TROUBLE AT TOWNSEND

First Published 1945 by Transatlantic Arts

Illustrated by Lunt Roberts
dustwrapper; 2nd imp. Click to enlarge (File size=31KB)
Lunt Roberts wrapper
2nd imp 1946
The first book in the Michael and Mary series.

Book filmed, featuring Petula Clark as 'the girl', and using the author's farm in Hertfordshire as background.
Released by Rank in January 1946. (Source: N.Wright)
The film, tracked down by Guy, was shown at the Ludlow gathering of the Malcolm Saville Society at Ludlow in April 1996.
Rosemary Saville was disappointed to find that her appearance on horseback as stand-in for Petula Clark was not in this copy.

First edition: green cloth [acc to Corin Cat 11/95]

Reprinted:
2nd imp. 1946: orange boards, grey lettering along spine; thin book 130x190mm; 128pp; 21 b/w illustrations.
3rd imp. 1947

Other editions:

John Murray 1953.
A thicker, hardback, edition on cheap paper.
The only cover I've seen is one owned by a friend and is based on the original artwork, but appears coloured over by crayon or pastel. It is an Ex-library copy.
Click to enlarge
Ex-Lib cover
Murray 1953

Click to enlarge
DVD of the film
The Malcolm Saville Society
2008 dustwrapper
The Malcolm Saville Society 2008:
A DVD of the two Saville films and other material. Launched at the Saville gathering in Shropshire in 2008 and available from the Society, the DVD plays on all players and the extra files can be read on any computer with DVD reader.
More details are available on the DVD's page.
A lively illustration from the book, showing Lunt Roberts' skill as Mike hurtles along the lane in the farm truck.
Mike to the Rescue ! Click to enlarge (File size=79KB)
Mike to the Rescue !

This page is part of the Malcolm Saville Centenary Website. To enter this site by the front door, click here.
Illustrations copyright the respective Publishers
Text copyright John Allsup
created April 2001
Last updated Dec 2009