"Susan Interferes" by Jane Shaw

All the books in Jane Shaw's 'Susan' series feature as the central character a girl named Susan (obviously!). Susan is a kind-hearted girl with one major fault - she can't stop interfering with other people's lives. It's usually because she wants to help them, but more often than not, her crazy escapades land her in a whole lot of trouble... and provide readers with a whole lot of entertainment.

Background

Susan Lyle is Scottish, and lives with her cousins - Charlotte, Midge and Bill - and their father, Dr. Charles Carmichael (Uncle Charles), in London while her parents are away in Africa. In the same house resides Lucy Carmichael (Aunt Lucy), who is Uncle Charles' sister.

Always well-intentioned, Susan keeps trying to 'help' people, and in the process gets herself - and her unfortunate cousins - into some very awkward situations. Of the three cousins, Charlotte is the oldest, very attractive, and probably the least inclined to enter into Susan's schemes (though she gets dragged into them anyway). Next is Midge, who is about Susan's age, is allergic to any form of physical exertion, and generally tries to dissuade Susan from embarking on one of her mad ideas. Last of all is Bill, who is three years younger than Susan and the only one who is ever-ready to play accomplice to her plans. As he says 'Some of Susan's dotty ideas have turned out right'.

Other characters in the series are the Gascoignes, a family of very talented people whom the Carmichael cousins cannot stand. In fact, Midge describes them as 'a family of poisonous snakes'. They are Mrs Gascoigne, her daughter Gabrielle and her sons Adrian and Peregrine ('Pea-Green'). Always holding themselves above the Carmichaels, they supposedly know every famous person there is, or pretend to. While Adrian and Gabrielle are somewhat tolerable, Peregrine is a continued source of annoyance to the Carmichaels and makes himself a nuisance in every possible way, but is never punished by his doting mother.

Susan Interferes

In this book, when Susan and the Carmichaels visit Switzerland, Midge hopes in vain that not knowing the language will put Susan off interfering. After all, being able to say "Je me promene. Je fais un petit tour en ville", which is the all the French that Susan can muster up, and which means "I go for a walk. I take a little turn through the town", is not very helpful in a foreign country.

But if anyone thought that language problems would keep Susan from poking her nose into other people's affairs, they obviously didn't know her very well. Within minutes of setting foot into Switzerland, Susan becomes convinced that their go-between, a Fraulein Amacher, is a smuggler, simply because the lady asked them to bring a parcel of tea for her from England. Her cousins valiantly try to convince her otherwise, but later agree that there is something strange about Fraulein Amacher after all.

The Gascoignes also make an appearance in Switzerland. They are as unbearable as ever, and embarrass the Carmichaels with their loud clothes and behaviour. Peregrine has acquired a new toy, a pellet-gun, with which he torments them all. He infuriates Susan so much with this device that at one point she says "Where's that Pea-Green? I'll riddle him so full of holes he'll look like a colander---"

But, as if Fraulein Amacher and the Ghastly Gascoignes weren't enough to keep her occupied, Susan also makes it her mission to persuade a girl who has had polio and is now in a wheelchair to walk again. The girl, whose name is Lise, does not appreciate her efforts however, and for a while it looks as though Susan actually might stop interfering. But in the end, Susan comes up trumps, by solving the mystery of Fraulein Amacher and getting Lise to walk again.

Memorable moments

At one point, Susan and Midge find themselves on a train with no tickets or money. A schoolmaster and his students get on the train and inquire as to what's the matter:

"You have lost something, Fraulein?"
Midge came to the rescue, thinking that the less heard from Susan the better. "Well," she said very rapidly, hoping that the schoolmaster wouldn't quite follow what she was saying, "to be honest, we haven't exactly lost anything but we haven't any TICKETS."
"Tickets!" exclaimed the man. "Ah! You have lost your tickets---!"
"Well you said it, not me," said Midge under her breath.
The little man snapped his fingers. "Come boys! Hansli, Anton, search! Search! Search till you find!"
"That'll test them," muttered Midge.

To find out what happens next, read the entertaining "Susan Interferes".