Books: Janie of La Rochelle
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#1: Books: Janie of La Rochelle Author: RóisínLocation: Ireland PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:01 pm
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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 Very Happy

#2:  Author: CarolineLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:47 am
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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 HLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:30 am
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I love the wedding Very Happy . 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 McLocation: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:29 am
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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: MaeveLocation: Romania PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:46 pm
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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?

#6:  Author: RóisínLocation: Ireland PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:46 pm
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Maeve wrote:
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: MaeveLocation: Romania PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:17 am
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Great! Thanks, Róisín.

#8:  Author: MiaLocation: London PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:28 pm
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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.



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