Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Tom's Midnight Gardenwas her second novel the first, Minnow on the Say, was written whilst she was in bed, recovering from tuberculosis, and reminiscing about a kayak trip she had taken several years before. Cambridge itself becomes Castleford in the book.

She based the Midnight Garden itself on Mill House, in Great Shelford, England, where she herself grew up, attending the prestigious Perse School for Girls in nearby Cambridge, and becoming, as an adult and a published author, a sort of unconventional literary mascot for subsequent generations of imaginative little girls at the school. Philippa Pearce, one of England's most respected children's authors, returned many times to the themes of ghosts, and wrinkles in time, in her writing. Each night at the thirteenth strike of the clock, Tom is able to slip back in time to the Victorian era where he meets a young girl about his age with whom he makes friends. Philippa Pearce's classic children's fantasy novel, published in 1958, tells the story of Tom, a contemporaneous young boy living with his aunt and uncle in a converted Victorian country house whilst his brother gets over the measles. Usually, nothing good can come of a family heirloom grandfather clock striking thirteen Tom Long, though, finds that there is a whole new world that opens up for him when he hears the thirteenth chime. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

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Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce