Forest's shifting friendships and allegiances, and the subtlty with which she portrays this, are some of my favourite elements of the books.
I think he'd be happier if she had gone off to be friends with someone else
I think that part of the issue is the apparent paucity of other suitable social life in the area. As far as the immediate locality goes the Marlows/Merricks seem the only families of social standing to be friends with one another with children of that age - others get mentioned at the parties and fete, but they've clearly come from farther away - and the situation is exacerbated by the Marlows having no local friends from younger school days and the Merricks being Catholic*. So Nicola has no option to flounce and go and play with Jenny instead, and Patrick has no casual male acquaintences that might go for a loaf round the Estate with him. So the holiday books end up sharing with the school stories some of that "closed community" element and all the social tensions that go with that.
*The private chapel can do Patrick no favours on the social experience front, either.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Being submissive to Patrick.
Date: 2015-02-14 12:52 pm (UTC)I think he'd be happier if she had gone off to be friends with someone else
I think that part of the issue is the apparent paucity of other suitable social life in the area. As far as the immediate locality goes the Marlows/Merricks seem the only families of social standing to be friends with one another with children of that age - others get mentioned at the parties and fete, but they've clearly come from farther away - and the situation is exacerbated by the Marlows having no local friends from younger school days and the Merricks being Catholic*. So Nicola has no option to flounce and go and play with Jenny instead, and Patrick has no casual male acquaintences that might go for a loaf round the Estate with him. So the holiday books end up sharing with the school stories some of that "closed community" element and all the social tensions that go with that.
*The private chapel can do Patrick no favours on the social experience front, either.