Susan Scarlett Book Collection! ❤️

Happy Sunday Shelfie! 😍📚✨

Helllooo friends! I don't usually share Sunday Shelfies on my blog, but I am today! Yay! 🥳🎉

This photo only a shows a small portion of my bookshelves, but still…you can count that...right?

You might be able to catch a small glimpse of books by some of my favorite authors such as Rosamunde Pilcher, Ruby Ferguson, Margery Sharp, Louise Platt Hauck, and Maysie Greig on these shelves. (Also, a few by authors I'm excited about like Margaret Pedler and Anya Seton.)

I'm sure you already know that I'm a huge fan of Noel Streatfeild (check out my Noel Streatfeild Book Collection!), but I also ADORE her YA books written under the name Susan Scarlett 🥰 

I wanted to share my current book collection because I just added some gorgeous new vintage editions! Woo-hoo! (So much thanks and love to my parents, my sister Kim, and my in-laws for the birthday money! And, tons of love to Caro (@carosbookcase) for buying me Poppies in England and Ten Way Street! She is always incredibly generous and thoughtful! 🥰💕📚🎁)

 

[See my Susan Scarlett Instagram Post for better photos!]

 

Why Do I Love Susan Scarlett Books?

 

💖 Lively and fun to read

💖 Addictive 'gotta-get-to-the-end' stories

💖 Easy and enjoyable writing style

💖 At least one male and female character (not necessarily the main characters) to love

💖 Cozy details (especially about food and clothing)

💖 Light romances that don't leave you feeling over-emotional or sickly sweet

 

What I Find Frustrating about Susan Scarlett Books:

 

❊ Horribly annoying female characters who are lazy, self-centered and absolutely unlikable

❊ I find myself sometimes sighing (possibly loudly and deeply) when there is lack of communication between characters or if the ending feels like it was rushed and I have to go back and see if I'd missed something.

❊ Sometimes the characters' names get confusing because they're similar in some way and I have trouble keeping track of who's who. (Does this happen to you, too?) 

BOOK RATINGS:

The Man in the Dark 5🌟
Under the Rainbow 5🌟
Murder While You Work 4.75🌟
Sally-Ann 4.5🌟
Babbacombe’s 4.5🌟
Peter and Paul 4.5🌟
Summer Pudding 4.25🌟
Pirouette 4🌟
Clothes-Pegs 4🌟 

TBR:

Poppies Over England
Ten Way Street
Love in a Mist 

 

I adore my new vintage book collection but I love the covers on my Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow editions more! 😜 (FUN FACT: I just counted and I only have 36 more DSP FM books to read! I've read 67/103 so far!) 

Do you love vintage editions OR modern reprints? (Or both?) 

Which cover do you like best? Let me know in the comments! 🤔

Happy Sunday, Beautiful Friends! ☀️💛🤗💛☀️ 

 

Noel Streatfeild Book Collection! ☺️💝📚

Happy March, Friends! 

I hope you're not sick of seeing another book collection post - lol! I couldn't resist sharing the (current) Noel Streatfeild books in my little home library. (Pssst...if you want to see my Susan Scarlett book collection, CLICK HERE! I'm almost done reading all 12 Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow editions—woo!) 

There's something very special about Noel Streatfeild stories...they're heartfelt, family-rich, cozy, real, and full of authentic characters you feel like you know (or want to know). Sometimes I feel frustrated with the "baddies" (usually selfish, pompous, close-minded individuals), but things always seem to turn out alright—and that's why I love her books. 

I would love to say that I know a great deal about this lovely, spirited and incredibly talented author, but I only know the smallest amount (at the moment!) You should definitely check out her Wikipedia page to learn more about her fascinating life!

Today, Liz (@pony.books) and I are so excited to do a collab post on Instagram sharing all of our updated Noel Streatfeild treasures for Book Friday Friday!

I really loved my collab last year with Sue (@myownbookjourneys) last year, too! She has the BEST vintage editions—I'm still drooling over them in a serious way! 😍❤️📚

I also wanted to thank Beth of Small Home Comforts for inspiring me to keep reading more NS books this year! Her hashtag of #yearwithstreatfeild2026 is so fun and includes a wonderful variety of titles. I'm following along this year and I hope you will, too!

BOOK RATINGS:

(These are listed in the order that I read them. Only one book I've read as a child. The rest were read in my late 40s until now. Also, you can also find my full reviews of these books on Goodreads!) 

Ballet Shoes 5🌟 (child), 3.5🌟 (adult)
Saplings 3🌟
The Bell Family/Family Shoes 4🌟
A Vicarage Family 4.5🌟
Caldicott Place 3🌟
Apple Bough 4🌟
Noel Streatfeild's Christmas Stories 4🌟
The Growing Summer 3.5🌟
Thursday's Child 4🌟
New Town/New Shoes 4🌟
Noel Streatfeild's Holiday Stories 4🌟
Christmas with the Chrystals 3.5🌟
The House in Cornwall 4.5🌟
Skating Shoes 5🌟
Theatre Shoes 5🌟
Movie Shoes/The Painted Garden 3.75🌟 
The First Book of Ballet 4.75🌟
Dancing Shoes 4🌟 
Ballet Shoes for Anna 4.75🌟 

Aunt Clara 4.25🌟   

2026/2027 TBR: 

• Mothering Sunday
• Circus Shoes
• Tennis Shoes
• Party Shoes/Party Frock 
• The Children of Primrose Lane 
• The Gemma Series (two of the books gifted to me by Sue @myownbookjourneys!)
• By Special Request 
• The Years of Grace  
• Birthday Book

 

WISHLIST:

• Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Annual
• It Pays to Be Good
• The Winter is Past 
• Noel Streatfeild: A Biography 
• Judith
• Caroline England
• The Whicharts 
• I Ordered a Table for Six
• Tea by the Nursery Fire
• The Maitlands  
• Parson's Nine
• Grass in Piccadilly  

NOTE ON FIRST PHOTO IN POST: The photo in top left picture frame was printed out from the National Portrait Gallery website. (Photo by Bassano Ltd.) The photo in the lower right gold picture frame was printed out from Getty Images website. This photo features Noel Streatfeild as she autographs a copy of her book 'The Years of Grace' for actress Barbara Murray (1929 - 2014), circa 1950. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.)

HELPFUL LINKS: 

•  Royal Literary Fund 
•  Story Mole 
•  Streatfeild: The Story of a Life by Susan Peak 
•  Books for Keeps
•  Persephone Books
•  Encyclopedia.com
•  Dean Street Press (for Susan Scarlett)

 NOEL STREATFEILD MOVIES:

• Ballet Shoes (2007)
• Ballet Shoes (1975)
• Thursday's Child (1972)
• The Growing Summer (1968)
• Aunt Clara (1954) 

Wishing you the most wonderful weekend, sweet friends! Let me know your favorite book(s) by Noel Streatfeild in the comments below! 💕❄️🤗❄️💕

Peter and Paul by Susan Scarlett 👯‍♂️🏡❤️

Happy Furrowed Middlebrow Friday, Friends!

Reading Susan Scarlett books is definitely one of the joys of my reading life. The more titles I read, the more I'm addicted. Thank goodness that the awesomely amazing Dean Street Press republished all of Noel Streatfeild's books under this adorable pseudonym! Yay!

This week, I'm sharing another book rating and review—Peter and Paul! 

RATING: 4.5🌟 

For me, Peter and Paul is the Furrowed Middlebrow version of a Sweet Valley High book!

Peter and Paul reminded me so much of Jessica and Elizabeth from the Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal. I used to love reading this YA series when I was young and this Susan Scarlett book absolutely brought back the same fun "twin vibes" drama that I used to get from this series.

I really enjoyed:

• The alternated settings of the upscale fashion/clothing store (where the twins work) and the country vicarage (their home)
• The fascinating characters in each location: a moral-minded (and very behind-the-times) vicar, a loving (but frazzled) mother, a jealous (and deviously clever) store manager—plus, lots of employee gossip and unfulfilled Hollywood dreams balanced with the helpful, quiet and caring Paul (Pauline) and slightly clueless (but handsome) fashion designer, David Bliss.

If it wasn't for my frustration over the selfish behavior of Peter (Petronella), I would have given this novel another half star. But, this is a theme that frequently upsets me and slightly spoils the enjoyment of the story overall. I know that there must be some sort of conflict in a YA novel like this, but it's one that bothers me more than I like. So, even though it was a great story, it's not quite a 5 star read for me. 

But, I'm still very excited to read the rest of the Susan Scarlett books! In general, they are a such a treat to read and I'm always very grateful to Dean Street Press Ltd. for republishing all of these charming books by Susan Scarlett/Noel Streatfeild! 

Many thanks to my dear friend, Gina (@gina.stanyer.books on IG and YouTube), for buddy reading this book with me! 

Stay tuned for a full SUMMER READING BOOK LIST in my next post! I've been slowly creating a list of all of the books in my collection with "summer" in the title (or a summer theme) and I'm looking forward to sharing these books with you! 

Hope you're having a wonderful summer so far and please let me know what you've been reading in July and August 🤩💛  As always, lots of love and many hugs!! I'm so grateful for your support (both here and on Instagram!) 💕🌸🤗🌸💕

Summer Pudding by Susan Scarlett 🥰🏡📗💙

 Happy Furrowed Middlebrow Friday!! 🥳💜

And, yay, for another Susan Scarlett book republished by Dean Street Press! I’ve had so many hours of lovely coziness reading these books. Thank you!! (I've read 6 out of 12 so far!) 😍

A light and sparkling summer novel! Susan Scarlett's (aka Noel Streatfeild) books are such a treat. So far, they've all been wonderfully entertaining. 

When I read that a reviewer from the Daily Telegraph (8 February 1941) declared, ‘Miss Scarlett has a way with her; she makes us accept the most unlikely things’, I immediately agreed! That's one of the elements that I usually dislike in other books, but Susan Scarlett manages to pull it off brilliantly!

Rating: 4.25🌟 

I adore this description in Summer Pudding:

"The cottage was as charming inside as out. There were beautiful oak beams in all the rooms, and they showed well against white distempered walls. There were two good sitting-rooms, a stone-flagged kitchen, a small scullery, four bedrooms, and halfway up the queer-shaped oak staircase, the pride of the cottage, a bathroom."

What I Loved:

☀️ Hardworking, helpful, independent, considerate and kind Janet Brain
☀️ Mrs. Maggie Brain and her determination to keep going and not give up on life
☀️ Lovely, thoughtful Barbara and her crusty-but-likable father, The Colonel
☀️ The sweet cottage at Worsingford
☀️ Adorable little Iris (she was my fav character!)

What I Didn't Love (and frustrated me greatly):

❊ The horribly selfish and self-centered sister, Sheila
❊ A somewhat rushed ending where things were resolved in a positive way, but all of the messed up situations seemed to be brushed over and dismissed.
❊ The misunderstanding between Donald and Janet that could have been resolved with just a few words. 

I had mixed feelings about Gladys—I felt indignation for her possessiveness of Donald, unkindness to Iris and general bad behavior...but, I could also pity her for the position she was in and how much she loved and counted on Donald's return affection.

Overall, I had fun reading this Furrowed Middlebrow novel and I would read it again. The only reason why I didn't rate it higher was because of the way the ending was written and the detestable, immature Sheila. Ughhh!

Many thanks to my dear friend, Gina (@gina.stanyer.books on IG) for buddy reading this book with me for July!

Definitely a worthwhile read...especially for the summer months! Happy July, my lovely reading friends!! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕

NOTE: Tarot cards shown are from the Herbcrafter's Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert and Latisha Guthrie 😍

Children & Adult Books = Same Author ✍🏻📘💙

I absolutely loved Tea or Books? Podcast #118! 😍

It's such a fantastic and interesting idea—and one that I’ve thought about often. Rachel (Booksnob on Substack) and Simon (@simondavidthomas on Instagram and Stuck in a Book blog) did an AMAZING job discussing books by authors who have written books for both children and adults!

Although I planned to post this a long time ago, I'm finally getting around to sharing photos and this book list! 😂

 

MY FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK PAIRINGS (📓children and 📗adult):

[BONUS! Click on each name to see my book collection (or a post) by that author!]

RUBY FERGUSON
📓A Paintbox for Pauline
📗Apricot Sky

DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER
📓Understood Betsy
📗The Home-Maker

ELIZABETH GOUDGE
📓Linnets and Valerians
📗The Dean’s Watch 

FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT
📓The Secret Garden
📗The Making of a Marchioness (Persephone Books)

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
📓Marjorie’s Three Wishes
📗A Long Fatal Love Chase

NOEL STREATFEILD
📓A Vicarage Family (Puffin - Penguin Books)
📗The Man in the Dark (as Susan Scarlett) (Dean Street Press Ltd.)

E. NESBIT
📓The Railway Children (The Sisterhood edition by Penguin Books)
📗The Lark (Dean Street Press Ltd.)

PEARL S. BUCK
📓The Big Wave
📗The Three Daughters of Madam Liang

MARGERY SHARP
📓Miss Bianca
📗The Nutmeg Tree

MISS READ
📓The Little Red Bus
📗The World of Thrush Green (and the entire Thrush Green series)

PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY
📓Mystery of the Green Cat
📗Hunter’s Green

RUMER GODDEN
📓The Doll's House
📗China Court (Manderley Press)

A.A. MILNE
📓Winnie the Pooh
📗The Red House Mystery

ELIZABETH VON ARNIM
📓The April Baby’s Book of Tunes
📗The Solitary Summer

D.E. STEVENSON
📓Alister & Co/It’s Nice To Be Me (Anglophile Books)
📗The English Air

MARY STEWART
📓The Little Broomstick
📗Madam, Will You Talk?

I also know that Gladys Taber has a couple of children's books but, sadly, I don't own any of them at the moment. Maybe someday!! Many thanks to Sue (@myownbookjourneys on Instagram) for letting me know that Mabel Esther Allan also wrote books for adults, as well as children! I'll be purchasing the three books here on the Greyladies website 🥳💜

I would love to hear your favorite adult/children’s book pairings! Please let me know in the comments below 🤩

Happy Reading and many hugs!! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕

 

The Man in the Dark by Susan Scarlett 👩🏻👱🏻‍♀️💖👱🏻‍♂️🏡

This is my new favorite Susan Scarlett book! 😍 Although my top three Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow titles by SS so far have been Under the Rainbow, Sally-Ann and Babbacombe's, this lovely story slightly beats them all 😱

Rating: 5+🌟

I truly loved the main character, Marda Mayne. She is the type of young lady that would be the perfect best friend...at least to me. She is not only kind, thoughtful and loyal, but also is infused with courage, life, honesty and good sense.

Marda initially takes on the position of companion to Mr. James Longford's orphaned ward, Shirley, in order to help her family earn more money. But, after the just the first day, Marda has the feeling that Mr. Longford (who has been blind for 6 years due to a tragic car accident) needs her assistance and companionship much more than lively and determined American Shirley (who also longs for the attention of any male in the vicinity.)

My 3 Top Favorite Susan Scarlett Books!

I was addicted to this novel from the very first page. Everything about it is interesting, domestic and quietly entertaining with the perfect pacing. Susan Scarlett (aka my adored Noel Streatfeild) simply reminded me again how much I adore her writing.

If you love a vintage YA romance with a hint of a Cinderella-esque feel, supportive families, first loves, gossipy servants and an "evil" sister (instead of stepmother), you must read The Man in the Dark. Highly recommended!

Also, I love Caro's #fancyteapotfriday hashtag!!!

 
Many thanks to my friend Gina (@gina.stanyer.books on Instagram and YouTube) for agreeing to a buddy read of this book after I told her it was in my top two Susan Scarlett titles to read next! Also, to Michelle (@myeclecticshelf on Instagram) for recommending this book to me! 😍

Which Susan Scarlett book should I read next? Let me know in the comments below!

Have an awesome weekend, lovely friends! Much love! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕

 

My Manderley Press Collection! 🤩📚🌈✨

I’m finally sharing my small but lovely Manderley Press Book Collection!

After buying and reading this enchanting feature in 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 magazine about Rebeka’s home and publishing journey, I was in awe and very much inspired! (Such a gorgeous magazine, too.)

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MANDERLEY PRESS BOOKS:
🌟 Absolutely breathtaking cover art
🌟 Exquisitely constructed
🌟 Topics that are incredibly interesting and/or unique
🌟 Excellent and personal customer service
🌟 A joy to hold and collect!

One day, I hope to own ALL of these beautiful books!! For now, I’m super excited to read Tales from London Town!!

 The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff 5🌟

China Court by Rumer Godden 3.5🌟 

The House in Cornwall by Noel Streatfeild 4.5🌟

Much love to Rebeka at Manderley Press for sending adorable bookmarks, postcards, and notes to me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate her generosity and bookish friendship! ☺️💙📘

Do you have a favorite book from Manderley Press? (Mine, so far, is The Armourer's House.)

Happy Wednesday, awesome friends! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕

Love this magazine!

 

 

 

What a great pic of Rebeka!

She has such a beautiful home!!