The Children's Book

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Olive Wellwood, a renowned writer, shares her life with her children, each receiving a unique private book bound in different colors. They inhabit a whimsical world in their sprawling home near Romney Marsh, intertwined with the lives of their affluent cousins, the children of a city stockbroker, and the curator's offspring from the new Victoria and Albert Museum. Each family harbors its own secrets. A young working-class boy from the potteries enters their lives, captivated by the Museum's wonders, while a German puppeteer brings unsettling tales during midsummer. Amidst this enchanting backdrop, political tensions arise, fueled by debates on class, free love, and the ideals of anarchists from Russia and Germany. The sons challenge their parents’ expectations, while the daughters aspire to independence, dreaming of careers as doctors or suffragists. This poignant saga unfolds against the sweeping currents of the era, spanning from the Kent marshes to Paris, Munich, and the Somme trenches. Born at the close of the Victorian age and growing up in the idyllic Edwardian summers, this generation remains blissfully unaware of the looming darkness. In their innocence, they face betrayal from the very adults who cherish them, making this narrative profoundly resonate as a children’s story.