Although the family stayed in Wales for only a year, Jones fell in love with the Welsh language--an affection that has influenced her writing. The rich, rolling Welsh polysyllables haunted her dreams even in adulthood and provided an accompaniment to her creative writing.
In 1940 the family moved to the Lake District, where Jones and her sisters went to school with other young evacuees. Here they encountered two famous children's authors--Arthur Ransome and Beatrix Potter--who objected to having their quiet lives invaded by noisy, rambunctious children. Potter went so far as to strike Isobel for swinging on the farm gate. Authors, Jones perceived, were old and grumpy and selfish.
Because of difficulties with neighboring children, Marjorie Jones moved her family again in 1941. After a brief stay in Yorkshire, they returned to London in 1942. The worst of the blitz was over, but the Germans were still making bombing runs on London. The wail of the air-raid sirens, the whistle of falling bombs, the muffled explosions, and the rat-a-tat of the anti-aircraft guns made a deep impression on Jones as she huddled with her family behind blackout curtains. Reading provided an escape from this frightening reality.
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