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The Far-Distant Oxus
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The Far-Distant Oxus is a children’s novel of 1937, written by Katharine Hull (1921-1977)[1] and Pamela Whitlock (1920-1982)[2]. The title is taken from Matthew Arnold’s poem Sohrab and Rustum.

Hull and Whitlock met when they were schoolchildren (fourteen and fifteen respectively), whilst sheltering from a thunderstorm [3]. They discovered shared interests and decided to write a story about ponies set on Exmoor [3]. They planned out the entire book and wrote alternate chapters, exchanging them afterwards to edit [3].
The story follows the model of the books of Arthur Ransome, describing the school holiday adventures of children of prosperous families, centred on outdoor activity and a vividly imagined landscape: Ransome had boats and Windermere, The Far-Distant Oxus had ponies and Exmoor.
Whitlock sent the manuscript to Ransome in March 1937; he in turn brought it to his publisher Jonathan Cape, saying that he had "the best children's book of 1937" for him.[4] Cape published the book in the same format as Swallows and Amazons, and persuaded Arthur Ransome to write the introduction.
The book, with illustrations by Whitlock, was indeed successful; contemporary reviewers were impressed and critics today are still positive. The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books comments that it is 'as absorbing as Ransome at his best' [5]. The two authors followed it with Escape to Persia (1938), The Oxus in Summer (1939) and Crowns (1947).[1]

Fidra Books reissued the novel in August, 2008.[6]
References:

* The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English, by Victor Watson, Cambridge University Press, 2001
* The Life of Arthur Ransome, by Hugh Brogan, Jonathan Cape, 1984
* The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature, by Humprey Carpenter and Mari Prichard, Oxford: OUP, 1984
* Where Texts and Children Meet, by Eve Bearne and Victor Watson, Routledge, 1999

How it all happened

In 1936 Katharine Hull (1921-1977) and Pamela Whitlock (1920-1982) met at boarding school whilst sheltering from a thunderstorm. They discovered their shared interest in ponies and the moors and decided to write a story together using the works of Arthur Ransome as a model. The girls, then aged 14 and 15, kept their project a secret from everyone and vowed 'to cut off all our hair if the book was not finished' by the time they took their Higher Certificate in July of 1937.

They worked together in a very methodical way; working out the entire plot and becoming familiar with the characters before they begun to write. During the winter term they worked on alternate chapters and then swapped them over to edit. By the Easter term they had completed their story ‘by children, about children, for children’.

Katherine and Pamela also wrote "Escape to Persia" in 1938 and "Oxus in summer" in 1939 and "Crowns" (which was not one of the Oxus series) in 1947. Pamela continued to write throughout her life and married John Bell who was a literary editor for the Oxford University Press.

The books sold well and were reprinted from time-to-time, most recently being reissued by Fidra Books.

Comments and enquiries welcome

I am hoping to produce at least an extended article, if not a book, about the Oxus books and how they came to be written.
I welcome comments, suggestions and in particular any light that can be shed on the authors - e.g. where they went to school, what else they wrote (Pam wrote at least a couple of short stories) etc.

Oxus Website

I have been meaning to put all the information about Hull and Whitlock and the books up on a website. I have it in hard copy and have even registered the necessary web names. I'll let you know when it does go live.
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There is now a website but only in outline. One of these days.... if it appeals to anyone to help flesh it out that would be great: http://www.fardistantoxus.com/

More people who liked the book

You can find copies on Amazon and also other book websites, but originals are often expensive.
Fidra Books are selling new copies at £12.00 plus P&P, printed just like the originals: http://www.fidrabooks.com/publishing/shop.shtml#KHPW

The books are being republished

Well done Fidra Books for republisghing the three books in the Oxus series.
This link will give you a flavour of the books - the first chapter of the first book, The Far Distant Oxus:
http://www.fidrabooks.com/publishing/chapters/FarDistantOxus.shtml

People who liked the books

Clearly a lot of people remember the books. See for example the reviews on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Far-Distant-Oxus-Katharine-Hull/product-reviews/0027457605/ref=cm_cr_pr_link_prev_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0