Rediscover the brilliance of Tortoise by Candlelight in the Mermaid Collection - classic books by popular pioneering female authors republished to delight new generations of readers. Pre-order this gorgeous edition now.

Set just outside London in the early 1960s, this is a charming novel about a family living on the edge of society in their dilapidated Victorian house following the departure of their mother - and the upheaval when a new couple moves in next door . . .

With a foreword by Eve Chase

‘Birds don’t love. They only feed their babies because they gape . . .’

Fourteen-year-old Emmie Bean loves her family. But she worries about them too. Her mother is gone (no one will say where). Her father drinks instead of writing. Her younger brother Oliver has started stealing. And older sister Alice disappears on illicit dates.

Then there is their isolated house’s menagerie of birds and animals, including Mo the squirrel and Murgatroyd the tortoise, all of which require Emmie’s love and attention.

When the Sargents, a childless couple, move in next door, Emmie and the Beans find themselves drawn to this welcoming but aimless husband and wife.

Emmie fears the darkness and chaos surrounding them all. But perhaps love burns bright . . .

Praise for Nina Bawden:

‘An exceptional picture of disorganised family life’ Observer

‘Bawden is noted too for the sharp sense of humour that edges her tales of middle-class manners and mores towards satire, particularly when it all goes wrong’ Guardian

It is a small book, acute, discreet and tender; it is also written with warm care and considerable taste – all qualities too easily overlooked * Kirkus Reviews *
An exceptional picture of disorganised family life * Observer *
Bawden is noted too for the sharp sense of humour that edges her tales of middle-class manners and mores towards satire, particularly when it all goes wrong * Guardian *

Nina Bawden was born in Ilford in 1925. During World War II she was evacuated to Wales, an experience which informed her 1973 children’s classic, Carrie’s War. She studied PPE at Somerville College, Oxford and began writing during her first marriage. She went on to write for both children and adults, producing nearly fifty books, including an autobiography and a memoir about her experiences during and following the Potters Bar rail crash of May 2002, in which her husband, Austen Kark, was killed and she herself was seriously injured – but unbowed. Several of her children’s novels have become modern classics, and many of her works have been translated into numerous languages. By the time of her death in 2012, Bawden was widely regarded as one of Britain’s most distinguished and best-loved novelists, with the majority of her books remaining in print.