Antonia Forest Marlows series readthrough: provisional plan

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted by the level of interest in a Marlows series readthrough and discussion.  Given the number of people who want to participate, I thought it might be best to host it here at trennels rather than on my personal journal.  I'll link to the discussion in a public post on my personal journal each week, with comments closed so the discussion doesn't get broken up.

Please do feel free to publicise the readthrough in your journals, in comms or on other sites where you think there might be interest.

You don't need an lj or any other social media account to participate, but in line with trennels posting policy, could you please sign any comment you make with a name or pseudonym.  Multiple anon. comments obviously get confusing.  If people end up posting with the same name or pseud--well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

There's no obligation to comment on every post--on the other hand, the more discussion the better, so please do feel free to comment whenever you're moved to.

My feeling is that it would be best to read the twentieth-century set books in publication order, followed by the two historical novels. Thus:

Autumn Term
The Marlows and the Traitor
Falconer's Lure
End of Term
Peter's Room
The Thuggery Affair
The Ready Made Family
The Cricket Term
The Attic Term
Run Away Home

The Player's Boy
The Players and the Rebels

Many of these novels are difficult and costly to obtain.  If you don't have a particular novel then please send me a private message and I'll put you in touch with someone who can make one available for you. If you haven't got an lj, please comment below, with [Title] Request in the subject line.

We'll move at a relatively leisurely pace, perhaps between 3-5 chapters (Forest's chapters are quite short)  a week, which will mean we'll read through each novel in about a month.  If that turns out to be too slow, we can always speed up; easier I think than slowing down.  That will mean the readthrough will stretch into 2015, but for those of you interested in fanfic, I hope there'll be some traction for the Yuletide fanfic exchange.

Autumn Term is quite easy to obtain, and I imagine that most people have a copy, or they wouldn't be here at all.  Just in case, though:
Buy it here on Amazon.co.uk.
Here is Addall, a price-comparison site for second-hand books: there are usually lots of second-hand copies of Autumn Term available for low prices.

I'll post each Friday, inviting discussion on the named chapters, beginning on 23rd May 2014.  That'll give people the weekend to start a discussion, though of course you're free to comment whenever you like.

Autumn Term reading schedule

23rd May: Chapters 1-5
30th May: Chapters 6-10
6th June: Chapters 11-15
13th June: Chapters 16-19

Here is a wonderful blogpost on Autumn Term. Do feel free to make blog or fic recommendations during the course of the discussion.

Is this agreeable to everyone?  Please do feel free to make comments, suggestions, or ask questions below.

Comments

[occasionalhope.livejournal.com]

This loos great. I'm looking forward to it.

[nzraya.livejournal.com]

+1

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

+2

[oursin.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that the timing of this first tranche wasn't going to work for me, because it pretty much overlaps Epic Canadian Trip, but then I realised that my copy of Autumn Term is a slender (if shabby) Puffin which will hardly constitute a major addition to my luggage.

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Tremendous. Hope the Epic Canadian Trip is successful too!

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to it!

[mudkickerkicks.livejournal.com]

Can't wait, thanks again for organising. I'd love to read Peter's Room and Traitor if anyone has them. Thanks all.

[nzraya.livejournal.com]

PM me with an email address and I'll send you a PDF of Traitor.

[schwarmerei1.livejournal.com]

I've had two children and moved three times in the past four years. All my books are in boxes. We're finally settled -- I think it's time to unpack!

I know I definitely have Autumn Term, but I'm missing some of the "home" books. I'll check and PM...

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Nice to have you on board.

[mainerobin.livejournal.com]

Hello,

I stumbled upon Trennels at Christmas time and was absolutely delighted to discover some other people who love Antonia Forest. I came upon the school stories back in the early 80s when I spent a year in Cambridge, and was able to buy three of them (all but Attic Term). I spent too many hours at Christmas reading through the archives to learn what I could about the books I haven’t seen. (Ginty trapped underground? Drugs and thugs? Does Lawrie live up to her prosser? Does Nicola really join the Navy? What happens to Jan Scott?) I couldn’t believe all of you have been discussing this books for almost 10 years! And haven’t run out of things to talk about yet. I love the fanfiction and find most of it to match Forest’s style nearly perfectly. In fact there are some things I’m not sure I read in the comments or fanfic, so my Marlow reality may be skewed a bit.

I haven’t had a chance to peek at Trennels since Christmas until today and was very excited to see the post about the readthrough. O frabjous day! I hope you’ll have me though I’m new to LJ as of today and have only read 4 of the books. I’ve been looking to buy the other ones, but they are so expensive. Over here, I can’t even find them in libraries to borrow! I don’t understand why if they are so well written, they aren’t more available.

A bit about me: I live in Maine in the US and have never met another person who even heard of Forest. I’ve been rereading them regularly for thirty years. I knew I’d love Nicola as soon as I found out she had a knife with sixteen blades. I love boats and the sea and have wanted to sail around the world when I was younger. So you see that I identified with Nicola right away. Though as a child, I fear I was much more like Lawrie, avoiding conflict through tears, or blame or any other trick I could think of. I always felt it would be much more honourable to behave like Nicola. Thank god I do now! Perhaps Lawrie grew up too.

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Nice to make the acquaintance of someone else who loves the books. coughingbear and nzraya have offered to help out with obtaining some of the titles: drop them a private message. Go to >Profile > Inbox to see and send messages on LJ.

[melandraanne.livejournal.com]

I've joined this rather late, but really looking forward to catching up.

(At least this gives me some time to finally track down my copy of Attic Term which vanished a couple of years ago ... )

Run Away Home request

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

Firstly 'sorrow' if I've got any of the etiquette wrong - not used to Live Journal but a die-hard Forest fan. I would dearly love to complete my library - just splurged on Peter's Room and finished re-reading Attic Term (my favourite) so slightly out of synch, but I would be most grateful for any Pdfs that can be spared. I am missing the following:

The Thuggery Affair
The Cricket Term
Run Away Home

My email address is theoutofofficegirl [at] gee mail etc.

With grateful thanks
Copper Kettle