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Just a quick post to introduce myself. I discovered the Antonia Forest books many years ago and loved them but never met anyone, other than myself and my sister, who'd even heard of them. A few years ago, a very kind person from the Girlsown list lent me all the ones I didn't own, or had managed to lose over the years. They also supplied me with a photocopy of The Players Boy, which up until then, I had never managed to read. If that person is a member of this community, (sorry can't remember her name) - thank you again!
I then tracked down my own copies of the missing books, so I was finally in possession of a full set. It's great to find a group of fans, I could never understand why her books were such a minority interest, they are so beautifully written. I can't nominate a favourite as I love them all equally, for different reasons.
I do have a very soft spot for The Player and the Rebels, as it was one of only two I managed to keep hold of, in the barren years when I'd lost most of the others. My hardback would doubtless be worth more if I hadn't read it so many times. The others was The Thuggery Affair, which I also love, although I think I read somewhere that it's not as well-regarded as the others. I love it for the absence of Nicola, for the long sequences from other characters points of view, particularly Lawrie. I love Nicola, especially in The Cricket Term and Run Away Home but it's interesting to have one Marlow book without her. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, looking forward to being here *waves*
I then tracked down my own copies of the missing books, so I was finally in possession of a full set. It's great to find a group of fans, I could never understand why her books were such a minority interest, they are so beautifully written. I can't nominate a favourite as I love them all equally, for different reasons.
I do have a very soft spot for The Player and the Rebels, as it was one of only two I managed to keep hold of, in the barren years when I'd lost most of the others. My hardback would doubtless be worth more if I hadn't read it so many times. The others was The Thuggery Affair, which I also love, although I think I read somewhere that it's not as well-regarded as the others. I love it for the absence of Nicola, for the long sequences from other characters points of view, particularly Lawrie. I love Nicola, especially in The Cricket Term and Run Away Home but it's interesting to have one Marlow book without her. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, looking forward to being here *waves*
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Date: 2006-05-13 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 02:03 am (UTC)*wanders off to mull over writing that Nicholas/Bess fic she now realises she's always secretly wanted to read*
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Date: 2006-05-13 07:16 am (UTC)And your comment reminded me of when we began to study The Tempest for A Level and it finally started making sense of all of that part of Cricket Term!
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Date: 2006-05-13 11:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 12:11 pm (UTC)Me too! Bizarrely enough, The Tempest was my other 'A' level Shakespeare text. I wonder if my teacher was a fan *ponders*.
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Date: 2006-05-13 08:22 am (UTC)Nicholas/Bess fic? *suddenly remembers one she wrote a few years ago and wanders off to check if its still there*
Hmm. Maybe this needs a public airing too?
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Date: 2006-05-13 10:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 09:51 am (UTC)I too really like the long Lawrie-viewpoint stretches in The Thuggery Affair, particularly when she's composing her own obituary. So Lawrie! :)
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Date: 2006-05-13 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 12:14 pm (UTC)The Thuggery Affair
Date: 2006-05-14 03:26 pm (UTC)Actually, I loved the entire book. I find it one of the most intense of all AF's books (maybe because of the short timeframe) and it really brings across the feeling of teenagers not quite in control of the events going on around them - which I remember as being one of the main features of being a teenager, even if I didn't lead such an excitng life as the Marlows!
Lawrie as role model
Date: 2006-05-14 03:31 pm (UTC)Run Away Home has a similarly short timeframe, but possibly the presence of Rowan and Giles (until Giles isn't present in any helpful sense, of course) makes it less claustrophobic?
Re: Lawrie as role model
Date: 2006-05-15 11:03 am (UTC)Yes, and also the presence of Nicola, and because we see it from Nicola's perspective. Nicola is a very comforting pov person, because we know she will cope and everything will work out, but I don't have that feeling with Patrick, Peter or Lawrie. For one reason or another, whether because of a streak of recklessness (Patrick), an inability to bow to common sense through fear of being seen as a coward (Peter), or total lack of common sense (Lawrie), none of them seem to be in control of the situation in the same way as Nicola, Rowan or Giles would have been. Its probably the same reason why AF put Giles out of action on the trip back from France; the narrative only got really compelling once it was Peter on his own.
Re: Lawrie as role model
Date: 2006-05-15 12:50 pm (UTC)