★★★★☆ Spiller was the best

The Borrowers Collection

Mary Norton

I first read The Borrowers (all five books -- in fact, I even have vague memories of Poor Stainless: A New Story About the Borrowers, but I'm not sure I'm not imagining those) well over 50 years ago. My sister had the entire collection in hardback, a gift, I think, from our famous Aunt Althea, who lived in New York City and always knew the best books. I won't describe the overall idea of the series, since the publisher's blurb does that well.

I remember it was not at the start one of my favorite book series. It was a little too bland and too nice for me. However, the series really kicked up a notch with the appearance of Spiller. Spiller is a kind of wild Borrower, an unsocialized Borrower who never learned all the rules the Clock family lived by, about how Borrowers are supposed to get along in a world dominated by Human Beans. Spiller doesn't actually know what his name is. He has a memory of a mother who told him he was a Dreadful Spiller, so he took that as his name.

Spiller was an inspirational character for me. He gave The Borrowers something that looked like true heroism.

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