It speaks of adventure

I’ve been thinking about the children’s author Edith Nesbit, known as E. Nesbit, who wrote the most wonderful stories which I enjoyed from my earliest memories. I must have heard them on Children’s Hour before I read them, because looking at them now, they are quite dense and  even though I was a good reader, the language is quite challenging! However, I must have read them dozens of times.

Here’s a list of the ones I remember most:

•  The Story of the Treasure Seekers
•  The Wouldbegoods
•  New Treasure Seekers
• Five Children and It
• The Phoenix and the Carpet
• The Story of the Amulet
• The Railway Children
• The Enchanted Castle

I’ve written about Edith Nesbit before – https://loiselsden.com/2021/03/24/old-books-new-book/

All this is leading into one particular of her books, The Story of the Amulet’. I had never come across an amulet when I first read or heard the story, and the word itself fascinated me, though to be honest, I don’t think I first grasped what it was. It was described as a charm in the book, and I understood that to be a lucky thing, but the illustration was somewhat mystifying.

Since then I must have read countless books and seen many films featuring amulets, and read the word in dozens of contexts, and no doubt admired many more in museums. Beautiful, and mysterious I’ve always thought.

It was Christmas morning and I unwrapped a present from my Coventry friend – and it was the most lovely glass pendant, and I immediately thought ‘amulet! She’s given me an amulet!’ It’s a swirl of colours like a sunset whirlpool, beautiful and cheerful and mysterious! I love it – it speaks of adventure, and the unexpected, the interesting,  the intriguing and above all the creative! Thank you!! Thank you for my amulet!