End of Term query

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I was named after Nicola Marlow, and very pleased I was too when I read the books at around 10-12. I always identified with Nicola because of our shared name and because she was what I wanted to be and wasn't--confident and competent at games--and was--a tomboy, but obsessed with the RAF instead of the Navy. :-)

This year I decided to read all the books I can lay my hands on, and I'm enchanted and very impressed by their quality, depth, and understanding of teenagers. I think I've sorted out ages and terms thanks to this great comm, but I have a question.

I've just finished 'End of Term', which I don't think I've read before. The only bit that doesn't make sense to me is why Nicola is chosen for the Shepherd Boy by Keith. She bases her casting decisions on character (and possibly looks and size) rather than ability, so why does she choose Nicola when Nicola, as far as she knows, has been so unreliable at turning up for netball practices she was excluded from the team? Lawrie on the other hand has done nothing to upset authority, and doesn't already have an important role. OK, I know it was for Plot Reasons, but is there an explanation I can accept? It's so illogical to pick the best soloist they have for the shepherd boy and not the best actor.

Comments

[lobeliaqueen.livejournal.com]

Miss Keith chose Jess as someone of sufficiently good character but after Dr Herrick's (?) arrival to direct the play, he moved people around, based on ability, so that Nicola had a solo. Was he involved in her promotion to Shepherd Boy too? Isn't this the book where we hear a snatch of Miss Kempe and another mistress talking and Kempe says that she argued for "the other one" (or something like that) but that Miss Keith wouldn't budge so she made the best of what was offered? I took this to mean that she really wanted Lawrie but Miss Keith was only prepared to accept Nicola in the role.

Miss Keith is illogical and that does allow for useful plot devices eg Karen as head girl when the twins arrive.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's right; Keith offered three people, Nicola and two others who were probably quite untalented. The thing is though, Lois had blackened Nicola's character that term, so why was she even put forward, especially when she already had solos? Lawrie OTOH hadn't done anything wrong (that the staff knew of) and didn't have a real role in the play.

[looks at book] Jess Geddes, the really bad Shepherd Boy, was going to South Africa with her family and Keith had three recommendations for the part; what did Miss Kempe think?

"What I should really like," said Miss Kempe, glancing down the three names, "would be Lawrie Marlow for the part. I know you weren't too keen when we discussed it at the beginning of term, but now-- Look, Head, really won't you reconsider?"

I don't see why Keith wouldn't consider Lawrie, a brilliant actor, especially after Nicola has been thrown out of the netball team.

I'd like an explanation that makes sense, but I suppose I can go with Keith being high-handed. She has a right to dislike Lawrie, perhaps because 1) it might go to her head and 2) she was Tim's best friend and 3) she may have seen Lawrie bawling her eyes out at some point and written her off as not terribly sensible. I'd just like to have known and thought I may have missed something.

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

I figured Keith didn't want Lawrie getting big-headed after her success in the Third Remove play the term before. Probably with a helping of writing Lawrie off as emotionally immature or something.

I always rather identified with Lawrie...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was coming round to that idea too. I wish AF had said though, just a hint in that brief conversation with Kempe.

I always identified with Nicola, not just for the shared name, but for her being such a tomboy. Yet I'm a dreamer and have done quite a bit of acting, so there's a lot of Lawrie there too. I was also the class clown all through school so I've got a soft spot for Tim even though she can be very cruel.

BTW I haven't read the later books yet, so don't spoil me!

[Edit] Picked wrong icon, sorry.

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

I always thought there was some sort of short-list for each role, and Nicola was probably on the short list? Given that she was of sufficient good character to be appointed Form Captain by Miss Cromwell, perhaps she had sufficiently redeemed herself between Autumn Term and the start of End of term to be considered for the short-list.

Lawrie however, probably tooled around in third remove for too long, got up to all sorts of hi-jinks under Tim's bad influence, and was considered too much of a liability for a big production (even though talented) because she was always bursting into tears. Also, netball's already taking up her time.

Also Lois's 'blackening' may not have been taken seriously by Miss Keith (it always struck me that Miss Redmond may have been a bit on the outer with the rest of the staff). In Attic Term when Nicola is getting her conduct mark, it says next to her name that she was left off the team for being overdonfident, but someone else has written 'query' next to this.

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that sould be over-confident.
Also, how fabulous to be named after Nicola Marlow! I fully intend to name an infant Rowan, should I ever get one that is.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I suspect a lot of Nicolas were named after her because the name didn't exist much before that. I've met a couple of Rowans but I have no idea if they were named after Rowan Marlow; it never occurred to me!

I wasn't fond of my surname as a kid (it's a shortened form of a Russian one) and wished it was Marlow too, and that I had blue eyes and blonde hair. :-P

[richenda.livejournal.com]

That seems very likely - but I know three Nicolas who were named after fathers who had died in WW2 (Nicholases).
Why not Nichola, I wonder?)

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

I do know a Nichola - not sure if she's named after a father though

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think I've come across a Nichola or two; it's pretty uncommon though. When I was in Italy, people assumed I was a guy from my name, and in Germany I was always Nicole. I still get that here; I blame Nicole Kidman. ;-) At least it's better than Nicky; I hate that, just as NM does. My preferred shortened form is Nico.

I've yet to meet a female Lawrence or Lawrie.

[prepneot.livejournal.com]

My baby daughter is named after Nicola Marlow. Although no-one I know has heard of the books. We almost gave her the middle name Lauren, and I only realised later that it would have been awfully close to Lawrie! We decided at the last minute to change the middle name. I also dislike Nicky as a nickname.

I'm slowly re-collecting copies of the books to give to my Nicola when she is older - my parents got rid of mine years ago :( and now I have to chase them on ebay.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

My baby daughter is named after Nicola Marlow.

Yay, another one! I do wonder whether AF made the name popular because I don't think it was at all common before her books came out.

Books cost so much here I tend to borrow from the library unless I know I want to reread a book. I've been acquiring the Swallows and Amazons ones as paperbacks because they've been reprinted recently, so I hope the Marlow ones will be too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've come across one or two. At school (boarding at that) I objected to that misspelling and got called Nich by one friend. :-P

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to name my daughter (should I ever have one) Rowan. But now I think people would assume she was named after Rowan Williams, so I'm rethinking the plan.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I haven't read past this book yet, so I don't really have all the staff straight. But yes, that makes sense that Keith's list pre-dated the term.

[jen-c-w.livejournal.com]

oh, you have a treat in store! Attic Term is my favourite.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

And the library has it; yay! The only ones missing are 'The Marlows and the Traitor' which I do remember well, and 'The Thuggery Affair' which I gather from this comm isn't that good anyway. I think I only read the first three as a child because I didn't remember any of 'End of Term' at all.

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

There's some lovely moments in The Thuggery Affair, but if I had to choose one never to re-read it'd be high on the list.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

If I find it somewhere I'll certainly read it, but books cost too much from overseas to bother buying it. I do want to read the 'The Marlows and the Traitor' again though, because I loved it as a kid. :-(

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

That's a particularly well-stocked library. Lucky you.

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

I'd never thought about it, but it doesn't make much sense, even for Miss Keith.

Maybe Lawrie was left on the team as a character-building exercise in the same way that Marie was, but wasn't thought reliable enough for a part in the Play? At this point Lawrie's only acted in The Prince And The Pauper, which there was little staff involvement with, so they don't know that her usual flightiness and tearfulness doesn't apply when there's a play in question.

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's probably right. I also remembered Miss Cromwell being rather fierce about extra-curricular activities not being allowed to interfere with ones schoolwork, and given that Lawrie does seem a bit of a dunce compared to Nicola (she fails all her exams at the end of Autumn Term), perhaps staff thought she'd be better off concentrating on lessons.

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

Yes, I assumed it wasn't so much school Record of Wrongdoings as general staff assessment of character. Reliable, sensible, competent Nicola rather than flighty, selfish, lazy-unless-it's-something-she-really-wants-to-do Lawrie.

[colne-dsr.livejournal.com]

Maybe Miss Keith realises that Lawrie's a complete heathen who knows nothing about Christianity? (cf that episode at half-term when Lawrie assumes people treat Christianity like the old Greek gods and goddesses?) Nicola at least knows that some people believe, even if she herself doesn't.

And maybe being Ann's sister helps - Miss Keith hopes some of that virtue will rub off.

I'm not quite sure how Miss Keith views Nicola - I know Nicola thinks Miss Keith doesn't like her, but I'm not so sure. I reckon Miss Keith thinks Nicola has great potential but needs to learn to be more like Ann, more of a "team player" as it were - I always think Keith can be a bit of an optimist where character development's concerned.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I can just hear Lawrie saying "So am I too Ann's sister!" (or have I got my Marlovian syntax garbled?)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Keith wasn't connected with the netball team decision; that was Lois, Redmond, and Craven, with Lois giving the deliberate impression that Nicola was often late when it had only happened once.

Deliberately doing it to be character-forming (like having the hopeless Marie Dobson in the team) does make sense in a rather cruel way.

[ex-lizzzar998.livejournal.com]

This is a re-write of a previous post. I'm not certain why Nicola is chosen rather than Lawrie, but I'm not sure that Lawrie's comparative immaturity is completely plausible as an explanation as her significant talent as an actress seems pretty much agreed,including by Miss Kempe. The play was originally cast on character not talent, though, and Miss Keith may be trying to make a clumsy point in character formation. It is true that she did not directly re-move Nicola from the netball team, but most likely knew and approved of it ( it goes on Nicola's permanent record as "over-confidence" in Attic Term). Possibly she feels that Marlow over-confidence is a bit of a problem (in her Miss Keith way) and that both Nicola (the netball team) and Lawrie ( the play) not getting what they really want will be good for their characters. Maybe this is harsh on Miss Keith, but AF does seem continuely sceptical of her manipulations (as are Nicola and Rowan). It is a relief when a bit of Christmas luck sorts it all out (despite the glorious row ).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Blood at Breakfast!

I can believe she'd do that to Lawrie, but I'm still surprised she picked Nicola, given the netball team unreliability and her being a soloist. I know she had to for Plot, but surely there were others of Good Character could be nobbled on the night. Still, it made for lots of Nicola angst because she wasn't as good as Lawrie and was disliked so much by Tim for it.

And I'm sure the joy of the play made up for the glorious row!

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm, I also wonder if, since Miss Keith thinks of the play as an 'act of worship', perhaps she thinks that someone who's too good an actor will distract from the religious aspects? If she puts Lawrie in, it's a play, not a ceremony.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought!

Names "borrowed" from AF

[(Anonymous)]

I called one of my daughters Nicola and the other Rowena (after Rowan), the dog was Tessa, the house renamed Mariners, our boat Talisman!
Julia Barnes

Re: Names "borrowed" from AF

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have a cat called Tessa, but that was before I rediscovered the books; I just like the name. I haven't read all the books yet so I don't know about Talisman.

I'm delighted that my mother was not alone! I wonder how many Nicolas were named for N Marlow. It was after all very rare as an English name before AF used it.

Re: Names "borrowed" from AF

[(Anonymous)]

Wish you'd told your daughter before now!! All those years and she never realised!