(1899) is the first full novel for children published by Edith Nesbit. It concerns the experiences of the Bastable children, a middle-class family whose “fortunes” have been diminished by the death of their mother and the uncertain financial situation of their father. Withdrawn from formal schooling, they are left unattended and devise a series of (largely unsuccessful) schemes to discover treasure in one form or another and re-establish the household. In the earliest chapters of the book, their adventures are largely physical and high-spirited: digging for treasure in their back garden, they manage to bury their friend, a neighbouring child when their tunnel collapses. But Nesbit’s fiction is thoroughly rooted in the imaginations of her child…
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Citation: Creasy, Matthew. "The Story of the Treasure Seekers". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 October 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39012, accessed 21 November 2024.]
