A Stranger Thing, by Ruth Tomalin, for Timeslip Tuesday

It is a lovely, and rather rare thing, to find a new-to-me author of vintage children's books that I can enjoy almost as much as young me would have. Since 2022, I have now read five of her books, and the most recent, A Stranger Thing (1975), a Christmas present this year, is my favorite. 

Kit, sent to boarding school for the first time when his mother must travel for work, is nervous at first, but gradually adjusts, making friends and enjoying the expeditions into the countryside.  But then a bully gets a hook into him, and plays him like a fish, making his life miserable.  Kit's old habit of sleepwalking resurfaces, and he wakes outside on snowy night, far from school.  Fortunately, he finds shelter in an old glasshouse on a nature preserve that had once belonged to a naturalist back (I think, though it's not clear) in the early 20th century.

It is a magical shelter, not just because it is built of glass.  Snowbound within it, he makes use of the generous stores (all things he loves to eat) that he assumes the preserve's warden had laid in, and is warm and cozy thanks to the stores of wood. He spends a lovely few days in this refuge, delighting in the company of birds and the resident mouse.  And it was a lovely bit of reading for me too, sharing this peace away from stress along with Kit.  

And Kit, given this peace, is able to see that he can extricate himself from the hold the bully had on him...and freed from that fear, he is free to leave the glasshouse.  He wakes in his own bed at school....and no one has missed him. The naturalist had shared his glasshouse as a refuge for others before Kit, and though it was destroyed years ago, it was there where and when Kit needed it...

I suppose you could argue that Kit's days in the glasshouse were a dream, but the author makes no suggestion of it.  The reality of the experience is unquestioned, which means it must have been a time slip, which fits more nicely with the history of the glasshouse as refuge.  My only complaint was that it was a short book; for instance, I'd have enjoyed more of Kit getting used to school (this happened at lightning speed) and more exploration of the countryside pre glasshouse to set the scene a bit more.