Troublesome Comforts: A Story for Children

A late Victorian portrait of childhood at its most gloriously chaotic. The Beauchamp family descends upon the seaside for their holiday, and from the moment they board the train, all bets are off. Susie, the eldest, leads her fellow conspirators, Dick, Tommy, baby Alick, and the rest, through a summer of tides to catch, cliffs to explore, and parental patience to test. Their mother Mrs. Beauchamp manages the mayhem with weary devotion, the way only a mother of five can. What unfolds is the small, perfect drama of siblings in their natural habitat: schem ing, squabbling, covering for each other, and getting into the sort of trouble that only happens when there are enough children for things to properly go wrong. Glasgow writes with an eye for the absurd and a heart that understands how exhausting, joyful, and fleeting childhood really is.