Run Away Home.

[jackmerlin.livejournal.com]

Thought I'd give myself a Christmas treat and reread RAH. But as I read the earlier parts of the book I found myself a bit disappointed. Normally I find AF's books improve the more you read them,even The Thuggery Affair which I found I really liked second time round, (even the odd slang seems so much more believable once you've had a chance to get used to it);but RAH wasn't growing on me... Partly the whole back story to Edward Oeschli seems so unlikely and contrived. If Edward's dad was as decent as he is described as being, why would he have done something so mad as kidnapping a baby from a pram, causing massive panic and worry to the mother? OK it's a plot device to make it impossible for him to come back to England to get Edward, but it adds to the unconvincingness of the whole story. And would a young naval officer like Giles really risk everything for an unknown boy? Think how cross he was with Nicola when she bunked off school to see him in Autumn Term. And would anyone from an experienced sailing, naval family really have taken an open dayboat to sea in early January?
However I do love the sailing scenes, especially Peter sailing the boat back with Giles unconscious. Makes me want to reread 'We didn't mean to go to sea'...