Saplings (novel)

Saplings (1945) is an adult novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Collins, about the Wiltshire middle-class family living in Regent's Park in pre-Second World War London. With the breakdown of society under German attack, the family undergoes its own rapid disintegration. The novel is written from the perspective of four children – Laurel, Tony, Tuesday, and Kim, as well as from the perspective of their mother, Lena.

Streatfeild mixes fantasy themes of children's books and a more mature psychological realism to show the total damage caused by war.

In 2004 Saplings was adapted into a ten-part radio series on BBC Radio 4. It was also featured on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read in October 2009.

Saplings was republished by Persephone Books in 2000.