Dan Brown trained Araminty to swim the Channel. After completing the book, we watched the movie starring Elizabeth Taylor. After that Mi (her best friend) tells her that she should enter the Grand National. This may be one of the strangest books ever written. -- Time "Put on your not-to-be-missed list." Production was delayed, however, so Tierney returned to Broadway. Sarah and Velvet purchase the descendant of The Pie after Sarah earns the money by working for Velvet's boyfriend John. That Velvet is the only homely child in the household, again, Bagnold creates triumph out of the female spirit that doesn't depend on beauty. Velvet goes on the win the race but ends up getting disqualified because she gets falls of Pie due to exhaustion and when they check her out to make sure she's ok they figure out she's a girl. Even though it was about a horse, I always felt there was something not quite right in the film. The novel focuses on the ability of ordinary people, particularly women, to accomplish great things. [4], National Velvet was presented on Hallmark Playhouse on the CBS radio network on 6 October 1949. I dislike the movie with Elizabeth Taylor very much, mainly because MGM didn't take the trouble to find a piebald jumper, or even a white jumper that black patches could be applied to with dye, but instead added to the story to explain why Velvet called him "The Pie". National Velvet is about 14 year old Velvet Brown she has always wanted horses. It was written in 1935, so of course it's aged. National Velvet is a story that every horse mad girl would devour within an instant and it was hence a novel that i fell in love with as a child/ teenager for its horse & horse racing content. And it’s not like we don’t enjoy older books because we loved The Secret Garden, The Little House books and Anne of Green Gables. Nothin's going to break up this home not even if you lose yer head, but it'll make it easier if you keep it. Here is my synopsis of National Velvet. Her mother is a wise, taciturn woman who was once famous for swimming the English Channel; her father is a butcher. Now that I'm old(er) I'm stunned by just what a truly fantastic writer Enid Bagnold is. After reading it yesterday, I feel fortunate that I missed it in my younger days. ENID BAGNOLD'S NATIONAL VELVET Wyndham, Lee, Adapted and Abriged By Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York (1961) Is it a slice-of-life book? Ship This Item — Temporarily Out of Stock Online. The youngest daughter, Velvet (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse for the Grand National - England's greatest racing event. When Mi is running and crying and pushing through the crowds, unable to even see Velvet in the race, it's heart pounding. After completing the book, we watched the movie starring Elizabeth Taylor. Velvet strongly objects to the publicity, saying The Piebald is a creature of glory who should not be cheapened in tabloid trash and newsreels. The heroine's grit and determination, backed by the support of her eccentric and loving family, offer an inspiring example of the struggles and rewards of … Mi remarks that "a horse like that'd win the National". Emotive and captivating this book really does tug on the heartstrings and leave you breathless, whilst following a double story of the young girl and also her horse. Bagnold’s best-known work remains the novel National Velvet. National Velvet (TV Series 1960– ) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. I started this book with my 10 year old daughter as a read aloud as I loved the movie from my childhood. Written by A.L.Beneteau Plot Summary | … I don't see where you're getting "misogyny." — The New York Times "Humorous, charming, National Velvet is a little masterpiece." I devoured horse books as a child, but somehow never read this one. I dislike the movie with Elizabeth Taylor very much, mainly because MGM didn't take the trouble to find a piebald jumper, or even a white jumper that black patches could be applied to with dye, but instead added to the story to explain why Velvet called him "The Pie". Though distracted by him, she wins the event. C $11.41. There's nowhere I know that would give kids candy bars on credit with the kids carefully tallying up what they owe for when they have the money. A fourteen-year-old English girl wins a horse in a raffle, trains it, and rides it in the Grand National … Velvet is a teenager in the late 1920s, living in a small English coastal village in Sussex, dreaming of one day owning many horses. It's a book about family and relationships and knowing your own self and others. I read this aloud to a ten year old daughter whose mild interest in horses had been quenched by a broken arm in the practice ring, but we both still loved the story. See search results for this author. It's marketed as a children's book, but when I read it as a pre-teen there's no way I got all the subtleties that the author works into her themes. Add to Favorites National Velvet TabithasBookshop. FreeBookNotes found 4 sites with book summaries or analysis of National Velvet. I know my children listened to the book because they pointed out all the discrepancies. This immediately brought National Velvet to mind, and I wanted to ask if she had read this most excellent book, but the service began and I did not get to. British writer of novels and plays, best known for, “I don't like people," said Velvet. Goodreads is not an online reading site. I adored the dialogue. She insists that she did not win the race, the horse did, and she simply wanted to see him go down in history. Richly atmospheric of rural English life between the World Wars, National Velvet has enchanted generations of readers since its 1935 debut. Learn about Author Central. I started this book with my 10 year old daughter as a read aloud as I loved the movie from my childhood. Then Velvet started riding him. Two of her sister. To cast the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, who could no more pass for a boy than a Kardashian, to play the frankly unattractive Velvet was a sell out and a slap in the face to any plain, flat chested girl with a dream who might have been inspired by the book. Let me be the best rider in England!" When The Piebald, a … The novel was made into a more or less faithful, highly successful film version in 1944, starring twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, with Donald Crisp, Anne Revere and a young Angela Lansbury. 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