Winter Holiday is the fourth novel in the
Swallows and Amazons series by
Arthur Ransome, and takes place, as I recall, six months after the events of
Swallowdale. The story initially focusses on Richard and Dorothea Callum,
alias Dick and Dot, or 'the Ds'. The Callums' parents are both archaeologists, a
situation which reminds me somewhat of
Agatha Christie and
Max Mallowan.
Appropriately enough to that comparison, Dick is a multitalented young
scientist, while Dot fancies herself as an historical novelist.
Young Dick and Dot are sent to stay for a winter break at Dixon's Farm, beside
the
Lake well known to followers of the series, while their parents are
working overseas. Before long it becomes apparent that we are outside a Swallows
and Amazons holiday, looking in. Dick and Dot use ingenious means to make
contact with their neighbours, and the former group of six swells to eight. But
not for long, since Nancy contracts
mumps and is
quarantined, leaving the
friends without their natural leader. Nancy does her best to direct events from
her sick-room, including one communication which may remind readers of Conan
Doyle's story '
The Dancing Men'.
In a bitter mid-winter, of course, the Lake is hard to navigate at best, and the
only movable boat in the story is a rowing boat. The South
Atlantic names
given by the children to the area in
Swallows and Amazons are replaced by
references to the history of
arctic exploration.
Captain Flint's
houseboat
is re-dubbed the
Fram after
Fridtjof Nansen's vessel, and Wild Cat
Island becomes
Spitsbergen. The fells behind Holly Howe and Dixon's become
High Greenland, and Dick distinguishes himself as an unlikely hero on a
Peggy-organised expedition there. As the lake progressively freezes, the
children start looking toward the top end of the lake, and the rumoured '
North
Pole' - allegedly a
folly or
summerhouse. Sailing sledges are constructed,
and plans put in motion. But as stormier weather sets in, there seems a risk
that the young explorers will be following not in the footsteps of Nansen or
Roald Amundsen, but those of
Shackleton or even
Captain
Scott.
This is one of my favourite of Ransome's novels. I love the wintry atmosphere
that the story so beautifully conveys, and Dick Callum was my role model for
many years. The ice-bound 'Fram' and the signals to '
Mars', Dorothea's
perpetual romancing and the mysterious Tall Dutchman all come together to build
a vivid, exciting and lovable story of childhood adventure.