''The Young Visiters'' or ''Mister Salteena's Plan'' is a 1919 novel by English writer
Daisy Ashford
Margaret Mary Julia Devlin (née Ashford; 3 April 1881 – 15 January 1972), known as Daisy Ashford, was an English writer who is most famous for writing '' The Young Visiters'', a novella concerning the upper class society of late 19th century ...
(1881–1972). She wrote it when she was nine years old and part of its appeal lies in its juvenile innocence, and its unconventional
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
and spelling. It was reprinted 18 times in its first year alone.
Plot
Alfred Salteena, an "elderly man of 42", has invited 17-year-old Ethel Monticue to stay with him. They receive an invitation to visit Alfred's friend, Bernard Clark, which they readily accept. Bernard is "inclined to be rich". Shortly after their arrival, Ethel and Bernard become attracted to each other.
Alfred seeks Bernard's advice on how to become a
gentleman. Bernard is doubtful that this can be managed, but writes an introduction to his friend the Earl of Clincham. Alfred excitedly rushes off to London to visit the Earl, leaving Ethel alone and unchaperoned with Bernard.
Lord Clincham lives, as many other aristocrats do, in "compartements" at the
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. He agrees to assist Alfred and instals him in a subterranean "compartement", along with other "apprentice gentlemen". He invites Alfred to accompany him to a reception hosted by the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(the future
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
), introducing Salteena as Lord Hyssops. The Prince is impressed, and promises to assist the trembling and overjoyed Salteena.
Bernard and Ethel fall in love and marry. Devastated by these events, Salteena marries a maid-in-waiting at Buckingham Palace. Lord Clincham also marries, but not very happily.
Composition and publication
Ashford wrote the novel in an exercise book at the age of nine in 1890. Full of spelling mistakes, each chapter was written as a single paragraph. Many years later, in 1917 and aged 36, Ashford rediscovered her manuscript languishing in a drawer, and lent it to Margaret Mackenzie, a friend who was recovering from influenza. It passed through several other hands before it reached
Frank Swinnerton
Frank Arthur Swinnerton (12 August 1884 – 6 November 1982) was an English novelist, critic, biographer and essayist.
He was the author of more than 50 books, and as a publisher's editor helped other writers including Aldous Huxley and Lytton S ...
, a novelist who was also a reader for the publishers
Chatto and Windus. Largely due to Swinnerton's enthusiasm for this piece of
juvenilia, the book was published almost exactly as it had been written.
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
, the creator of
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
, agreed to write a preface.
Reception
The book was so successful that it was reprinted 18 times in its first year alone. After its publication rumours soon started that the book was in fact an elaborate literary hoax and that it had been written by J. M. Barrie himself. These rumours persisted for years.
Adaptations
A stage play of ''The Young Visiters'' by Mrs George Norman and Margaret Mackenzie was first performed in London in 1920 and transferred shortly afterwards to New York. The New York production, at the Thirty-Ninth Street Theatre, received generally good reviews. One reviewer stated that
''The Young Visiters'' ... has been turned into a play by the simple use of a pair of shears and a pot of paste. Probably no novel was ever so reverently dramatized since the world began.
A two-act musical comedy version, ''Quite A Young Girl'' by
Alicen White,
Martha D Coe, and Peter Colonna was written in 1960. Whilst it received the author’s blessing, they ultimately failed to find a producer.
A musical based on the book, by Michael Ashton and Ian Kellam, was produced in 1968;
a feature-length film was made in 1984 starring
Tracey Ullman
Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...
and
John Standing
Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements.
Early life
Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherin ...
; and a television film version was made by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
as Lord Bernard Clark. The screenplay was written by
.
The original manuscript of ''The Young Visiters'' is held in the Berg Collection of
.
as "a classic in a class with ''The Young Visiters''", meaning that Fitzgerald's book had a rather naive style.
. Scanned original edition books.
. Plain text and HTML formats.