Oswald Bastable and Others

In Short

This collection brings together several of the author’s most charming narratives, centering on the imaginative lives of children who transform their ordinary surroundings—attics, cupboards, and gardens—into settings for grand adventures. Whether they are hunting for lost wills, performing in homemade bazaars, or stumbling upon genuine magic, these characters approach life with a blend of practical pragmatism and wild, uninhibited fantasy. The writing has endured for generations because it captures the singular intensity of childhood, where a game of pretend is as serious and as urgent as a real-world crisis.

The Story

The collection opens with the Bastable children, led by the self-appointed "head of the house," Oswald, as they organize a bazaar in their greenhouse. They are resourceful, practical youngsters who find joy in turning moth-eaten treasures and failed mechanical experiments into a grand social event. This domestic competence is a hallmark of the group, yet they are equally prone to sudden, sweeping flights of fancy. In "The Runaways" and other episodes, the narrative swings between the grounded details of household chores or larder feasts and the sudden intrusions of the extraordinary.

The scope of the book expands to include other protagonists, such as Billy and the Princess, each of whom encounters moments where the ordinary laws of their world briefly suspend. In "The Charmed Life," a young princess finds her royal existence tethered to the humdrum reality of a lift-man, a connection that reveals the surprising intersection of duty and romance. These stories often feature a "disenchanteried" or neglected space—a house or a room—where the children’s active imaginations act as a catalyst for hidden truths to emerge. In "Molly, the Measles, and the Missing Will," the search for a family document is treated with the gravity of a detective thriller, reflecting how children often perceive the adult world as a series of mysteries waiting to be solved.

As the collection moves toward its conclusion, the tone deepens into the realm of classic fairy tales, though always with a wry, modern edge. In "The White Horse" and "Muscadel," the characters grapple with the desire for transformation. Young heroes set out to "seek their fortunes" on foot, mirroring the classic tropes of folklore, while princesses hidden behind crochet antimacassars or trapped in dusty, locked rooms must navigate revolutions and hidden legacies.

Ultimately, these tales resolve not through the accumulation of magic, but through the characters’ choices to embrace their own realities. Whether it is a princess and a lift-man finding a way to declare their love or a young hero deciding to discard a magic ring because he no longer wishes to be anything other than himself, the ending of each story emphasizes the importance of authenticity. By the final page, the magical objects are often discarded—thrown into lakes or left in drawers—as the characters realize that the real "treasure" is the life they have built and the people they have chosen to stand beside.

How It Unfolds

The bazaar begins The children meticulously organize a sale of their own possessions, including toys that no longer function, to raise money. They treat the project with the solemnity of a civic duty, revealing their deep-seated desire to be useful members of their household.

The danger of invention While attempting to launch a homemade fire-balloon, the children suddenly confront the terrifying prospect that they might be accidental arsonists. This leads to a frantic, imaginative reassessment of their own legal liability and a comedic, high-stakes panic.

The discovery of the past Characters begin probing the history of their homes, searching through drawers and portraits for lost wills and secrets. They speak to ancestors in painted frames as if the adults could simply reveal the answers if they only chose to be cooperative.

The intervention of magic In the later stories, the boundary between the real and the miraculous dissolves completely, introducing genies, enchanted rings, and royal revolutions. These elements are treated as inconvenient but manageable realities that the children navigate with their usual blend of politeness and bravado.

The resolution of desire The stories culminate in acts of letting go, where characters abandon the temptation of easy magic. They find that the true resolution of their struggles lies in accepting their own identities rather than relying on external, enchanted shortcuts.

The People

Oswald Bastable is the self-assured, assertive narrator who takes his role as "head of the house" with complete, if sometimes amusing, seriousness. He is the anchor for the children’s more chaotic impulses.

Noël is the poet of the group, a child of deep, sometimes exhausting sensitivity who feels that his literary efforts should command the respect of the world. He is prone to dramatic declarations that often baffle the very people he is trying to impress.

Molly is a determined seeker of justice who refuses to accept the limitations placed on her by the adults in her life. Her quest for the missing will shows her capacity for patient, steady investigation.

Billy is a young man who finds himself thrust into unexpected positions of power, such as acting as a king. He learns that the reality of leadership is often far less dignified—and far more cluttered with chores—than he had originally imagined.

Everilda is a princess who discovers that being royalty is no protection against the sudden, shifting tides of a revolution. She learns to rely on her own wit and quick actions rather than her status.

Muscadel is a figure who challenges the nature of identity, offering a path to change that the characters must weigh against the value of being their authentic selves.

In Its Own Voice

"If there is a burglar, it's sometimes safer for you not to know it."

Oswald, with his typical mix of bravado and caution, explains the logic of keeping a nightly watch for intruders.

"And when you have passed through exactly the sort of fire those two had passed through, you can never be old, or ugly, or unhappy again, so those two are happy, and beautiful, and young to this very hour."

The narrator reflects on the transformative power of love and shared struggle at the end of a fairy tale.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an exploration of the transition from the imaginative, expansive world of childhood to the constrained reality of adulthood. It argues that the "magic" of youth is not a literal power, but a perspective—a way of imbuing the world with significance. The stories suggest that while we may seek outside forces to solve our problems, our true strength lies in our ability to take responsibility for our own happiness. By the end, the discarding of magic signifies a maturity that chooses the messy, real-world connection over the sterile perfection of a fairytale existence. It is a quiet, profound argument for the sufficiency of the self.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate a narrative voice that is both dryly humorous and deeply affectionate toward its characters will find much to admire here. The prose reflects the manners of the late Victorian and Edwardian era, which may strike some modern readers as dated, particularly in the children’s occasionally rigid ideas about social duty or their casual references to class. However, the emotional core—the feeling of being small in a very large, mysterious world—remains startlingly fresh.

You will enjoy this if you value stories where children are treated as thinking, feeling beings rather than mere subjects of the plot. There is a specific, bracing joy in watching these characters attempt to solve adult problems with their limited, child-sized toolkits. The pacing is episodic, making it an ideal companion for slow, contemplative reading. While some of the dialect and references to past customs require a bit of patience, they also serve to ground the reader in a vivid, historical atmosphere. What stays with you is the sense that the children’s "pretend" world was never really separate from reality; it was simply their way of practicing for the challenges of becoming the people they were meant to be.