My aunt used to send us books frequently when I was growing up. They were always books that weren’t really popular here, but were nonetheless absolutely fabulous books. The Secret World of Polly Flint was one of those. I positively loved it. And then I packed it away. It wasn’t until this past Christmas, when going through a lot of my old stuff, trying to get rid of as much junk as I possibly could, that I came across it again. And I knew I needed to reread it.
The Secret World of Polly Flint is a an adorable story about a young girl. One day she sees an angel, and from that moment on her life changes. Her dad, a miner, soon afterwards gets into an accident that causes paralysis. After the accident, Polly’s family move to a small town where her aunt lives. Polly soon discovers that there is another town that used to exist where this one now does – only it had managed to slip the net of time. Every year between May Day and Midsummer’s Eve, the residents of the other town can travel back to the real world, but are invisible and mute to everybody. Everybody except Polly, that is. She can both see and hear these Time Gypsies.
When a handful of them get stuck in our world, and cannot get back into their own, they naturally blame Polly – she is, after all the only one who can actually see them. Of course, if she is the reason they are stuck in the real world, she doesn’t know why. But can she help them get back to their own world before they are stuck here for good?
Yeah, I loved this as much as I remember loving it. It was completely magical, and transported me to a world where cities can exist out of time. It reminded me of childhood, and innocence and the belief in magic. That’s what this book does – it makes you believe in those things again.
The heroine, Polly, is as imaginative as Anne (from L.M.M.’s Anne of Green Gables). Not quite as spunky, but she does have the same habit of naming places. While there isn’t huge character development in this book, the little way that we do see her grow is very charming. Plus, there is a little bit of romance between Polly and one of the Time Gypsies that is absolutely adorable. Oh, I do wish that had been developed a little bit more!
Helen Cresswell was an English author who wrote A LOT of children’s books (over 120 according to Wikipedia), but this is the only one I’ve read. Does anybody know if any of her books were published in North America, or were they all just published in Britain?
Bottom Line: This is an adorable book. I mentioned Anne of Green Gables, but it also has the feeling of L’Engle’s Time Quartet books too. If you’re a fan of those, you’d definitely enjoy The Secret World of Polly Flint
Just noticed your mention of this book, so just letting you know that it was republished by us (Five Leaves) in 2008, following commissioning a children’s play performed at Rufford Abbey, the setting for the book. It costs £4.99, and the cheapest way to get the book in the US is from http://www.bookdepository.co.uk as they do post free internationally.
ross bradshaw
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
I saw this movie when I was a teenager. I loved it. My mother had the movie. It ended up getting burned up in the house my sister lived in. I’ve been trying to find the movie ever since. How can I obtain my very own copy. I would love to purchase a copy as soon as possible.
Tonia Johnson
October 29th, 2009 at 12:14 am