Product Description

Charlotte goes off to boarding school and suffers from all the confusion and shyness of a new girl. At first she thinks this is why she has difficulty in remembering names and faces. But then she realizes that something odd has happened: she's slipped back to 1919 and become a girl called Clare.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246226 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

A review of the book "Charlotte Sometimes"
This is a superbly written children's book from the late 1960s and republished in the 1990s. There is plenty of mystery and you never quite work out why Charlotte is mysteriously transposed in time back to the first world war until the last few pages. I think it's one for slightly older children, perhaps around 10-13, as there are many elements in it around the history of the 1914-18 war which the imaginative teacher could include in class lessons.

It's a great read and I found it difficult to put down, coming back to it fresh after last reading it in my own childhood.

a book you will never forget
I read this as a child and now have re-read it as an adult. It was fascinating both times. I think that it gives you a real feeling of what it would be like to live just after the First World War, and the descriptions of the mutilated soldiers coming off the train was memorable. I think this is the sort of book that will open a person up to enjoying the literature of the era, at a later time in their lives, particularly War Poetry. One of the best things about the book is the way the author gets you to know the character of Clare, despite the fact that the reader never meets her directly. It makes it all the more difficult to accept what happened to her, (I won't spoil it for the reader.) Its a great book, and should be more famous than it is.

In response to "Great book - but could someone help ..." MAY HAVE SPOILERS
No, it's not your imagination. In the pre-1985 book at the end, Charlotte receives a package from adult-Emily which contains a letter from Emily and the toys they had played with, which Miss Agnes had given them as children over forty years ago. This last part is NOT in the 1985 revised edition for unknown reasons. I think that's too bad as it's rather wonderful. I have no idea why it was edited; perhaps some research into Penelope Farmer (who still writes and has a blog) would answer the question!

Alley