Do you ever wonder what happened to fictitious characters?

[Aliceandthemarchhare]

When I was younger one of my favourite books was Junk, about teens who end up addicted to heroin. I found myself idly wondering yesterday what might have happened next to the characters. They’d be in their early 40s now.

Does anybody else do this - think about when the book was released and wonder about them? A book I read in 2013 was set in summer 2011 and ended with the birth of a baby girl and I thought ‘oh she’s 10 in July’

For what it’s worth I think Gemma probably married and had more children and is fine.

I think the others are either in prison or dead

I do this all the time. Margaret from Judy Blume's 'Are you there God' and Katherine from 'Forever' would be in their 60s now.
There is probably loads of fan fiction out there but I am always too scared to seek it out incase someone totally ruins favourite characters for me.

I do this a lot. Also loved Junk, stuck with my for a long time and equally Are You There God Its Me Margaret 😊

Yes, about films as well. There's not a chance that Johnny and Baby had a successful, long term relationship.

@Ilovemaisie

I do this all the time. Margaret from Judy Blume's 'Are you there God' and Katherine from 'Forever' would be in their 60s now. There is probably loads of fan fiction out there but I am always too scared to seek it out incase someone totally ruins favourite characters for me.

Oh gosh yes they would be!

I bet Katherine had a long and happy marriage and raised children who are confident and happy.

Not sure about Margaret!

I think you are right about the characters in Junk. A really excellent book I only came across as an adult.

This one will freak you out....
I love the 'My Naughty Little Sister' stories which were published the 1950s but tell stories of the characters childhood in the 1920s.
One story has the naughty (she wasn't really that naughty if you ask me ) sister visiting a lady who is celebrating her 100th birthday. The 1920s are 100 years ago now which means the lady with the birthday was born in the 1820's. Before even the Victorian times.
It just freaks me out when I think of it like that.

Only occasionally. I'd love to see a sequel to Wilkie Collins' 'The Woman in White' about the continuing adventures of Marion Halcombe. I can just see her being an independent lady sleuth!

Isn't the Johnny and Baby thing obvious from the start . . . it's a Coming of Age movie: " this is how I grew up, had my first shag, and then embarked on my bold new adult life."

My grandad was actually born in Victorian times! I think he was born in the late 1890s not sure exactly when.

And the real 'naughty little sister' died when she was only 57 which makes me sad but I wonder frequently what their lives during WW2 were like. Little sister would have been 19 when the war started. Perfect age for joining one of the services. Right.... I am off to Google to find out more.

I've just finished reading Shuggie Bain and I'm now totally over invested in his long term fictional well being

Oh no I have just realised Bad Harry would have been 19 to at the start of WW2. I hope he was ok. Oh little Harry...

Didn't know My Naughty Little Sister died in her fifties, that's sad. I remember that line from one of the stories, "She's quite a grownup lady now".

Alex Rider is another favourite character of mine. He is one of those characters who has only aged a year or so in the 20 years of the books being published but if you go by the first book date Alex would be about 35 now. Whatever happened to Alex. Did he eventually tell the secret service to stick and leave him alone? Did he turn to the other side and is now an evil dictator trying to take over the world? Maybe he works in a bank - which was what he always believed his uncle actually did...

(I haven't read the latest Alex Rider yet so no plot spoilers please...)

Junk is on my wish list at the minute!
I always wonder how Eleanor Oliphant is getting on

I wonder what Jinny is doing now...

Jinny married Ken, I think. And has an Etsy shop

I think about Katy after the end of In The High Valley. Was she actually pregnant? I always hope she was!

@Ilovemaisie

If you like Alex Rider, there's a great fanfiction called Hell is Other people
that explores him coming out from the spy world. It's about 450k words so a good long read! My ds has re-read this several times.

The best books leave you wondering what happens to the characters next. I wonder about a lot of them.

Ooh Margaret I may have to check that out. Although I am always worried about fan fiction incase it goes in completely the wrong direction of what I imagine

Did anyone read the Sweet Valley book where they had all grown up? The author took some of the characters in directions I never would have expected (or wanted!)

That Sweet Valley one was all wrong. It was meant to be 10 years after High School but really wasn't anything special. What would have been much better was if it had been based on the ages of the characters from book 1 which was published in the early 80s. The sequel book came out in the 2010s ish so would have been much better if the characters were all now in their 40s.

I always wonder what happened to the Swallows & Amazons in WW2! I think John Walker would have been old enough to serve. In the navy, obviously.