A Vicarage Family is the first part in a fictionalized autobiography in which No
el Streatfeild tells the story of her own childhood, painting a poignant and viv
id picture of daily life in an impoverished, genteel family in the years leading
up to the First World War. In the story there are three little girls - Isobel,
the eldest, is pretty, gentle and artistic; Louise the youngest, is sweet and ta
lented - and then there is Vicky, 'the plain one', the awkward and rebellious ch
ild who doesn't fit in at school or at home. Growing up in a big family Vicky fe
els overlooked but gradually begins to realize that she might not be quite as un
talented as she feels.
