Matty, even in her sixties, is game for any adventure. She has found in the second-hand clothes business a life of colour and excitement, and when Matthew Dearingroyde comes searching for his long-lost cousin to restore her to the bosom of her family, she is quite willing to bring her buccaneering spirit to the task of being a "poor relation", shedding the tawdry finery she loves in favour of the subdued and genteel garments of Miss Matilda Dearingroyde. In this warm and delightful novel Richmal Crompton tells the story of Matty's impact on the different Dearingroyde homes at which she stays; of how she instinctively guesses at the drama which lies beneath the surface in each household; of how she shamelessly interferes and how, in the end, she is gloriously triumphant. Matty is a magnificent character.
Author
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was initially trained as a schoolmistress but later became a popular English writer, best known for her Just William series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. Crompton's fiction centres around family and social life, dwelling on the constraints that they place on individuals while also nurturing them. This is best seen in her depiction of children as puzzled onlookers of society's ways. Nevertheless, the children, particularly William and his Outlaws, almost always emerge triumphant.
