Review of From Time to Time (2009) by Lisa T — 29 Dec 2014

I enjoyed "From Time to Time", which I stumbled across via Netflix recommendations and watched during Christmas week 2014. This adaptation of Lucy M. Boston's second Green Knowe book (titled "The Treasure of Green Knowe" in the UK and "The Chimneys of Green Knowe" in the US) was my first introduction to Lucy the six-book series.

After watching the film, I tracked down BBC One's serialized TV adaptation of the series' first book, "The Children of Green Knowe", and found it posted at Youtube. (I prefer the film and am glad I saw it first, but I do plan to read the entire series.) Watching the two shows clarifies some questions while simultaneously introducing some logical inconsistencies.

The "Ah ha" clarifications:

(1) Why does Tolly wear shorts in FTTT?

Answer:

It's a long term habit, carried over from the previous book. It's not - as I'd wondered - because he's dying or already an apparition immune to the seasons or temperature cold.

My 2 cents:

Tolly's short pants may also reflect his boarding school's dress code and/or illustrate his sad status as a neglected child of privilege too often required to look after himself.

(2) Why does Tolly takes special note of certain features of the house, e.g., the St. Christopher sculpture and the portrait (which he notes in the second story has gone missing)?

Answer:

These artifacts figured prominently in the first story.

The "Wait, what?" inconsistencies:

(1) In the second story's film adaptation, Granny Linnet's Tolly's paternal grandmother, and the lad's fond of his mother, who is still alive, in love with, and married to his father. Mum didn't coldheartedly abandon Tolly over Easter break; rather, she thoughtfully sent him to Green Knowe to be with family while she travelled to London to research the whereabouts and fate of Tolly's miltary father David, who went M.I.A. in Germany during WW2. Several factors about the caretaker Boggis make one wonder whether he's dying or has died, and entertain the same considerations about Mrs. Boggis. Also, though I understand the following as a plot device, I can't logically fathom it from a logical standpoint: how in the first story could Tolly, who keenly explored the manor and grounds in the first story, remain unaware until the second story of the water tower, of Maria's burned-down "entertainment" wing, and of the music room that replaced Maria's wing?

(2) In the first story's TV adaptation, Granny Linnet's Tolly's great grandmother (not grandmother), and the lad's not crazy about his stepmother, who calls him Toto and has thoughtlessly abandoned him to be the sole student left at the boarding school during Christmas break, while she's gone off to Burma with Tolly's father. Boggis the caretaker (like Granny) is older and more decrepit in this first screen adaptation than in the second.