John and Mary are the subjects of a series of children's books written by Grace James. The series started in the 1930s and finishes in the 1960s. They form part of the 'realistic adventure' tradition in children's literature, following on from similar works by E. Nesbit and Arthur Ransome.
Plot
The stories are set mainly in the Berkshire countryside, at the farmhouse home of the children's grandmother, a Scottish-born woman named Mrs Hawthorne. The farm is called Smockfarthing, and is near to an imaginary village called Smockfarthing Wick, which in turn is close to a town called Riverton. Although these names are invented, they are based on real places - Smockfarthing is actually a house called , and Riverton is Abingdon. The house is mainly inhabited by John, Mary and their aunt 'Push', as well as their grandmother, and they are all real people - Push is Grace James herself, 'Mrs Hawthorne' is her mother, and John and Mary are her nephew and niece. John and Mary's parents live in Rome, as their father is Italian and works there apparently as a diplomat - he is married to John and Mary's mother, Push's sister. John and Mary are educated at home by a governess called Miss Rose Brown, although they spend about half their time in Rome, and indeed are bilingual in English and Italian. Smockfarthing carries a full complement of servants, including Mrs. Dyer the cook, Ellen the parlourmaid, Lizzie the maid, and Edie Kittiwake, the nurse. Edie's father Kittiwake looks after the farm with his son Reggie, and they and Mrs. Kittiwake live in a house on the farm called the Round House. Other characters, such as schoolmasters, vicars, postmistresses and so on, crop up in the books from time to time as well. Although the series covers about thirty years, John and Mary are never allowed to grow up and nothing ever changes very much in their surroundings. This leads to situations such as the war and rationing being discussed during the 1940s, and television and washing machines being mentioned in the 1960s. The John and Mary stories involve the children doing fairly normal and day-to-day things within their environment, although James makes sure that they meet unusual people and have adventures along the way. The stories are written in a realistic way and the adventures are the kind of adventures that any children could have under the same circumstances. John and Mary's Aunt is not about John and Mary at all, but is about James herself and her upbringing as a child in Japan. We learn that she was born in Tokyo and lived there until she was about twelve, although no exact dates are given. She does mention that her father was part of a naval mission and was there as an instructor - this seems to fit in with the time of the 'Douglas Mission' to Japan, which commenced in 1873. The books were published by and were illustrated by Mary Gardiner.
"For neatness, sureness of touch, economy of effort, John and Mary leave the rest standing. They always do... they are as good at home as abroad." New Statesman
"If I were around eight years old I could read about John and Mary, Granny and Miss Rose Brown, and Push, quite indefinitely... For sheer, simple straight-forward fun and credibility, with just a dash of moralising worked in subtly, the John and Mary series would take a lot of beating." Time and Tide
