the 14-year-old sister has run off to London to be an actress, passing as a 21-year-old, and gotten engaged to a 50ish nobleman and then broken it off, and the younger brother has gone to be a companion to an elderly lady (traditionally a girl's job) because he wants to get inspiration for the Edwardian-era novel he's writing. It isn’t as compelling yet as ICC, but I’m still hooked.