"Delicately balanced on a razor edge of mutual toleration": Rowan Marlow, Saint or ?

Sally Hayward's continuation novel has Claudie sent home pregnant. The last we hear of her from AF is her snogging the jubilant Patrick when he's booted from school; I don't think she's mentioned in RAH.

Claudie is having her friend Charles for 'bed and breakfast' in Attic Term, so pregnancy is a possibility, it depends I suppose whether her disregard of Catholic rules extends as far as using contraception!

I had never thought that Thalia rhymed with Failure, although I was dismally aware that my parents wanted a boy, so wasn’t surprised by Lawrie’s assumption.

It’s a horrible horrible thought, that Patrick will turn into Jacob Reese Mogg. Please no.
I know he’s arrogant, but he’s in some ways very privileged. Not in every way. Forced into a truly ghastly school, because it is what one does.
is Claudie pregnant when she is sent home?

Yes, I don’t doubt the sincerity of Patrick’s belief but I do feel it feeds his adolescent sense of the dramatic. The Latin mass! The ritual! The martyrs! You can see a similar mindset in his Rupert persona. I suspect he would always be a Catholic but would leave behind the more traditional aspects eventually.

I always saw him becoming a gentleman farming type who wrote his book on Richard III.

He says at one point, doesn't he, that what he is ultimately destined to do is take over from his father running the family estate. But as I recall Anthony says something to the effect that that's a long time in the future and he needs to do something in the interim.

There's a fanfic where he takes over as farm manager at Trennels because Rowan wants to go and do her own thing and is fed up with everyone assuming she's happy to run Trennels indefinitely.

Wrt Patrick and religion, I always felt he got into it when he was stuck at home after the cliff fall, rather like slightly nerdy teenagers in the 80s might do Dungeons and dragons, or be obsessed with LOTR. I felt it was a passing phase, that would fade once he discovered anything more interesting.

I knew several girls, at different times, who went through an intensely religious phase in their teens. They all grew out of it.

Wrt Patrick and religion, I always felt he got into it when he was stuck at home after the cliff fall, rather like slightly nerdy teenagers in the 80s might do Dungeons and dragons, or be obsessed with LOTR. I felt it was a passing phase, that would fade once he discovered anything more interesting.

Definitely yes to the pro individualism and I would also add very anti progressive. Look at how Patrick's school fares, AF couldn't be more damning!

I can't see Patrick joining the army - he hates team games and isn't very 'hard' in some senses - look at his realistic assessment of his own ability to withstand torture, even in his imagination. Nicola's disgust at this is such a telling moment - Patrick has really gone there in his imagination but Nicola has not. Although she is tough enough perhaps! I always saw him becoming a gentleman farming type who wrote his book on Richard III.

Lawrie is also brilliant in a way that Tim really rates. Tim spots this clearly before anyone else does, except perhaps the teacher who states that Lawrie mimes convincingly as opposed to Nicola who mimes with enthusiasm. I think Tim is also a true artist in her field, she directs plays superbly well and does try to be involved in any way, like trying to design costumes for The Tempest. She is driven to make performances really good, even the carols. There is a recognition from Tim that Lawrie is much more driven by pure ego rather than social niceties and she finds this amusing and recognises that this is one of the reasons for Lawrie's genius.

I find the Tim and Lawrie relationship extremely compelling even though I am generally on Nicola's side when it comes to falling out episodes.

I think Tim likes Lawrie best because Tim sees herself as "different/special", and everyone else likes Nicola best, so Tim goes the other way.

But in Autumn Term, Lawrie is every bit as naively determined to excel at Guides, netball and schoolwork as Nicola, so they can catch up with their sisters — even more than N, as she’s naive enough to pour all this out to Tim.

And yes, she calms down about it all and is less high-achieving generally than Nicola is, but she’s on the netball team and is good enough to be mistaken for Nick, plays cricket well and is in A forms, as well as her acting — and though we never hear anything more about it, she’s good at art (Jennings criticises her work with the seriousness she reserves for people who draw well in End of Term). She’s no slouch at things in general, even if she’s not managerial like Nick re games and the Tidiness picture. She’s good at lots of things, apart from lighting gas and singing!

Yes, or lawful evil. She does enjoy sucking up to authority.

I love this and now want to know all the Forest characters’ D&D alignments! What on earth would Lois Sanger be?

Interesting question!

I don't think they are the same character - although I do like and sympathise with both.

Peter McNair is far less of a dreamer than Peter Marlow and has had a much harder life. Dead mum, difficult and harsh dad - mellows after he marries the fat Italian singer, but is still strict with him.

I started with Flambards moving onto the Ruth Hollis/Peter Mcnair/Jonathan Meredith books and then Pennington

I love the Pennington/Ruth crossover.

Ruth is so well written, all the angst and pain of being a teenager beautifully portrayed

I think Tim views herself as a creative, artistic type and sees Lawrie as the same. Nicola is a bit too jolly-hockey-sticks and Navy for her.

is whoever says she does ‘My Friend the Actress’ (Miranda?) right, and she only becomes Laurie’s friend after she’s established as an unusually good actress?

I think there's an element of that.

Possibly it’s because Lawrie needs Tim ( ‘the only person in this beastly place who ever knows what I’m talking about’ or words to that effect) and it’s always nice for a certain type of personality to be needed. Tim doesn’t seem to have many other friends- she’s too spiky.