Over Sea, Under Stone

Over Sea, Under Stone
First edition cover
Author(s)	Susan Cooper
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	The Dark Is Rising Sequence
Genre(s)	Children's Fantasy Mystery novel
Publisher	Jonathan Cape
Publication date	May 1965
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	252 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	NA
Followed by	The Dark Is Rising

Over Sea, Under Stone is the first novel in the five-volume "The Dark Is Rising" sequence by British author Susan Cooper. It was first published in London by Jonathan Cape in 1965. It tells of the three Drew children: Simon, Jane and Barney, and their holiday to Cornwall. The story has more of the character of a mystery than the later novels in the sequence, with the traditional fantasy elements only being hinted at and those references only later in the narrative.^[1] Thus it has been said that it can ease readers into reading in this genre. ^[1]

Plot introduction

During the Drew children's holiday to Cornwall the children slowly come to realize their Great Uncle Merry is more than he appears. Following clues in an old treasure map they find in the attic, they seek an ancient treasure to aid the forces of Light and thwart the Darkness.

Plot summary

This story is about three children trying to figure out the mystery of a map they find. It is not easy because there are also other people (working for 'The Dark') who want to steal the map for themselves. Great Uncle Merry, Simon, Jane, and Barney try to solve the riddle and keep the map safe. Eventually they work out what it means and find a mythical treasure.

Characters in "Over Sea, Under Stone"

Simon Drew

Eldest of three Drew children.

Jane Drew

The middle Drew sibling.

Barnabas Drew (Barney)

The youngest of the siblings.

Merriman Lyon (Great-Uncle Merry; Gumerry)

The Drew children's great uncle and mentor.

Literary significance and criticism

Successful soon after publication, the series then generated large amounts of interest, and was well received by the literary world. The novel marks - for a narrative intended for children - fairly sophisticated use of English, with an extensive vocabulary and complex sentence structures.^[2]

Publication history

• 1965, UK, Jonathan Cape (ISBN NA), pub date ? May 1965, hardback (first edition)
• 1966, USA, Harcourt, Brace & World (ISBN NA), pub date ? ? 1966, hardback (first US edition)
• 1968, UK, Puffin (ISBN 0-14-03-0362-6), pub date ? ? 1968, paperback
• 1989, USA, Simon Pulse (ISBN 0020427859), pub date 30 April 1989, paperback
• 1989, USA, First Scholastic, pub date November 1989, paperback

Radio Adaptation

In 1995 Armada Productions adapted 'Over Sea, Under Stone' for BBC Radio 4 as part of its Children's Radio 4 strand. In 1997 it was followed by 'The Dark Is Rising'. Each serial consisted of four half-hour episodes with few changes from the books(the most noticeable change made being the reduction of Will Stanton's siblings to only three).

Ronald Pickup (familiar to many as the voice of Aslan in the BBC Narnia TV adaptations) played Merriman in both serials while Struan Roger played Mr. Hastings, Mr. Mitothin and The Rider.

'Over Sea, Under Stone' was repeated once in 1997 a few months before 'The Dark Is Rising'. Neither serial has been repeated since, nor has it been made commercially available.

Miscellaneous Information

Trewissick, the Cornish village in which the entire novel is set, is based directly on the actual village of Mevagissey, located in South Cornwall. The author used to holiday there as a child.

The vicarage, which Jane Drew visits and first meets Mr. Hastings, is based on Mevagissey House, the former vicarage of Mevagissey.

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Over Sea, Under Stone fieldguide, section on "Basic Book Information"
2. ^ Over Sea, Under Stone fieldguide, section on "Notable features"

References

• Cooper, Susan (1965). Over Sea, Under Stone (1st ed. ed.). London: Jonathan Cape. 
• "Over Sea, Under Stone review". ReadingMatters. http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=26. Retrieved 2007-09-12. 
• "Over Sea, Under Stone fieldguide" (PDF). Heinemann fieldguides. http://fieldguides.heinemann.com/samples/Over_Sea_Under_Stone.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-12. ^{[dead link]}
• "SF Review of Over Sea, Under Stone". SF Reviews. http://www.sfreviews.net/oversea.html. Retrieved 2007-09-12. 
• Thompson, Raymond (1989-07-02). "Interview with Susan Cooper". Interviews with Authors of Modern Arthurian Literature. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/intrvws/cooper.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-13.