podcast

[coughingbear]

Just in case anyone is still following, I did a podcast with Ali Baker discussing Cricket Term along with Daisy May Johnson's How to Be Brave, and it's available on Podbean here (also I think on Apple podcasts and other places). It was a lot of fun to do, though of course we both thought of lots of other things to say afterwards!

There are notes on the webpage with references, and things we couldn't quite remember on the spot, and I'd also note I think we are little unfair on Ginty at one point; she does have some self-awareness about e.g. pretending she deliberately did badly at the diving to benefit Monica, as when everything gets found out in Attic Term, that's the unpunished sin that comes to her mind.

Comments

[legionseagle]

I thought it was very good, and sort-of ironic I listened to it on the day an Irish bowler did a quat-trick (I know four wickets in four balls is technically a double hat-trick, but it just isn't intuitively) and I don't think you're unfair on Ginty in that -- like Lois -- she does have self-awareness but it makes no difference. In fact, one thing you really brought out is that both Lois and Ginty are "He said 'She has a lovely face/Lord in his mercy bring her grace'" in their own ways. One almost wonders if Rowan's antipathy to Lois is because she's seen it at home, in an inchoate form (and in Autumn Term Rowan's savagery with Ginty's self-dramatics makes more sense if it's a sore spot already.)

[coughingbear]

I’m glad you enjoyed it! And yes, that is a key thing for both of them, and interesting that Rowan’s impatience with both of them may be affected by the other. I hadn’t thought of that but it makes a lot of sense (especially perhaps of pushing Ginty to take part in the Show).

[legionseagle]

Yes! Because in FL Rowan is completely in the wrong there on the face of it, because Ginty clearly and comprehensively says "No" and is shoved into it nonetheless, and forced to do subterfuge to get out of it. And while that's morally different from Lois claiming incapacity (falsely) as an insurance policy, Rowan who is only 16 and under some stress at the time (functional eldest given that Karen is as self-centred as Lawrie but better at disguising it, and Giles is away) I can see why it strikes the same buttons.

[coughingbear]

And it’s previously seemed to me a bit out of character for Rowan, because I wouldn’t expect her to mind that much, but being the functional adult & concerned that no Marlows give the impression of being a Lois type makes a lot of sense. Of course, in fact no one would notice, not least because most of their neighbours will still - if thinking of them at all - be trying to remember if it’s four girls or six, but at 16 that wouldn’t be clear to you.

[legionseagle]

Because Kingscote is the sort of environment where people do notice, and she's unable to parse the change that quickly.

[jackmerlin]

I enjoyed this very much, and will certainly look out for the other book you discuss, which sounds great!

[jackmerlin]

I was interested in the comments on the use of first person narratives - how it wasn't really an option for Forest, and certainly wouldn't have allowed her to switch point of view in the way she so often does. The different points of view are one of the (many) strengths of the Marlow books for me. And how Daisy May Jackson has used the interesting technique of a first person POV but not of the main character, thus enabling both a sense of immediacy but also a little distance. This seems like a clever solution to the modern trend to have almost every YA or children's book told in the first person.