Tolly comes to stay with his great-grandmother at Green Knowe, an ancient English manor house surrounded by water, and discovers that the children who lived there centuries ago are still present. L.M. Boston wrote six Green Knowe novels, exploring how the past persists in old places and how children, who are closest to wonder, can perceive what adults cannot. In The River at Green Knowe, the fourth book, Tolly is joined by Ping, a displaced Chinese boy, and Oskar, whose father was killed in a concentration camp. The three explore the waterways around the house in a canoe, encountering wildlife and strange inhabitants. Boston, who lived in a medieval manor house that became the model for Green Knowe, wrote about place with sensory precision. Her descriptions of river light, bird song, and the texture of old stones create a world readers can inhabit. The books address loss and displacement without sentimentality; the children have all experienced trauma, and the house offers them refuge without erasing what they have suffered. Boston's vision of time as palimpsest, with past and present coexisting, has influenced generations of fantasy writers. Readers seeking children's literature that respects both the intelligence and the sorrows of its audience will find the Green Knowe series nourishing.