On the Run (novel)

On the Run (also Three on the Run) is a 1964 children's novel by British author, Nina Bawden. It was also published as Three on the Run in the United States.[1] It is an independent sequel to The House of Secrets.[2]

On the Run
Cover for US edition
AuthorNina Bawden
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's novel
PublisherVictor Gollancz
Publication date
1964
Media typePrint (Hardback; Paperback)
Pages207 pp
Preceded byThe House of Secrets 

Plot

When Ben's cousins, whom he lives with, are unwell, he is forced to spend the summer with his father and stepmother-to-be. They live in London and have little time to spend with Ben. So Ben decides to explore the gardens of the terrace houses in his street. He walks along the walls connecting all the houses until he comes to one covered in jagged glass. Ben then falls into the garden and meets Thomas, a young boy from Tiga, who is being kept in London, while his father, Chief Okapi, is exiled there. When Ben discovers a plot to kidnap Thomas, he, Thomas and Lil (a friend of Thomas) decide to run away.

Bawden's comments on the book

Bawden said that the novel is set in London and in Herne Bay,[3] ‘a seaside town on the coast of Kent’, where Bawden's parents lived.[4] Nina Bawden remarked she intended "to write about children actually escaping — even though temporarily – from the world of grownups".[2]

Reviews

“Children's Literature Review” states that the book sometimes suffers “slightly through being too full of incident” [5]

Books
  • On the Run, Faber and Faber, 2009, ISBN 978-0-571-24647-2
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References
  1. Amazon.com
  2. Saturday review, book 48, 1965, p. 130 Online
  3. Autobiography retrieved 21/1/17
  4. Cornelia Jones, Olivia R. Way: British children's authors: interviews at home, American Library Association, 1976, ISBN 0-8389-0224-3, p. 41 - p. 54
  5. Carolyn Riley, Gerald J. Senick, Anne Block: Children's Literature Review: Excerpts from Reviews, Criticism, & Commentary on Books for Children & Young People: 002, Gale Research., 1976, p. 9-14


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