The House in Cornwall

STOP PRESS! The House in Cornwall was chosen as Children’s Book of the Week by The Times (July 2024)

As featured on BBC Radio Cornwall


Manderley Press is delighted to announce the publication of a brand-new edition of Noel Streatfeild’s The House in Cornwall – a forgotten children’s classic, written in wartime and set in Cornwall by the sea.

To showcase this wonderful book, we commissioned the writer and acclaimed Guardian journalist Lucy Mangan to pen a new introduction – she is a longtime fan of Noel Streatfeild and has reexamined this book in light of the author’s other works. 

DANGER, SECRETS AND REVOLUTION

Written at the very start of the Second World War, this book tells the story of one summer holiday in the life of the four Chandler children, who have been shipped off to stay with their Uncle Murdoch in his grand seaside home in Cornwall - Tregon Hall. 

Initial excitement about their adventure quickly wears off as John, Sorrel, Wish and Edward arrive from Paddington by train, only to discover that their Uncle is particularly unfriendly, the servants are behaving strangely, and they have effectively become prisoners in their uncle's home... 

This is a great thriller for children aged eight and upwards - vintage in style yet east to read. Suspenseful and fast-paced, Noel Streatfeild once again conjures up the perfect summer read. 

“The House in Cornwall is great fun from beginning to end - if only all school holidays were this exciting."

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Noel Streatfeild was born in Sussex in 1895. Her father, a clergyman, was vicar of St Leonard's-on-Sea and then of Eastbourne during her childhood. She was one of five children and found vicarage life very restricting. At a young age she began to show a talent for acting and was sent to the Academy of Dramatic Art in London, after which she acted professionally for a number of years before turning to writing. She won the Carnegie Medal for her book Ballet Shoes and was awarded an OBE in 1983. Noel Streatfeild died in 1986