Do you think Katy Carr was pregnant at the end of the "What Katy Did" series?

[SlothBear]

Of course she was Katy Worthington then.

I always felt a bit sad by the end of In the High Valley when Clover and Elsie had children, and virtually the whole of the family except Katy were settled down in the valley together, and Katy still didn't have any children despite having been married for about eight years because Ned keeps buggering off to China.

But I just reread ITHV, and noticed this at the end -

***

"Katy," cried Clover, looking at her sister with eyes that seemed to drink her in, "I had forgotten quite how dear you are! it seems to me that you have grown handsome, my child; or is it only that you are a little fatter?"

"I am afraid the latter," replied Katy, with a laugh. "No one but Ned was ever so deluded as to call me handsome."

     <strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong><strong>*</strong>

Sooo... do you think that "a little fatter" could be Victorian speak for pregnant, or is it wishful thinking on my part? It just seems odd that the author would have left Katy childless at the end of the series when she was so great with children...

(If you don't know Clover and In the High Valley they are available on Amazon, and free / cheap on Kindle. I thought the series ended with "What Katy did next" for ages, because the last two books aren't well known. Interesting article here cassandraparkin.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/adventures-in-trash-clover-and-in-the-high-valley-by-susan-coolidge-possibly/ )

Ooo hope so!

How did I never know about those books. I must have read What Katy Did Next about a hundred times!

I don't have a kindle. Are they available as proper books?

They're on Amazon, Pictures :)

I always thought that her accident would have put paid to any hopes of Katy becoming pregnant...always thought it was a huge shame though, as the author made such a big deal out of how well she got on with Amy Ashe.

I have often hoped that this was so. Your OP perfectly describes my feelings on the matter.

I love mumsnet, where else would I find someone ELSE who had given this headspace?

Oh, I just read the comments below the blog article I linked, and someone else has speculated that Katy might be pregnant at the end... " Do you think Katy was fatter because she was “expecting”? I’m going to pretend so." This was from 2012...and I thought I had had an amazingly original literary insight! Oh well :)

And Humphrey got there before me as well ;)

Ned is going to miss the birth as he's going away for a year :(

Oh I do love that Cassandra Parkin piece - I link it at every opportunity!

Katy was the eldest sister - why is Clover calling her "my child"? Did Clover become a priest when we weren't looking?

The blog seems to imply they might be by a different author? Do you think so?

Who tried to play their own version of Kikeri when they were younger?

but Papa will be there to ensure safe delivery, with Elsie and Clover on hand to look after Katy.

YES! We played Kikeri with Emma from down the road. No one sat on the mantelpiece though, there was no room.

We played it at Girl Guides! I was a patrol leader & my seconder was also a Katy fan (& her name was Katy too!)

I think the blog is just saying "these books are a bit silly" rather than making any actual claims or assertions regarding the authorship.

How does one play Kikeri?

I did try to play the "write a poem with this word answering this question" game from What Katy Did At School.

I've just read these two, free on Kindle. 'Clover' was pretty dreadful but I liked, 'Into the High Valley.' And yes, I think Katy may well be pregnant. I was sorry that she was featured so little though - she's so much more interesting than goody goody Clover.

I played the word and question game a lot in my twenties. The poems were hilarious, I still have lots of them. The constraints of the rules frees you up to write a poem, even if you have never written one ever before. A brilliant game.

I never owned a copy of what Katy did at school, I just borrowed it from the library so my memory is sketchy. I remember something about Dr Carr asking for privacy for Katy whilst she bathed & that's about it.

Kikeri involved a lot of running around in the dark, trying to get to the castle (the hallway in our case) whilst someone tried to catch you.

I love Clover ...she catches a husband by giving his room "a rapid but effectual sweeping" then putting on "a fresh blue muslin, with a ribbon to match in her hair"

Having a washstand in one's own room is vair important.

yes, or one cannot be ladylike like cousin Helen.

'Clover' seemed to me to be little more than pages and pages of descriptions of wildflowers. She 'wins' her man by barely exchanging three words with him.

Interesting blog, I always felt In The High Valley felt so different from the others it made me weirdly uncomfortable (I know that sounds pathetic).

Always thought it a bit odd that cousin Helen lived next door to her ex fiancee and his wife, and they named their daughter after her, and the three of them were together every day and nobody thinks it's a teeny bit of a weird set up...

This takes me back! I read the first three books as a child (was surprised to see the blog writer say she read them in her teens - I think most girls would have grown out of them by then, but that's by the by) and loved them. My favourite was What Katy Did at School, though I can't remember why. (This was a long time ago.) Only discovered the existence of the other two in recent years, and think I'll give them a miss.

I'd be pretty sure the "fatter" comment was a reference to her being pregnant, though.