My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What we're reading

Calling Antonia Forest fans - who is your favourite character and who are you most like?

101 replies

MirandaWest · 29/08/2013 20:03

Have been doing some re-reading of Antonia Forest books (including Spring Term which I had only read once before and couldn't remember much at all Blush)

As is probably clear I do like Miranda very much :) And also like Rowan too. Ginty annoys me, as does Lawrie to a lesser extent.

I enjoy reading about Nicola but in real life I think I would find her a bit intimidating.

I do sometimes think I might be an Esther. But at least I am not a Lois....

OP posts:
Report
5Foot5 · 29/08/2013 22:25

Don't mean to be picky but can we describe Antonia Forest as "Adult Fiction"?

Don't get me wrong - I love "Autumn Term" and if I were lucky (or rich) enough to be able to get hold of the others I would read them like a shot. I am a big fan of girls' school stories. But doesn't this belong in Childrens?

Report
HumphreyCobbler · 29/08/2013 22:28

Do you have the complete set Miranda? Envy

I have spent many hours pondering which one I would most LIKE to be, but I fear that I am not actually like any of them.

I am a Nicola fan really, though Tim and Lawrie are utterly brilliant characters. But they are all brilliant. I love those books.

Report
HumphreyCobbler · 29/08/2013 22:31

I have not read Spring Term, I assumed it would not be any good and I really couldn't bear it..

Report
kalidasa · 29/08/2013 22:37

I'm not sure any children actually read Forest these days so I reckon the thread is probably in the right place!

I particularly like Janice.

Report
MirandaWest · 29/08/2013 22:53

I did consider putting it in Children's Fiction but did a search first and other people have gone for Adult Fiction so I have too :)

Janice is great actually (of course Miranda would say that :))

OP posts:
Report
Cantdothisagain · 30/08/2013 11:44

I am most like Karen. Not a good thing.

I like Miranda. Though she is mean sometimes.

Report
teabagpleb · 30/08/2013 13:52

I'm probably Jan Scott - had attitude problem thus not worthy of being a prefect etc. Only with Lawrie's being scared of stuff, and Rowan's practicality. Actually might just be Rowan. When not clamping mangolds...

Report
CJCregg · 30/08/2013 18:49

Lovely idea for a thread. Miranda, I think I met you at a meet-up when you were LawrieMarlow Grin

You're supposed to like Rowan and Janice, because Nicola likes them best and, mostly, the world is seen through her perspective. I totally agree that IRL I would probably find Nicola intimidating - she's so self-assured. I have always wished I had one tiny fraction of her confidence and the ease with which she achieves things.

I like Tim but wouldn't necessarily like to be friends with her. (That makes me Nicola, doesn't it?!)

Tell you who I can't bear - those awful friends of Ginty's. Jocelyn and Isa and Emma and Verity. Ghastly crew, they are.

I came on here to look for an Elizabeth Jane Howard thread, and have been completely sidetracked. I love Antonia Forest, and have most of the books, either in original from childhood or gradually obtained through second-hand dealers. Is Spring Term worth reading? I sort of can't bear to ...

Report
Cantdothisagain · 30/08/2013 19:04

I don't know whether to read Spring Term or not either...

Report
ParkerTheThief · 30/08/2013 19:08

I'm probably an Esther, without the beauty.

I like Rowan and Peter best.

I'm not keen on Ginty, I think I'd dislike her in real life.

Report
ParkerTheThief · 30/08/2013 19:11

I didn't like Spring Term, it just didn't quite feel right to me. In fact, I can't remember the plot because I think I have blanked it from my mind whereas I know the others inside out.

DH bought me the complete set for Christmas years ago. It was the best present I have ever received. They are referred to as the precious books in the style of Gollum.

Report
beatricequimby · 30/08/2013 19:30

I think I might be Sally or Maggie Sutton. Quite nice but not inner circle.

Report
beatricequimby · 30/08/2013 19:31

Apart from Nicola, I like Miranda and Esther best.

Report
MirandaWest · 30/08/2013 19:42

I did enjoy Spring Term but it definitely wasn't quite the same and I think the fact I couldn't remember any of it says quite a lot.

OP posts:
Report
lotsofdirections · 30/08/2013 23:10

Jan Scott is my favourite although I do have a soft spot for Pomona! Spring Term is entertaining as one fan's interpretation as to what happens next.

BTW I have a spare copy of 'Fly Away Home' available for a donation to BHF.

Report
lotsofdirections · 30/08/2013 23:47

DUH! I mean't 'Run Away Home' of course, sorry.

Report
ravenAK · 30/08/2013 23:53

I'd rather like to be Miss Cromwell, actually.

'Spring Term' didn't quite do it for me. Wasn't convinced by the total destruction of Ginty, or Patrick & Nicola - & the intermittent attempts at AF's style didn't quite come off. Brave effort, though!

My favourite books are 'The Player's Boy'/'The Players & the Rebels', although 'Peter's Room' is a close runner up.

Report
Cantdothisagain · 31/08/2013 04:58

I've only read the school ones. I would love Run Away Home and be happy to pay you for it or donate.

I was terrified of Miss Cromwell but yes she had something about her. Really despised Miss Redmond, the Guide woman, for believing Lois constantly. And liked the laid back one - what was her name? - the one who took a pragmatic approach.

Agree with PP about Ginty's awful friends.

I loved these books and still have them and reread them a couple of years ago. Her characters feel so real!

Report
LifeHuh · 31/08/2013 21:37

My favorites are Karen and Jan. And actually I like Ann too - I think she gets a bum deal because AF doesn't like her...

Rowan would scare me in RL - she is intimidating in the books I think, so very competent and sure of herself.
Most like? Hmm-in my RL schooldays I think I'd probably have been "one more infant rabbit keeping her tiny end up" (have I misquoted/misremembered that?) Definitely not a sporty popular Marlow.

Think perhaps I am an amalgam of Karen/Ann/Patrick/Lois....

I've read Spring Term, but it hasn't stuck in my memory which isn't much of a recommendation!

Report
teabagpleb · 01/09/2013 07:30

I read Spring Term. It was OK but had too many italics in it, and once I'd first noticed that, I couldn't ignore them. I wasn't convinced by absolutely no-one having any sympathy for Ginty, and the Redmond being crap was a bit ropey too - needed a bit more effort to be convincing.

I'd definitely have been absent rabbit on the sports field, but would have been the Narrator in any play, making Autumn Term very different!

I need to re-read the Players books - I got both when GGB printed them, but forgot what happened in the first by the time I got the second.

Report
CJCregg · 01/09/2013 10:45

I ordered Spring Term at 1am last night, thanks to this thread Grin.

I never read the Player's Boy ones, for some reason. I might try to hunt them down. Anything for a bit of an AF fix.

My favourite is Peter's Room. I love the relationships between them all, and I think what she does with the Gondal and Angria Brontë stuff is quite extraordinary.

Report
ParkerTheThief · 01/09/2013 15:02

I started a complete reread of the series last night thanks to this thread.

I read an interesting article somewhere (can't recall where) saying that in any other school story Ann would have been the heroine. She's honest, well behaved, hardworking etc.

I can't decide which book is my favourite. I'm very fond of Faconer's Lure, but I love the Gondalling in Peter's Room.

I love End of Term when Miranda goes from being someone who Nicola doesn't like to a friend.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

CJCregg · 01/09/2013 15:27

Yes - Miranda of 'Kitchen and Jumble is quite good enough for Third Remove' fame Grin

Report
ParkerTheThief · 01/09/2013 15:28

I've just been looking at the GirlsGoneBy website and I can see they are publishing some of The Chalet School books as ebooks.
I wonder if they'll do the Antonia Forest ones. I'd love to have them on my Kindle so I could read them anywhere.

Report
MooncupGoddess · 02/09/2013 13:34

Yes, I love Peter's Room best too - though The Ready-Made Family is pretty impressive too.

I find most of AF's characters v convincing but Rowan is too self-assured for a 17-year-old... I can't imagine her in real life, unlike most of the others (I had a friend at school who was Lawrie to a T).

Spring Term is better than I expected and has a few genuinely Foresty turns of phrase, but the Ginty plot is weak and there is some ridiculous slush regarding Patrick and Nicola that would make AF turn in her grave.

Would very much recommend the Players books to any Marlow fans who haven't read them. They are amazing.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.