 1865 edition | |
| Author | Catherine Sinclair |
|---|---|
| Published | 1839 |
| Publisher | William Whyte & Co. |
| Publication place | Scotland |
Holiday House: A Book for the Young is a novel by Catherine Sinclair. It was first published in Edinburgh by William Whyte & Co. in 1839. [1]
Holiday House is set in Edinburgh at some point before 1815. [2] It tells the story of siblings Laura, Harry, and Frank Graham, who live with their uncle and grandmother. [3] Their mother is dead and their father is out of the country. [3]
The narrative is constructed around two sets of episodes. [4] The first focusses on Laura and Harry's misbehaviour; the second emphasises their growing maturity. [5] In the second portion of the narrative, Frank joins the navy, falls ill, and dies. [6] Frank's death ends Laura and Harry's childish mischief and turns them toward a Christian ethic. [7]
In her preface to the novel, Sinclair rejects the didacticism that had dominated children's literature in English since the late 18th century. [1] She writes that Holiday House aims to show characters who exemplify "that species of noisy, frolicsome, mischievous children, now almost extinct". [8] Critics have viewed Holiday House as a transitional work between this earlier period and later children's fiction by authors including Lewis Carroll, [9] and have explored its gendered portrayal of childhood as preparation for imperial careers. [10]
