MEA The Amber House by Mabel Esther Allan

On leaving her commercial college seventeen-year-old Helen Brierley finally accepts a job as secretary to an unknown great-aunt, Mrs Rosssett Somerton, who lives at The Amber House, Rye. Helen sets off with mixed feelings; she hates leaving home, but looks forward to her new responsibilities; on the other hand all she has heard of the fierce old lady of The Amber House is far from reassuring.

   In the train she meets Peter Glynde, a young medical student, who remains her friend in spite of  many complications.

   The Amber House casts its spell over her, and she loves it, but her job of assisting her great-aunt to write its history is far from easy.

   Then, too, there is Derry Brown, an oddly attractive child who looks good, but is up to all kinds of mischief when away from The Amber House. Derry—who is staying there while her father is abroad—is obsessed with the idea of discovering the lost Bronze Age amber cub, and the story moves swiftly to an exciting climax.

   Mabel Esther Allan knew and loved Sussex, and the beautiful old town of Rye is a fine background for Helen’s first job, her outings with Peter, and all that happens to her inside the ancient walls of The Amber House.

   We have two introductions—Samantha Little has written our main one about Rye and Jenny Swanson has written about reading The Amber House in French (before reading it in English).

The Amber House was published on 21 November 2024.