The Player's Boy

[nicolap.livejournal.com]

I just finished the Player's Boy this morning and am now desperately wanting GGBP to publish The Players and the Rebels very soon (does anybody know when it will be out?) And what did other people think of it?

It was so clever, so many tiny echoes of her other Marlow books. I kept confusing then Nick and now Nick, as Nicholas so frequently thought or felt exactly like Nicola would have in a similar situation. Gazing at Oriel, and hero-worshipping Ralegh, even to the extent of believing he could do no wrong, and not thinking religion is something he would ever dream of dying for... I hadn't expected that aspect, I thought it would be 'just' a historical story, but all those fleeting references to events 400 years in the future were fab. So I can't wait to read about Nicholas going to sea, and marrying Bess, and finally coming home to Trennels. Not sure I'd have enjoyed it if I'd read it when I was a child, as I did AF's school stories. Even now, I found I didn't know anywhere near enough history (or Latin!) to make sense of it all, so I look forward to rereading it and looking up those bits that didn't make sense because with AF much of the joy is in those little details.

Comments

[childeproof.livejournal.com]

Not to rain on your parade, or to spoil the (very wonderful) Players and the Rebels for you, but the timescale of the novel (which was, I believe, originally just the second half of PB, and not a separate novel - published separately because, combined, it was too long) is nowhere near as extensive as you're anticipating...

It is, on the other hand, completely brilliant.

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

Yes, Nicholas is definitely Nicola, isn't he?! But then, as the introduction said, the characters are rather mid-20th-century middle class in their outlook, rather than contemporary.

But the book was none the worse for that, and I am sorry to have finished it. And also looking forward to The Players and the Rebels

One annoying thing is that I can't find my copy of The Cricket Term to check out the exact wording of the Diary.

[helenprev.livejournal.com]

I've just finished it, and I loved it. I need to go back to the beginning now and read all the introductory background stuff that I skipped at the start because I was too impatient to get to the story!

Sorry to hear that the timescale is not that extensive, I too was hoping to see the marriage to Bess and the return home, as described in the diaries, in the second book - and I do hope it isn't too long before GGBP publish that one!