The four Conroy sisters, aged between six and thirteen, are an absolute delight. Hilarious, believable and relatably bookish. Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe are sent to stay with their grandmother for the summer, in a small rural village by the sea. Most of their ensuing mischief and adventures arise as a consequence of them running out of books to read.

McKay’s portrayal of four sisters, each with their own strengths and opinions, has a compelling veracity, and, oh, how they made me laugh! The only downside to the audiobook is that I didn’t bookmark my favourite quotes. I need a copy for my bookshelf!

Naomi Conroy crouched uncomfortably at the end of the garden reading a book. As usual, she had spent her Saturday morning at the town library, searching the too-familiar shelves for something new. On her left was the stack of books she had read since she returned, and on her right the pile she hadn’t opened yet. She kept her elbow leaning on that pile to guard them from her permanently book-hungry sisters. Even now, she could feel herself being watched, and without looking up knew that Ruth was hovering close by, waiting for her to finish. By law of the family, the book would become then common property, free for anyone to read.

This is set during the 60s or 70s, and if I had read it when I was child, I wouldn’t have characterised it as “historical” at all (in part because I would have likely assumed that any differences between the girls’ world and mine was simply due to people doing things differently in England). But, as McKay acknowledges in her author’s note, she wrote this looking back at the past, and reading it now, it certainly “feels” like historical fiction. Which made me realise that there may well come a day when I read a book set during my own childhood and think Ahh, yes, historical fiction. ( )

I've been on a Hilary McKay kick ever since I read Saffy's Angel. Since then, I've devoured every one of her books about the Casson family, I'm on my second time through Dog Friday (this time reading it aloud to my husband-these books are wonderful read-alouds) and now I've met the Conroy girls.
This is one of her older books, and I don't think she'd perfected her style quite yet, even though I still laughed my head off (once in the break room at work, I was laughing so loudly that the children's librarian poked her head in to ask what I was reading).
The Exiles is well worth the read. The four sisters' battle of wits and power struggles with their grandmother is a joy to read. I was somewhat shocked by the ending. I wonder if Hilary McKay thought Big Grandma needed to be taught a lesson of her own after spending her summer teaching lessons to her grandchildren. It struck me as rather harsh, but the author sort of made up for it with the girls' letters at the end and the knowledge that they were doing everything they could to build up Big Grandma's library again.
I wonder if we'll hear more about the Conroy girls' mysterious Uncle Robert. I have the sequel on order, so I suppose I'll see soon enough. ( )

Contains: The exiles -- The exiles at home -- The exiles in love ( )

The Exiles is a delightfully hilarious book about four sisters - Ruth, Naomi, Rachel, and Phoebe - who, after an unexpected event in the family, are sent by their parents to stay with their grandmother (a.k.a. "Big Grandma") for the summer. The girls have "partly from personal inclination and partly in self-defense, maintained a carefully fostered defiance toward the world in general and school in particular" and are not exactly enthusiastic about spending the summer with Big Grandma (she drinks whiskey every night before bed, locks them out of the house in the rain, and - worst of all - won't give them any books to read other than three unreadable tomes of Shakespeare).

The Exiles was one of my favourite books when I was a child. I have read and re-read it many times. And yet, even reading it today as an adult after all of those re-readings, it still has the power to make me laugh out loud, something few books can do. It's that good. There's so much in here that I love - the picnic on the beach (after which the sisters decide to bury the pots and pans in the sand, to save carrying them home again, with the predictable results), Rachel's diary (which lists the meals she eats every day, and nothing else), Ruth's bones, Naomi digging the cabbage patch with a broken arm, Phoebe constantly wondering where her money is, and poor befuddled Graham, who was warned ahead of time by Big Grandma that the girls were "soft in the head." The ending is perfect.

I highly recommend this book to just about anyone. ( )

Tremendously appealing book about four sisters spending the summer with their grandmother with nothing to read. Please ignore the hideously dated cover.

Library copy ( )