The Borrowers - Mary Norton

Published by Aldine Paperbacks/J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.: London, 1968 (1952).

This classic children's book introduces Pod, Homily and Arrietty, three tiny humans (borrowers) who live under the floorboards in the home of an elderly woman. The borrowers, as their name suggests, 'borrow' things from the human world and use it to furnish their own dwelling, along with gathering enough food to live on. As the story progresses, Arrietty, the daughter in the family, befriends a boy who is staying in the house. This is seen as something very dangerous (despite Pod having his own friendship with the mildly senile home-owner) and does eventually lead to a confrontation with the dangerous housekeeper.

The story of the book is very simple plot-wise, leaving a lot up in the air for possible sequels (of which there are four). It is also slightly melancholic, particularly when talking about the number of borrowers in the house compared to in the past. The framing-device, which consists of a proxy for the author being 'told' the story by an elderly relative, also allows the possibility that the borrowers don't even exist in universe, although I imagine that the existence of the sequels implies that they do.

Straightforward. A fun concept that doesn't get explored much in this volume.


Completed 18 May 2023.

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