Patricia Leitch

[Finmory]

Hello. I'm compiling a web-site about some of my favourite books from childhood - and adulthood - the 'Jinny' series by Patricia Leitch (1976-1988) and would like to find more information, both about the books and Patricia Leitch herself. I'd especially like to know if the author is still alive, as I'd like to write to her. If anyone can help I'd be very grateful.

Cheers,
~Foxy

 

[Halo]

Hi, I thought your name looked familiar! I do not have any info yet, but I just wanted to say that these books were my favourite when I was young. I read pony stories constantly, but these were the best. I've still got the books, packed away in my loft somewhere. My feeling is that the author is still with us, but I will try and find something out.

 

[Ice]

Patricia Leitch

The above is a list of her books

 

[Finmory]

Hello and thanks for your reply. I'm a Smiths/Morrissey fan too, by the way

I certainly hope Patricia Leitch is still with us. She must be in her sixties now, I'd guess (her first book was published in 1960). The most recent book published that I'm aware of was The Pony Puzzle/The Mystery Horse from the Horseshoes or Kestrels series, in 1994. Hopefully that won't be the last.

Searching on the internet, I found a letter she wrote in 1977 which is really interesting:
(Vegan Newsletter 13, August 1977)*/ "...I cannot help but be conscious of the falsity of all my pretentious beliefs when I live in the protection of a materialistic society. How long would my vegetarianism last, never mind my attempts at veganism, if I was starving? I often think it is all tied on with string. But I've only to think that to know it is not. The incredible giggling god who created us! I doubt if I could survive one autumn night without shelter, and one winter night would certainly kill me unless I was wrapped in animal skins. This use of animals for human benefit seems at times woven into the fabric of breath. Sometimes the idea of veganism seems totally ridiculous. And I have only to write that to know that vegan living is one of the green shoots pushing to the light; smashing, shattering the concrete deserts. So...tremendous thanks for your newsletter."

It always seemed likely that Ken in the stories was reflecting her views on a lot of subjects - 'tied on with string' is one of his lines from 'Gallop To The Hills'. (Possibly by coincidence, I became a vegetarian the same year I discovered Jinny and the Smiths.)

You might want to fetch the books out of your loft. I'm reading through them - having bought nearly all off Ebay - and having a very intense time of it. Reading as an adult, these stories are even more powerful and impressive, if anything.

~Foxy

 

[Finmory]

Patricia Leitch

The above is a list of her books

I'd found that list already, but thanks alot anyway

Not including Jinny, this is the complete list of books I've managed to find online:

A Pony Of Our Own (Blackie & Son 1960; Knight Books 1971)
The Horse From Black Loch - also known as Black Loch (William Collins 1963 Hardback; Fonatana 1979 Paperback)
Last Summer To Ride (1963)
A Rosette For Royal (Blackie 1963)
Janet Young Rider (1963)
Highland Pony Trek (Collins 1964)
Treasure To The East (Gollancz 1966)
Rebel Pony (Collins 1973)
First Pony (Collins 1973)
Jump To The Top (1973)
Pony Surprise (1974)
Dream Of Fair Horses, aka Fields Of Praise (William Collins 1975)
Windows: Poems (New Leaves Press 1978)
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (Armada 1983)

The Kestrels/Horseshoes Series:

1. The Special Pony (1992)/The Perfect Horse (1996)
2. A Pony To Jump (1992)/Jumping Lessons (1992)
3. Cross-Country Gallop (1993)
4. Pony Club Rider (1993)
5. The Stolen Pony (1993)/Show Jumper Wanted (1995)
6. The Pony Puzzle (1994)/The Mystery Horse (1997)

Short story - The Midnight Stallion, in Thundering Hooves

(Our state library here in Tasmania only has a couple of her books, unfortunately.)

Has anyone read the Adventures of Robin Hood? It would have to be a good read.

 

[Halo]

Hello and thanks for your reply. I'm a Smiths/Morrissey fan too, by the way

Hey, for some reason I like you already!

It always seemed likely that Ken in the stories was reflecting her views on a lot of subjects - 'tied on with string' is one of his lines from 'Gallop To The Hills'. (Possibly by coincidence, I became a vegetarian the same year I discovered Jinny and the Smiths.)

I would agree with this, and it is part of the reasons I loved these books. The main reason is that they were different to all the other pony books I read, where the girl "heroines" were the usual well-behaved, simpering, pony mad girlies who wouldn't put a foot out of line. I remember reading one series, I think it could have been the Jill series by Ruby Ferguson (?), where in the last book, someone says to Jill that it is time to put ponies behind her and go out and get a nice job as a secretary or something. And Jill agrees. This disappointed me so much at the time. Why was this huge brick of reality and sexism being dropped into such an escapist series of books for pony-mad youngsters? It just seemed to jar so badly.

And yet, the realistic aspects of the Jinny books were what attracted me. This heroine is far more realistic. She sulks, bunks off school if necessary and is brave enough to break the rules for something she believes in. She has convictions which she keeps to, even in the face of ridicule. But she is honest enough to admit it when she knows she would not be able to keep her promise, such as her wavering over becoming a vegetarian. In short, Jinny is one of the most realistic and best developed characters in pony fiction, and this and her relationship with her family and Shantih are some of the reasons so many people remember these books with such great affection.

You might want to fetch the books out of your loft. I'm reading through them - having bought nearly all off Ebay - and having a very intense time of it. Reading as an adult, these stories are even more powerful and impressive, if anything.

I actually read most of them as an adult! I had about 5 or 6 from when I was at school, and one day I happened to be in a bookshop and saw that there were now about 12 in the series, which I hadn't even realised. I bought the lot straight away, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Wonderful books. You are right, it would be nice to contact the author and tell her how much her stories were enjoyed. Are the books still in print? If they are, maybe you could try contacting the publisher?

 

[Finmory]

Hey, for some reason I like you already!

Impetuous youth...

Me too, on the simpering pony gels. Jinny was equal parts what I was and what I wanted to be as a child. She's so well realised, and I'm so fond of her, I can't help wondering how adulthood would have turned out for her. Presumably, she'd be working as a painter, or perhaps as an art teacher, and riding Shantih's grandchildren. (If you take it that she was eleven in 1976 when the first book was published, she be 39-ish now.) Or perhaps life would take some cruel twists, and she'd have to find a new way to live out her Romanticism. I can't bear to think of the worst-case scenario, where she has it kicked out of her, and ends up as a secretary! Fate worse than death.

The books were really quite subversive in a lot of ways, but absolutely true to how I saw life, unlike almost every other children's book I'd read up to that point. Now, I'm just in awe of Patricia Leitch's wisdom and passion, and respect for children's integrity. She worked as a teacher at some point, lucky kiddies!

I haven't read all the books yet (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and counting). They do seem to be out of print, the last edition being sometime in the '90s (Lions). I've sent an email to HarperCollins which is the new manifestation of her old publishers (Armada/Fontana/William Collins). No response yet. If necessary, I'll just write via HC and hope for the best. I'd like to have an address on my web-site for people to write to Patricia Leitch, and to encourage a re-issue. (Some of the rarer titles sell for $100 US or so, online - hardly in reach of your average eleven-year-old.)

 

[Halo]

Wow, that's a lot of money. I don't know why they are out of print - they are excellent books and I'm sure they'd be really popular today (there's always going to be pony-mad girls!). Plus there would be a big market among adults who remember them with affection and want to re-read them and re-live their childhoods.

You will let us know if you hear anything from the publishers, or find out anything about the author, won't you?

 

[Emma A]

huge fan

Hi, its so wonderful to find other people who are fans of the Jinny series. I read my first Jinny book age 12 and have been addiicted ever since, i have managed to collect all but 2 of the series and am always on the look out for the others. I am reading "Ride like the wind" at the moment for about the hundredth time i never get tired of them. These books have been a great comfort and source of insparation to me over the years.

 

[Halo]

Hi Emma! Welcome to the forum. Always nice to find another Jinny fan.

 

[magemanda]

I'm a huge Jinny fan as well. Mind you, I whipped through most children's authors that wrote pony stories.

What is everyone's favourite Jinny book - mine would probably be Night of the Red Horse. It was so mysterious and a little scary! I thought that Shantih was so beautiful, and shamelessly plagiarised for my own writing (which, needless to say, was pretty appalling and shall never see the light of day!! )

What about other horse series? Did anyone here read Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series? This was another series I adored. I still have all my original copies of the books - although they are pretty much falling apart, from constant re-reads when I was a girl.

 

[Halo]

I'm a huge Jinny fan as well. Mind you, I whipped through most children's authors that wrote pony stories.

So did I - the Pullein-Thompson sisters, Ruby Ferguson, Patricia Leitch... It got to the stage where I had read every pony book in my local kid's library!

What is everyone's favourite Jinny book - mine would probably be Night of the Red Horse. It was so mysterious and a little scary!

It's been quite a while since I read them, so I can't really remember the plots too well. Is that the one where Jinny found the ancient sculpture that kind of possessed her and took over her dreams (or something!)? If so, that was one of my favourites too.

Did anyone here read Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series?

Yes, I read them! I got a five-book boxset for my birthday from my godmother. I wasn't too happy, because they were unlike the pony books I usually read, but when I got around to reading them I really enjoyed them.

 

[sea_sprite]

Hiya!

I've been a huge fan of Patricia Leitch since I was about 11. I'm afraid that I don't know anything more about her than what is written in the flyleafs of her books. In one of them, I think it is the hardback of 'Dream of Fair Horses' there is a photo of her. I would love to contact and ask her questions about her inspiration! If you search jinny / Patricia Leitch on Amazon.com it comes up with some lit. crit. books that mention Jinny and using the 'search inside' feature you can see what is written (one is about the theme of countryside in children's books). Maybe you could try contacting one of these authors, as they may have been in touch with Patricia.

I think Jinny is the best pony book heroine. She was my absolute idol when I was a child and I like to think that she would have been a Levellers fan when she grew up. I can imagine her being an art teacher, yet I can't envisgae her leaving Shantih to go to uni. In book 12 she says that she wants to look like Nell Storr when she gets older, so I can see her wearing long flowing skirts and lots of rings!

Ride Like the Wind is my favourite because of the bit near the end which is so moving and powerful. I still read them quite often now and read different ones according to what's happening in life and what I'm doing with my horse.

Dream of Fair Horses is also excellent. I don't like the ending, because it's so uncompromising and not at all what I wanted to happen, but I think that's what makes it good.

I could talk about this all day!

 

[sea_sprite]

Btw. you can get Jinny books quite cheap on ebay and abe books.

And does anyone know who the girl in the photos was? To me she *was* Jinny and the horses *were* Shantih, even though they weren't mares!

70s pony book covers were the best! Is there so legal reason why pony books don't seem to show people galloping and jumping now?

 

[Halo]

Welcome to the forum, sea_sprite!

They're probably worried about being sued if some child fell off while they were taking the photos! Yeah, I liked the girl with the long red hair on the covers, she looked correctly sulky and stubborn! You can get some of the books on ebay, but they tend to be the earliest four or five - the later ones seem difficult to find.

Your Amazon idea is good - thanks.

I've read Dream of Fair Horses, but I can't remember the ending to that one.

I'm with you on Jinny - I can definitely see her as an art teacher, wearing long skirts and loads of silver jewellery, and probably still thinking about becoming vegetarian!

 

[DiscworldSim]

I adored the Jinny series; I think it would be great if they made a film of at least one of the books. The scene from The Magic Pony where Jinny goes into the undergound cave would be amazing.

 

[DiscworldSim]

Just saw on eBay a book by Patricia Leitch (which I also bought), but under the name of Jane Eliot. This was one of her very early works, called Jackie Jumps To The Top. Can't remember the year it was published, think it was 1967.

 

[Halo]

I didn't know Patricia Leitch used pseudonyms. The person who started this thread, Finmory, has yet to tell us that she managed to get more information about Leitch, or contact her.

 

[henrietta]

I'm coming in a bit late, but I had to say something about the Jinny books. I read the first when I was a child, bought from the book club at school, and loved it. It's funny when you read horse books as a kid, it all seems to make sense - of course the wild Arabian mare would be in a crash and end up running free across the moors near Jinny's house. It's so inevitable, really!
There was something substantial about this book(I only read the first one, only discovered the entire series recently), even though it was a series and even though it was a fantastical horse book. I remember that part where she's doing the drawing for the art contest, and even though there's no horse in the scene, it works so well. Most horsey series are simply endurable when the horse is offstage. The only quibble I have is that the social/political aspects (Ken's storyline, in general) just don't work. They seem to belong to another, less interesting story.

 

[Halo]

I think one of the things that sets these books apart from the usual horsey books is that the author doesn't shy away from grim reality - Jinny has to face up to real-life problems such as lack of money and the possibility of losing those she loves. In most other horsey books, the biggest problem was only finishing second in the gymkhana instead of first!

I agree that Ken's "hippy philosophy" was laid on a bit thick and could sometimes be a bit preachy, but at the same time I also thought it helped add to the realism and to Jinny's character development. Ken forced Jinny to consider sides of her personality she wasn't proud of, such as her selfishness, and realise that not everyone shared her views. It made the story realistic when it showed how Jinny struggled with the concept of vegetarianism - she accepted it was a good idea and would have liked to be vegetarian, but knew that she did not have the discipline to stick to it. The author showed her guilt and mixed feelings, whereas in other books I think the character would have just become vegetarian without a moment's difficulty. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that her struggle with the issue was shown honestly.