The common denominator of [Streatfeild's books for children] and the quality that lifts even the lesser ones out of the realm of the ordinary is the sense of family. And it is not merely a sense of family unity, though that is strong, but of people drawing strengths and weaknesses and individuality from different members of the family, from certain positions in the family, and from traditions, customs, activities, joys, and sorrows of the family group. [A Vicarage Family] is like an original painting: it has richness that even the most delightful copy cannot give. The book's substance is the fountainhead of all Miss Streatfeild's children's books.

Told as a story, this is nevertheless autobiography, as unself-conscious as any I have ever read. The Strangeways are the Streatfeilds, and Victoria, the middle girl, is Noel…. There is a definite plot; for Victoria, certain that she is the homely...