Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children

Matthew Creasy (University of Glasgow)

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Ed. by Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1906 - 1906

Places

United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature

Resources

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The Railway Children

(1906)

is an acclaimed novel for younger readers by Edith Nesbit. It relates the experiences of three children, Roberta (“Bobbie”), Peter and Phyllis, who are forced to move away from middle-class life in London when their father is arrested upon charges of espionage (incriminating documents have been planted in his desk by a colleague). The family relocate to a rural village alongside a railway track, where they live in reduced circumstances and are largely left to their own devices, whilst their mother attempts to earn a living as a writer.

This premise is a familiar one in the many respects within the worlds of Nesbit’s fiction: the collective endeavours of the children recall other novels that she was working on during this period, such as The Story of the

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2091 words

Citation: Creasy, Matthew. "The Railway Children". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39014, accessed 04 April 2025.]