trennels | Antonia Forest Marlows series readthrough: provisional plan (Reply)

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.