Sally Hayward

I'm so happy I read this! I can't possibly afford the titles between Autumn and this one so I figured might as well take the plunge. I was dying to read more Kingscote stories and I wasn't disappointed. Some things were utterly confusing but Sally Hayward does a surprisingly good and very subtle job at quickly reminding the reader of what happened in previous books (which to me was of course very handy). I loved the writing which is as unique as Forest's and I really enjoyed Hayward's character study of Ginty and Ann, who aren't really given time to do much of anything in Autumn. I loved Nicola in this too, she's really grown quite a bit and the author's arguments for what happens to her makes a lot of sense. It felt so good to go back to this world - I regret nothing.… (mais)

Picking up shortly after the events of Run Away Home, the tenth and final entry in Antonia Forest's series of children's novels about the school and holiday adventures of the Marlow family, published from 1948 through 1982, this recent continuation by Sally Hayward is that rarest of things in the literary world: a sequel written by another author that feels as if it came from the same pen as the originals. Following the younger four Marlow sisters - Ann, Ginty, Nick and Lawrie - as they return to Kingscote School, Spring Term builds upon a number of incidents and themes to be found in the earlier Forest books, from Nicola's uncultivated singing ability and Lawrie's devotion to the craft of acting, to Ginty's downward spiral into dishonesty. As Nicola finds herself, much to her own chagrin, being given singing lessons at the Minster in preparation for a competition on the BBC, and Lawrie (together with most of Forms Upper IV A and B) is absorbed in an upcoming performance of Cyrano de Bergerac for the school's Open Day, Ginty discovers that her actions in reading a private letter, and her later efforts to extricate herself from the consequences through falsehood, lead her further and further into trouble.

Sally Hayward, a lifelong Antonia Forest fan who originally wrote this continuation of the Marlow series for her own amusement, notes in her afterword that the events in Spring Term reflect (naturally) her own feelings and views about what might have happened next with the characters in her favorite books. While I can't say that her vision dovetails perfectly with my own - I think I would have allowed Ginty to learn her lesson at some point, but then, I find her depiction in the original Forest books rather troubling, as she seems to function as a sort of misogynist foil (a sort of pretty bad-girl) for the true heroine, Nicola - I did find her story immensely engaging, and in its own way, convincing. I had no trouble believing that Ginty could behave in the way depicted here, whatever I may think of her character's role the series, and I appreciated the fact that some of the other Marlow sisters, from Ann to Rowan, were given scenes of the own. I also enjoyed the interaction between Nicola and Patrick - on that, I do agree with Hayward's interpretation! - as well as some of the discussions about religion.

All in all, this was a strong sequel to a strong series: engaging, convincing, and eminently readable. It isn't every book that keeps me reading well into the night, after a full day's work, a visit to the gym, and a long commute home! I will definitely be making a point to read any further efforts from this author.… (mais)

We live in the age of the follow on - everyone's at it, from PD James bringing murder to Pemberley, to the fanfic that exists all across the internet. Antonia Forest is irresistible, having left many cliffhangers and loose ends in her last two books, and having left a small set of 'works', with indelible characters and devoted fans. Sally Hayward has written 'Spring Term', to follow on. I thought it was very readable, and clearly benefited from much reading of Forest's books to inform the language and characterisation. Inevitably in reading sequels, we look for what is and isn't there. My take is that she gets most of the minor characters off very well - particularly the Dodd children, Lawrie and Esther - well drawn characters, but relatively straightforward in their idiosyncracies. More difficult to 'get' Nicola and Patrick - two intensely realised characters in Forest's books, with internal complexities that don't quite ring true in this incarnation. I didn't, for example, really experience Patrick's religion. I suppose my other reservation was the plot, which seemed to me to be a bit too 'Chalet School' - here the good are rewarded and the bad (or flawed) are punished, more than once. Forest can be very tough on her characters, but not in a moralistic way, which I think creeps in here a bit. But I very much enjoyed the excursion into 'what happened next!'… (mais)