To whom I wish long life still lengthened with all happiness

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Will Shakspere's dedication of The Rape of Lucrece to Harry Southampton reminds me of the more cryptic dedications in Antonia Forest's own books - and the fact that one name keeps coming up.


Autumn Term - none
The Marlows and the Traitor - A. M. C. R.*
Falconer's Lure - Barbara Bower
End of Term - G. B. Stern
Peter's Room - Elizabeth my shanghai'd godmother with love and humble duty
The Thursday Kidnapping - David
The Thuggery Affair - Anthony C.**
The Ready-Made Family - Claire Hassard
The Player's Boy - Mr H. F. R.
The Players and the Rebels - Jason Hassard
The Cricket Term - Nicola Hassard
The Attic Term - P. B. T.
Run Away Home - Dorothy and Peter

* Any relation to P. G. C. K. R., I wonder?

** Forest also thanks J. and E. H. - in the absence of more information it is tempting to imagine more Hassards - for the use of their car registration number.


I apologise if this has been covered before, or if it comes across as a terrible invasion of the privacy of individuals whose identities Forest has clearly taken some pains to conceal - but I would be most interested if anyone knows anything about the other dedicatees and how they were important to her and her work.

One is clear enough (G. B. Stern), another explained (the shanghai'd godmother), and a third readily deducible (unless Forest had another Dorothy and Peter in mind); still others are so brief or cryptic one can't imagine where to begin.

And perhaps most of all I'm curious as to who the Hassards are - there are so many of them throughout the series they could almost rival the Marlows. There's even a Nicola Hassard - I wonder if she by any chance had the additional privilege of being immortalised as a Marlow -

And finally, a little by way of introduction - I used to be on GO, albeit mostly as a lurker, circa late '90s and early '00s, but simply couldn't keep up with the amount of traffic there after a while. Of course, that didn't stop me from re-reading my AFs on a regular basis or wondering idly about things like this, and so am glad to have found Trennels.

Comments

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

I got nothing. And also, I do kind of feel that if AF didn't want to us to know we shouldn't go looking. But I wonder if 'The Marlows and Their Maker' might have some information?

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have to say I do get that sense too, particularly with the initials, given that AF herself was such a private person.

I've only seen the early version of The Marlows and Their Maker that was online some years ago, but I expect the published book is somewhat different from it.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

presumably also, as her real name was Rubinstein, the Rs are likely to stand for that? Cousins, nephews, nieces?

[antfan.livejournal.com]

sorry - just realised that the PGKCR is AF herself, so my suggestion not helpful.

[(Anonymous)]

Barbara Bower is Barbara Euphan Todd's married name (the Worzel Gummidge lady -- Lawrie imitates Worzel Gummidge at some point).

Above was me, sorry

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Forgot to log in.

Re: Above was me, sorry

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Gosh yes - and so Lawrie being Worzel Gummidge was a shout-out of sorts!

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

The introduction to the Girls Gone By edition of _The Ready-Made Family_ states: "After leaving the Army Pay Office, she never took paid employment, leading the existence of a full-time writer. She stayed with Peter Stern and other friends, and went on holidays, some spent in the company of the lively Hassard family, whose mother, Elizabeth, a friend since the later 1940s, was the 'shanghai'd Godmother' of the _Peter's Room_ dedication."

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Thanks - plainly this is a reason why my ragtag collection of paperbacks and the occasional first edition won't suffice any longer. I do have the GGBP editions of the two historical novels and thought the extra material fairly comprehensive, but I'd no idea how enlightening the other introductions were as well.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

And by the way, welcome to Trennels! To think for years and years I thought I was the only admirer of Antonia Forest's books out there...it's always lovely to find others equally happy to pick over such burning issues as the fairness or unfairness of buying Catkin or the identification of dedicatees...

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Thank you! When I found Trennels I read practically all the posts - less out of duty as a newcomer and more out of delight at finding a whole community that discussed AF and only AF (well, mainly). After a while I found I had no more posts left to read, and realised there was only one thing to be done...

As for the unfairness of buying Catkin: it seems to me that AF is pretty tough on even her strongest characters - Rowan saddled with Trennels, Nicola almost having to leave Kingscote - to the point that unfairness tends to be quite central to plot (and character) development. (Though looking at it another way, perhaps the one entirely consistent thing is Mrs Marlow's appalling lack of judgement!)

If nothing else, I dare say buying Catkin is one way of piling injustice on injustice and giving Ginty a beast on which she can ride off into the sunset with Patrick... for the time being.

[(Anonymous)]

The thing about Ginty and Catkin is that while we may see Ginty as unfairly lucky and privileged (especially in Peter's room, where she gets to be pretty, wear a Doris dress, own Catkin and flirt with Patrick), the adults are probably worried about her. She was the one who got buried during the Blitz, she had a particularly hard time during The Marlows and the Traitor, and she spent the previous holidays in the thrall of Unity Logan. The grown-ups are probably thinking that Ginty needs something to occupy her during the holidays - preferably something that will also teach her responsibility - and since she's shown signs of turning into a Pony Club type, why not buy her a pony? From the adult point of view, Nicola has hawking, Peter has various hobbies, and Lawrie doesn't need to be spoiled any more than she already is.

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

There's a point, or so the grown-ups hope at least - though it may just go to show that keeping a Marlovian stiff upper lip and coping on one's own doesn't pay off, even in their own family.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

It's funny but I've never thought of Mrs Marlow as having bad judgement - maybe that's because the other characters esp Nicola don't seem to think this, and therefore I buy into the values of the book while I'm reading it. When Mrs Marlow writes to Nicola in Cricket Term her reasons for "why is has to be Nicola" ,if anyone, do seem to make sense. and Mrs Marlow is the one who doesn't want Rowan to be a farmer - for Rowan's own sake - and in fact Rowan doesn't enjoy it. Mrs Marlow is rather impulsive over money and I think giving ginty the necklace is another impulsive act but I don't think in general she has poor judgement about her family - although she certainly has a tendency to keep her distance.

I think the books generally are very realistic in the sense that life just isn't especially fair. For Ginty this means that she will have popularity, treats etc because people can't help reacting to her good looks (AF obviously thinks looks ARE significant)and the easy charm she has developed to go with it. But it's a double-edged sword - I think AF strongly implies that if Ginty weren't pretty, and relying upon that, she might develop more character - move beyond her essential shallowness.

By the way the anonymous post wasn't me (I say that just for clarity).

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

True - unfair as Mrs Marlow's Cricket Term letter is, her reasons do make sense somewhat, albeit in a somewhat backhanded way as she herself has the good grace to admit. And I see what you mean about buying into the values of the book (or at least that of characters I like) while I'm reading it, so it's probably just as well that AF's characters, however minor, are rarely if ever entirely abject.

Having said that, it fascinates me how Mrs Marlow runs off to see her husband and leaves the entire lower deck to its own devices at St.-Anne's-Byfleet - incidentally right after two of them (including one of the more sensible ones) give her the shock of her life when they barely survive their stroll-in-a-storm along the Undercliff that morning. Just a bit surprising coming after AF's description of the secretly heart-in-mouth parent who still thinks instinctively of rheumatic fever where the twins are concerned (unless this is Mrs Marlow over-compensating in her efforts to appear tough and unharassed).

Of course I'm looking at this through 21st century lenses, not knowing if this would have been reasonable circa half a century ago, so I'm not really in a position to judge Mrs Marlow. But I would be interested as to what Rowan thinks of her - both before and after all those breakfasts and dinners and evenings together at Trennels.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

I also feels Mrs M changes during the series - that at the start she is much more of a stock story book mother - fairly deferential to her husband, slightly fussing over her children, very domestic, rather bland in other words. It's just "darling" this and "darling" that. And so in keeping with that maybe bundling her off in M and the T is just yet more story book convention (I agree with you it seems pretty irresponsible).

By contrast I think from End of Term on she comes much more alive - for a start she is much more (realistically to my mind) ratty with her children. She can really be pretty snarly, plus she has her interesting tension-filled relationship with her mother, plus back story of elopement, hunting etc - really comes to life.

But then that's probably just me - I'm not crazy about the earlier holiday books generally, maybe because I didn't own copies until recently (I did read them once from the library as a child) and so the more old-fashioned family I find there seems alien to me. I know lots of people on Trennels adore Falconer's Lure in particular.

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Yes, I like how Mrs Marlow starts getting a rich back-story of her own - I know I was as fascinated as her sprogs were whenever these snatches of her past life came to light. Randomly it brings to mind the movie An Education (which set off Karen Marlow bells when I first heard about it - 1960s, bright swot ditching Oxford for older man - unfortunately the resemblance ends there) where the mother starts getting lippy with her husband with a retort along the lines of "I did have a life, at least before we married!" But I digress.

I had the good fortune to find The Marlows and the Traitor and Falconer's Lure quite early on. But I admit I'm not as partial to The Marlows and the Traitor myself - the book is a pleasure to read for her brilliant characterisation of Anquetil and Foley, but in the larger scheme of things the Marlows are just sculling around still, as the author says in a not-too-different context - but it's precisely that. For me, Falconer's Lure is in fact the point where things start feeling familiar - this and End of Term are the first books in the series with a distinct sense of the history, setting and themes that ground the later ones.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

I think you're right essentially - yes, I'd say End of Term is where it really starts and the characters suddenly feel really authentically themselves. I've read FL twice since getting my GGB edition, and liked it a lot more the second time - so maybe I'll like it still better if I give it another go.

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

Also - priceless how all the extravagances are funded by one heirloom or another...