#1: Books: Janie of La Rochelle Author: Róisín, Location: IrelandPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:01 pm — Published in 1932 (the same year as Camp), there is a synopsis here.
This book is a 'light romance' that charts first Janie's wedding day
and then the first 18 months or so of her marriage to Julian Lucy. They
live in La Rochelle, hence the title, which Julian buys for Janie as a
surprise gift. Julie, later CS headgirl, is born in this book.
So, have you read this book? The big question we are always discussing
from this book is whether Julian was right to buy La Rochelle without
consulting Janie - do you have an opinion on this? What about Janie's
matchmaking tendencies - are they well-meant or interfering? What do
you think about all the engagements staying within the small circle of
La Rochelle families?
Is the book really aimed at an older audience - if so, how does it compare with Jean of Storms, EBD's 'real' adult offering? And how does Janie compare to Joey in their first forays into housewifery?
Please join in below
#2: Author: Caroline, Location: ManchesterPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:47 am — I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this book - the soppy romantic in me likes seeing everyone paired off neatly.
I love Julian buying La Rochelle for Janie - he knows perfectly well
she will love the idea, and it's just a lovely thing to do. It's his
wedding present to her, effectively.
The Les Arbes thing later on is more high handed and less
acceptable IMO, becuase (a) he realises Janie has a sentimental
attachment to La Rochelle and won't want to move, and (b) they are an
established married couple and the expectation would be (OK, maybe a
modern expectation) that they would make the decision together. But he
goes ahead and buys the house before even telling her about it. Yes,
she comes around fairly quickly - it's a beautiful house, there's a
good garden and room for them to have a big family - but it's still a
bit out of order IMO.
I suppose the move to Les Arbres signals the end of the slightly
unrealistic idyll that is the first year of their marriage (and the end
of the book, of course). It's almost as if they have been playing at
marriage while at La Rochelle - playing at keeping house, playing at
being parents - and now they move on to the real thing - a real house,
real life, growing up properly and accepting they are adults with a
family and responsibilities. Not that Janie ever loses her sense of
fun, to judge by her appearances in the CS books.
#3: Author: Alison H, Location: ManchesterPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:30 am — I love the wedding
. I quite like seeing everyone paired off as well, and I don't think
it's unrealistic that at that time so many people would have found
partners within their own small social circle.
I'd've gone mad about Julian buying the house without asking me had
I been Janie, but he (Julian) obviously meant it really well and meant
it to be a lovely surprise.
The comments about the "little girls" who "help Janie with the
work" and worship the ground she walks on because she lets them have a
rest after they've spent all day fruit-picking annoy me, but that's
just par for the course!
In some ways it seems more adult than some of EBD's adult books,
e.g. when Janie is giving birth to Julie we're told that Julian has
been packed off for a walk and that Anne and Elizabeth are with Janie,
rather than just being told that a new baby has "arrived".
#4: Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, AustraliaPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:29 am — Favourite moments in the book:
The others nearly bump into Janie and Julian while on their honeymoon
and they have to hid is some cold cave so as not to be spotted
Mrs LaTouche's attitude towards Janie and Julian being newlyweds
and feeling they don't really know much and how much Mrs LaTouche and
Mrs Orange (Julian's Gran) do battle royal and Mrs Orange saying mrs
LaTouche is an ignoranious and always will be
Beth and Mike at Janie's wedding deciding it was time to go off and do other things at the end of the ceremony
And how Cesca's husband is never truly one of them despite all the
years of being married to Cesca. I wonder if that ever changed by the
time Nita was at the Chalet School.
And I never realised this before but they must have been living on
Guernsey by the time the school moved there because Edmond Eltringham
was form prefect for the Kinders in Exile and Blossom doesn't get
mentioned until the school goes to England. I wonder why Rex and Con's
children never go or Maidie Willoughby's.
BTW be fore I forget I don't think Janie matchmakes too much. She
certainly thinks about it but other than saying who Maidie is in the
photo and a little about her doesn't introduce her to Clitheroe or set
them up.
#5: Author: Maeve, Location: RomaniaPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:46 pm — I really enjoyed this. Julian and Janie's
relationship seems so warm and affectionate and it's fun watching them
set up house together. I love all the minute descriptions of how the
rooms are decorated and the design on the table china! J and J are so
like Jack and Joey that in a way it felt like getting an extra glance
into that marriage.
It did feel like a much
more adult book that the CS ones and given how similar Julian and Janie
and Jack and Joey are, I'm not sure why. I think maybe because this was
the first EBD book I ever read that focused on a couple in love as more
or less an end in themselves. The romances and marriages in the CS are
always a short prequel to the "real" business of being grown up, which
seems to be to have children. But in this book, Julian and Janie are
the whole point. Even when they have a child, that just seems like an
extension of their relationship, not a replacement for it.
Haven't read Jean of Storms I'm afraid - is it very hard to find?
Haven't read Jean of Storms I'm afraid - is it very hard to find?
It is still available from Bettany Press (it was they who
republished it as a novel - it was originally a newspaper serial) via
their website, or from the dealers who sell their books.
#7: Author: Maeve, Location: RomaniaPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:17 am — Great! Thanks, Róisín.
#8: Author: Mia, Location: LondonPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:28 pm — I always think Pollie Ozanne has a great deal of
EBD herself in her. She was meant to be quite bohemian and eccentric
wasn't she? (Patricia Maraquita) I like Pollie sitting up till 2am on
her windowsill writing and sending her plays off to theatre companies.