Antonia Forest fans

It says in the introduction to the girls gone by edition that AF herself couldn't manage Matriculation, so she presumably genuinely thinks it is possible to be intelligent and have trouble with school, particularly exams. She doesn't seem to have been qualified for a full university degree and certainly never took one, just a journalism diploma, despite not wanting to be a journalist. I don't think there is anything to suggest that Patrick, although bright, isn't having genuine difficulty with some subjects. Certainly his schoolteachers may be implying that he just needs to work harder, but I don't think they are being endorsed.
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