Chapter 7, the Queen Susan in Liverpool (and Finchley)

[rthstewart]

So, Chapter 7 is up.  It's been a really rotten week, with Friday most definitely of the not fun variety for me especially.  So, here's a bit of very, very long distraction.  I have gone back and forth on whether to include the first of four encounters Susan has in Finchley.  I decided that as the chapter is entitled Queen Susan, I should just ignore the fact that the chapter clocks in at 11,000 words and include the first one so you actually have some Susan rather than just Peter.  The next one is very nearly done though based upon a review of my prior journal entries tagged "Going There" which I undertook in light of some recent yukiness, I'm going to expand it a bit.  (Hopefully without polemic, but I'm in an expansive mood at the moment). 

In any event, moving on, as you can see, I waded deep into racial territory and my thanks to those who aided in the research including Clio and autumnia  .  snacky  had the excellent suggestion of contacting a Liverpool library, and I shall do that when I get deeper into the story.  For now, sources include:

The Lascars --  sailors from the Indian subcontinent who sailed on European ships
Including, History of the Lascars
The Merchant Seaman's War -- Sons of Empire  28,000 Merchant seaman died during World War 2. The book notes that Europeans were “capable only of seeing Indians, Chinese, Africans and Arabs through the bizarre lens of racial cliché.”

The Chinese community of Liverpool comes from this site among others.  There is a lot more to go there and I'm still looking for this book and will probably have to order it from the UK.

As for Liverpool generally, I spent time at the city's Museum websites and various other sites about the Durning Road disaster including here and here and here

Here are some fabulous pictures of Liverpool bicyclists, including members of the Home Guard mentioned in the story.



Last, you may blame anastigmatfic  and snacky for the insertion of a 2 year old John Lennon into the story whose absent father was, in fact, a Merchant Marine.  Really.

I've tried really, really hard to get these racial issues right, early on, because I'm going somewhere with it.  I'm very cognizant of race fail in fandom.  If you think I've gotten it wrong, please speak up, and we'll see what might be done. 

In the next chapter, I'll go into the Caxton Hall rally and the issues of continuing apathy regarding awareness of the plight of Jews in occupied Europe.  My source is British Jewry and the Holocaust.  And huge thanks to autumnia  for the assistance there.

Also, again, a big thanks to the anonymous and unsigned reviewers.  I really appreciate you weighing in.  Thanks to everyone.  The story broke 200 reviews this week and I'm very grateful.

Comments

[katharhino.livejournal.com]

I really liked this line: Had this variety always been in England and he had never noticed it before? The Pevensies tend to focus on the negatives of being adults in children's bodies, understandably. But there are definite positives. I mean, it occurred to me today while reading that I'd actually like the chance to relive my college days Now With 85% Less Stupidity.

My favorite parts of your stories are interactions between the Pevensies, too, and this chapter was ALL that, almost, so yay. From the hilarious and believable bickering, to the touching moments with Mrs. Pevensie (new, obviously, to this story but still counts as an inter-Pevensie conversation). I also liked Peter's reflecting back on how much he is and isn't revealing. One of the things I thought was a slight plot hole... or, not really hole but thin place, reading almost all of TSG in one sitting, was that they aren't more careful about appearing so adult. But I suppose they can't help it. Anyway, considering that secrecy and spying is a theme, I thought it appropriate that Peter would think about that.

My apologies for nearly disappearing after my last conversation with you... my semester of teaching started and then a number of things happened in my personal offline life, one after the other!

Can't wait for the next chapter and more Susan conversations. She's becoming one of my favorites.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for weighing in!! Your point about Now With 85% less stupidity is well taken. I've been as eager as the characters to get them a bit older so that they could DO more.

I'm glad you liked the interactions here. I added the Susan/Lucy part because I did not think readers would be that interested in my exploration through Mrs. Pevensie of parenting and marital difficulties. But, once again, I'm wrong in what readers like.

What is important is coming to see the good things here -- the interesting people and varied cultures, the conversations and adventures, the Boom De yada of this world. So it is not so much solely the idea of being an adult that is desirable as it is the ability to see good here as well. Or that's the plan, anyway.

I see your point about the "hiding" of the adulthood. Yep, it probably is a plot thinness -- I think I'm probably as tired as the characters are of writing them, or trying to write them, as young. In fact, I've gotten some negative feedback when I've done so. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you so very, very much for weighing in and reading. I hugely appreciate it and I hope that RL treats you better!