C. (Comment, never msg).’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

C. (Comment, never msg).’s comments from the Gentle SPECTRUMS group.

Members: disagreeing is natural. Throwing a fit over benign suggestions is unacceptable. The way to show someone they cannot lash out an uncontrolled temper, is not to tolerate it.

We need our happy places. I have been in a long stretch of multiple grief. I had turned notifications off in unease about what this temperamental person might say next. It is a relief to remove her. I do not do it lightly and trust the ugly atmosphere was evident.

Tree sap is like molasses. Branches are all deer have to eat until green growth emerges. This woman said she was seeing deer for the first time and questioned that I was feeding them safely. No one likes assumptions and she did it at every turn.

Like Hagar Shipley in "The Stone Angel", I want to be respected, loved, and understood. Since Kerri & Shirin are co-moderators, I want to double check that you understand not tolerating rudeness or insensitivity. Hugs, Carolyn.

Kerri & I read Rob Lowe's first autobiography together for personal reasons, "Stories I Only Tell My Friends" and it was wonderful. I knew a few of this gorgeous actor's films as a teenager and he appeared in every magazine I bought, looking for Corey Hart and Morten Harket. I began seeing him on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and learned what a sweetheart he is.

After a compelling reading experience from him with Kerri, we were immediately interested in his work, besides the political television show. Too much American politics rain on Canadians and the fight movie "The Outsiders" was not for me either. My spouse & I bought the "Youngblood" blu-ray and chuckled at the 1980s sexuality with young Rob looking like a teenager. The dears Patrick Swayze and Canadian Keeanu Reeves also had roles. We gave the film to my Brother when we learned that he loved it.

I bought his second autobiography in hardcover and have been eager to share with Kerri and others that I now see Rob Lowe everywhere. He has advertized his own podcast, something I do not peruse with dial-up internet but I know he is a fantastic storyteller. He is starting a humour show about his Sons making fun of him.

I saw him collaborate with his family for his wife's 60th birthday on "Celebrity Family Feud" - they won. I watched a few rounds of his general trivia game show, "Mental Samurei", including last night.

Finally, I couldn't believe he returned to Canada in 2011 to film another hocky movie, this time featuring the Toronto Sikh culture! "Breakaway" was excellent and no one has seen Bollywood on skates before this. A sweet moment for me is that he clearly learned our national anthem, portraying a Canadian coach. He mouthed the words along to "O Canada" at the beginning of a hockey tournament. On "Mental Samurei" last night, he joked that one of the audio clues must be Canadian, from the way the word "out" was pronounced. I am proud that such a wonderful artist has spent time getting to know us.

When you really admire someone and feel like you have gotten to know them, you love to keep seeing them in present day and Rob has been active as an author and on all screens, all of his career. I have also seen him as a fireman chief in the drama "911 Lonestar" and it is a quality show too. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/...

Tomorrow is "May Eve"! I heard about it a few years ago in the novel "The Tale Of Cuckoo Brow Wood" and thought I was ensure you all have the opportunity in your corners of the world, to have fun trying it out for yourselves. It is the eve of the Irish holiday phenomenon "Beltane", the Gaelic "May day festival", halfway between the spring and summer solstices (equinoxes).

What is the phenomenon about it? Do you know that Hallowe'en, abbreviated for "All Hallows Eve" is when the veil between life and the afterlife is thin enough to meet more easily than usual? Instead of spirits, "May Eve", April 30th, is when it is easiest and the likeliest possible to find fairies in a forest!

I grew-up thinking fairies are imaginary, "supernatural" inventions instead of paranormal realities. I have read of people believe in them because they have seen them. I am an open-minded person so as soon as I finished Susan Wittig Albert's mystery right at May Eve, I went to look in our forest backyard at dusk. Some years I forgot, other years it was rainy. We are supposed to receive a downpour tonight that is slated to last until Monday. However, if the rain slows down tomorrow before sunset, I will look around. A beautiful copse of trees is right there.

People who fiddle with details can learn about a fairy's preference for Hawthorne trees, of which we have none and of bringing certain herbs. However, if fairies existed and wanted to meet you, they would not be fickle. This is the easiest day to see them. Go outside as you are, poke around, and see what you find.

This is our 2023 master buddy-reading list. They are books I have in unabridged copies. If some author’s books aren’t shown, I do not have them or am uninterested. I reflect the volumes we are at per author.

Please defer to our “Canadian” category ahead of biographies, series, non-fiction, and classics. Sincerely, your hostess, Carolyn.


~ CANADIAN ~

Jann Arden “Feeding My Mother”
John Buchan “The 39 Steps”
Margaret Buffie “My Mother’s Ghost” (Winnipegger!), “The Watcher”
John Candy “Laughing On The Outside”
Michael G. Coney “Celestial Steam Locomotive”
Biruté M.F. Galdikas “Reflections Of Eden” (wildlife activism)
Maureen Jennings “Let Loose The Dogs”
Lyn King “Walking Into The Night Sky” (poetry)
Lake Winnipeg Writers’ Group “Voices: Volume Ten, Number One”
Margaret Laurence “Heart Of A Stranger”, “Dance On The Earth”
Janet Lunn “The Unseen: Scary Stories”
Susie Moloney “A Dry Spell”, “The Thirteen” (Winnipegger!)
Lucy Maud Montgomery “Anne’s House Of Dreams”, “The Blue Castle”, “Along The Shore”, “Among The Shadows”
A.S. Mott “Gothic Ghost Stories: Tales Of Intrigue & Fantasy”
Anne Murray “All Of Me”


~ SERIES ~

Nevada Barr “Track Of The Cat”
S.J. Bennett “The Windsor Knot”
Anne Brashares “The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants”
Agatha Christie “The Mystery Of The Blue Train”, “Partners In Crime”, “The Seven Dials Mystery”, “The Murder At The Vicarage”
Cassandra Clare “The Mortal Instruments”, “The Bane Chronicles”
Eoin Colfer “Artemis Fowl”
Chris D’Lacey “The Fire Within”
Melissa De La Cruz “The Isle Of The Lost”
Frances Fyfied “Shadows On The Mirror” and “Half Light” in her real name, Frances Hegarty.
Sue Grafton “A Is For Alibi”
David Handler “The Burnt Orange Sunset”
P.D. James “Cover Her Face”
Sophie Kinsella "Confessions Of A Shopoholic"
Christopher Paolini “Eragon”
Ian Rankin “Tooth And Nail”
Rick Riordan “The Maze Of Bones”, “The Lightning Thief”, “The Sea Of Monsters”
Michael Scott “The Alchemyst”
Trenton Lee Stewart “The Mysterious Benedict Society”
Maggie Stiefvater “The Dream Thieves”
Garcia Stohl “Beautiful Creatures”
Rex Stout “The Rubber Band”
Carlos Luiz Zafón “The Angel’s Game”.


~ VARIETY ~

Kate Atkinson “Behind The Scenes At The Museum”
John Berendt “Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil”
Chris Colfer “The Land Of Stories”
Blake Crouch “Recursion”
Anthony Doerr “All The Light We Cannot See”
Barbara Erskine “Lady Of Hay”
Cornelia Funke “The Thief Lord”
Hazel Gaynor “The Cottingley Secret” 2017
John Green “The Fault In Our Stars”
Michael Gruber “The Book Of Air And Shadows”, “The Forgery Of Venus”
Joanne Harris “Chocolat”
James Herbert “Haunted” (David Ash #1)
Khaled Hosseini “The Kite Runner”
Barbara Kingsolver “The Bean Tree”, “Homeland And Other Stories”, “Animal Dreams”, “Pigs In Heaven”
E.L. Konigsburg “The Second Mrs. Gioconda”, “The Mysterious Edge Of The Heroic World”
Katherine Kurtz “Chamber Of Culdi”
Ursual Le Gun “Wizard Of Earthsea”
Kate Mascarenhas “The Psychology Of Time Travel”
Jennifer McMahon “The Winter People” I’ll save the same Phyllis A. Whitney title for later.
Erin Morgenstern “The Starless Sea”
Sōsuke Natsukawa “The Cat Who Saved Books”!
Audrey Niffenegger“The Time Traveler’s Wife”, “Her Perfect Symmetry”
A.J. Pearce “Dear Mrs. Bird”
Kate Quinn “The Alice Network”
Nicole Richie “Priceless”
Anne River Siddons “The House Next Door”
Amy Tan “The Kitchen God’s Wife”, “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”
Donna Tartt “The Goldfinch”
Gemma Townley “When In Rome....” (Sophie Kinsella's Sister ~ what fun)!
Sarah Waters “The Little Stranger”
Barbara Wood “The Dreaming”.


~ BIOGRAPHIES ~

Jeanne Cooper “Not Young, Still Restless”
Kirk Douglas “My Stroke Of Luck”
Goldie Hawn “Goldie: A Lotus Grows In The Mud”
Elton John “Me”
Anna Kendrick “Scrappy Little Nobody”
Amy Poehler “Yes, Please!”
Amy Schumer “The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo”.


~ NON-FICTION ~

James Bowen “A Street Cat Named Bob”
Bill Dedman & Paul Clark Newell Junior “Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life Of Huguette Clark And The Spending Of A Great American Fortune”
Anne Frank “Diary Of A Young Girl”
James Herriot “All Creatures Great And Small”
Kathleen Jamie “Sightlines”


~ CLASSICS ~

Isaac Asimov “Prelude To Foundation”
Jane Austen “Pride And Prejudice”, “Emma”
Frank L. Baum “The Wizard Of Oz”
Emily Brontë “Wuthering Heights”
Geoffrey Chaucer “The Canterbury Tales”
Wilkie Collins “The Woman In White”, “The Moonstone”
Charles Dickens “A Tale Of Two Cities”, “The Pickwick Papers”
Kenneth Graeme “The Wind In The Willows”
Thomas Hardy “Far From The Madding Crowd”, “Tess Of The D'Urbervilles”
Shirley Jackson “The Woman In Black”, “We Have Always Lived In The Castle”
Norton Juster “The Phantom Tollbooth”
Anna Sewell “Black Beauty: The Autobiography Of A Horse”
Robert Louis Stevenson “Treasure Island”
Mark Twain “The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn”
Jules Verne “10,000 Leagues Under The Sea”!
H.G. Wells “The Time Machine”
Virginia Woolf “Orlando”.

Shirin, one list here keeps it easy and clear. We look for matches to my well-varied books because we don't get them free. Yes, I often add new titles. Our group is looking forward to fantasy.

We are waiting for Leeanne to catch-up on Maureen Jennings. She reactivated the "Shipwreck" thread. She is reading "Except The Dying" next month, then has one more book before "Poor Tom Is Cold".

I will happily continue "The Big Four", "Tooth And Nail", "The Mysterious Benedict Society", "Cover Her Face", "The Raven Boys" with you in July. The Canadian challenge restarts Canada Day, July 1st. I am seeing how much Canadiana I fit in. Xoxo, Carolyn.

Kerri, saying "North American" include us, who usually share media releases. Folks outside Canada need to remember to incorporate the whole continent name, lest we not be excluded. The old idea of "over there in America" has to go. Nothing pisses a Canadian off like subsuming us by a separate country. ;>

Discussion groups is the place for book details, so there is no such thing as a spoiler. I feel that reviews are the only place to be discreet and that openly discussing books in the comments of reviews is fair. Some people worry that future readers will glance down at the comments but I think that puts caution too far. Finished reviews need to invite conversation somewhere.

It is nice to see you popping around today. I am off all the way to town to pay a bill - darn banking website won't load. I will peek in on book charities and enjoy the semi-snowless drive. I hope you & Shirin rejoin us at the "Shipwreck" conversation, which Leeanne has taken up! Yay! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I will add a few books I have in message #2 of this current folder, from Kerri's & Sarah's suggestions. Kerri, you might recall that I erased "The Invisible Man" for lacking an unabridged copy. I have "Dragonrider" by Cornelia Funke. The Anne McCaffrey I have is "If Wishes Were Horses", a short one we are likely to breeze through on our own. I bought a scraggly softcover of the first "Heartland" novel last year, also little, which would please Leeanne.

I add things off & on so do check. If you prefer that I leave a note like this when I edit, I can. I explained to Sarah that it is easier to make matches with my well built home library. Commonalities won't dry up. I frequently score used books but can't download or use libraries seeking specific things, therefore we go by what I have. If folks are game to read something I'm not into, by all means make yourself a discussion folder.

If you make suggestions, just type titles & authors out. We are going to look up the book versions we have anyway. Lists are easier to glance at without links and not stretched out into long paragraphs. I will alphabetize message #2 since we are going to grow it but it is packed neatly. Much like our house needs to be this week!

This is an old buddy-reading thread. It would be chaotic to follow, if everyone churned out lists. Often, people add "to read" books they do not have. Better to select what interests you one list. It is neatly organized in categories, which I trim every time we finish.

I don't borrow from librairies, download on dial-up internet, or read e-books. I turn to books I have, which proves to offer flexibility and selection. It makes sense for me to keep the list and for folks to see what we have in common.

I have encouraged Kerri, Shirin, Leeanne, and the others to create their own folders so messages meant for someone specific can go directly to them but usually our writings are communal. :) Your hostess, Carolyn, also moderated by Kerri and Shirin.

I will happily go along and answer more contributions, as I hope everyone else does as well. Each of you has left great ones. I left at least a few conversation starters I hope are taken up too. I often wait hoping someome besides me will answer questions, so I can be treated to fresh ideas and topics as well.

Shoveling is hard and must take conditioning to get used to doing. I chopped the end off where the plough walled each driveway in. On the rest of our long country driveway, I did a few rows. If the snow freezes, there is nothing to shovel. If a melt softens it, each shovelful is sticky and heavy to move. Ideal is new snow or soft but not slushy. I will do a little more today. I should get the mail and more deer feed soon. Upcoming rains might melt it but it is snowing now and will again.

I have thought about the need for a new feedback measuring scale. I am posting this to help people understand a misperception. The idea is that half stars or other decimals would double our flexibility. They would not. Follow this logic.

I doubt there would be 5.5. All we would gain is 3.5 and 4.5 for good ratings. Anything below would signify a negative, regardless of half stars. We need ten stars. They would give us wide gradients of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 for a variety of prioritization of books we like!

Books we love at widely varying degrees would no longer be stalled at 5 stars. Ten-star scales would most notably free-up the space of 3 stars. This grade collects the most poorly differentiated feedback: adequate quality that deserves more than 2 stars and great quality with a few criticisms.

Adding half a star to this logjam would not create significant space. Ten would be truly stellar. If you see the mispercption that half stars would double our freedom of movement, show them this link.

I am continuing in a separate message because they are easier to answer when not too packed. Do places in Canada, New Zealand, and Iran maintain strick social-distancing rules? I remain careful and vigilant because natural healing and immunity are for me rather than injections. However, Manitobans became relaxed about masks outdoors in the summer. Now, they are voluntary indoors unless businesses request them. There are no more number restrictions.

I said I zoomed through the beginning of Will's story in the PDF because I wanted to see if Maureen calculated dates accurately. Let's please avoid a cliché, dismissive argument "that age must have seemed old at that time" and properly think about it. The final novel calls William an old, retired man in 1917 but he would only be 56! His wife is no one I have heard of in the novels so far or the show.

He was born in 1861 and was age 12 in the PDF, which makes the year 1873. Murdoch Mysteries in the show are set in about 1908 and I think the books are as well. Thus, we meet William as a young man in his 30s. That seems all right, if Maureen did not calculate sloppily. Timeline is something I am careful about in life and in writing.

I got a lot out of reading "Shipwreck" and hope you three found its inclusion in our story reading valuable too. A look at FantasticFiction.com tells us it was published afer the book showcasing wartime in 1917. It succeeded the show's 2008 premiere by 3 years, allowing Maureen to write a sweet dedication to Yannick Bisson, whom I easily picture and respect as William in print and onscreen.

I look forward to new entries and ideas. Leeanne, it was okay to go along and enter any of the conversations as soon as you dropped your reaction off. I love your fresh enthusiasm and perspective. Kerri didn't find Amy annoying and Shirin was tolerant. Her lack of focus and manners are so aggravating in my view, I feel frustrated zooming through to check story details.

Maureen made excellent points about people needing to not mind being wrong and to learn correct answers. I know she was showing it is easy for an observant person to gather details about Amy's classmates and I think it was obvious we were meeting William's modern Great-Grandson. However, Maureen put too much build-up into a reason we didn't need, for telling the principal story. It is nice that William has smart, compassionate relatives who continue caring about justice.

I laud the mystery for being more interesting than usual. If it seems like there wasn't much to it or that questions couldn't be answered, maybe I am more detail oriented. It was solved clearly enough for me with the inanimate clues and the most valuable benefit of a short conversation with the survivor while alive. You see, I prize originality before anything. I love just about any mystery that is different from how they are usually seen. My favourite of all is "non-crime mystery" that is purely about solving puzzles. It never has suspects to interview because it is about solving mysteries, not crimes - so much more creative! That atmosphere was here, even though there were crimes aboard ship.

Yes, in English language countries, England followed by the USA are too often more visible in book settings and author contributions. It is annoying when bestsellers like Simone St. James and Victoria Abbott don't use Canadian settings. The late, great Lyn Hamilton took us to enthralling world locations we didn't see enough. However, the firm Canadian identity went with her and the antique store base was in Toronto.

I reached the point of seeking "anything but English or American content". Kerri has shown me that New Zealand is especially rewarding and I have loved Australia. That leaves Caribbean English speaking places to explore, which I see too little in novels. Thank goodness the Celtic countries are abundant, which are identifiable individually, not lumped as "the UK".

I too instantly loved Will, Father Keegan, and their towspeople. We learn a lot about Will's childhood in a few sentences. It is rewarding that the TV show refers to it, even if it changes Will's siblings a bit and the book will draw return William Murdoch to Nova Scotia and his Dad in "Let Loose The Dogs", which is a very thick novel, as well as a season 1 show title! I'll bet it is a story that is continued over a few shows.

This brings me to asking, Leeanne, if you will soon borrow "Except The Dying" and if you like it, catch-up the sequel "Under The Dragon's Tail". We are poised to read "Poor Tom Is Cold" as soon as you are there. The thick personal story back to Nova Scotia, of which we are in high anticipation, succeeds it! I wonder if Father Keegan is alive for William to revisit too and if the show duplicates what would be a beautiful reunion.

Go go ahead and read the link Kerri provided, Leeanne. You made a guess. I see Kerri knew it it spoiled nothing because details were trimmed out. It isn't a scene or storyline but conversations and details shortened in North American copies. Shirin, let us know which information you have.

Our conversation becomes: were they cut for being considered gruesome, or to shorten dialogue, in favour of story flow and pace as editors do for films?

As I always do, you three friends have me enthusiastic to reply to a lot of what you contributed and I look forward to writing it. I should shovel the end of the driveway, a stamina and muscular exertion I am unused to, where the plough went by and made a wall at everyone's driveway. You would think remunerated contractors would be courteous enough to dip inside each driveway to carry the snow with them.

Ladies, I look forward to seeing what we figure out together. One aspect of the internet I dislike is instant information, cutting off the need to talk. So, let's talk! What do we think the differences are? Kerri: what were your guesses, at what might be contraversial in 1936? You have the advantage of the only text with which you can know with certainty. We can only be detectives with the text that remains.

All I saw were two places that might be construed as ladies being a little touchy feely with each other. We know nowadays that there is a spectrum and anyone can have an attracted moment with the same gender, without putting a lesbian label on it. In any case, these two moments were left brief. One was with Hazel and I think the other was Rebecca's first evening at Green Gables.

We are certainly receiving the snowfall and there were high winds, even in our forest. They didn't go as high as forecast and we did not lose power. However, the cats & I had water ready and replaced the tub water this morning with a hot bath.

The wind and possible slipperiness have necessitated closed highways. Locally, no one will get out until driveways are shovelled (sigh, I have never had to do that) and our roads ploughed. The volume of snow falling overnight and daily would surprise anyone from countries who is unused to the landscape changing magically when you awaken and look out the window.

It had melted a lot. There were high drifts and basic ground snow around the yard, with a lot of grass opened up. There were many puddles for whitetailed deer and birds to drink in dips all around the land. Now the snow is as high everywhere, as the piled paths were. The white landscape is absolutely level as far as the eye can see and it is still snowing. This is manageable and nice. I am glad there were no damaging or power interrupting winds.

I hope for e-mails and book discussions to enjoy. Besides topics the three of you add for our reflection, we have arrived at the best part: sifting out what is different about your "Windy Willows" edition!

I am here, Kerri! I would be glad to have a little conversation at the group or in e-mail. You know I am in the storm with Angel, Petal, and dear McCartney's life form. I doubt the satellite dish would work and the sky is dark but I would read at the window.

I did my preparation work of gathering water, stowing things solidly around the yard, doing laundry, dishwasher, and cooking a couple of dishes. I will cook or bake a little more and have a lot of cleaning to do. With the floors vaccumed and mopped, I can turn to organizing the papers sitting around.

I left a lot to discuss about "Anne Of Windy Poplars / Willows" and will add and reply more, so please keep our conversation going. Please see the weather alert I pasted into the "Canada" folder. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

How nice to sit through possibly the "worst blizzard in decades" by myself, eh? However, I am prepared. I did our big shopping trip, will go to town for more birdseed and drop off our recycling. If you don't see me log-in each morning by about 10:00AM central time, that would mean the power was out. I pray that would not be long, so we can run taps to drink, cook, bathe, and flush the toilet.

Winter storm warning, southern Manitoba: hazardous winter conditions are expected. A major spring storm in southern Manitoba begins overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning and lasts until Friday morning. Widespread snowfall accumulations of 30-50 cm accompanied by northerly winds gusting 60-70 km/h make zero visibility at times, in snow and blowing snow. A Colorado low will move towards Minnesota Tuesday night bringing a heavy swath of snow through most of southern Manitoba.

The snow will start early Tuesday evening near the international border then push northward throughout the night. By Wednesday morning heavy snow will be falling in much of the area as the storm continues to northward. Strong northerly winds will develop with this system and persist into Friday morning as the low slowly pivots through Minnesota on its way into northwestern Ontario.

For the City of Winnipeg and points southeastward, a break in the snow may occur on Wednesday afternoon or evening before snow re-intensifies overnight into Thursday. 15 to 20 cm is likely by Wednesday afternoon, with a further 15 to 20 cm likely with the second area of snow overnight Wednesday through Thursday and Thursday night.

By Friday morning, widespread snowfall accumulations of 30 to 40 cm are likely. Travel will become increasingly difficult as the day progresses Wednesday, with widespread highway closures a near-certainty. By Wednesday evening even travel within communities may become impossible as the heavy snow and strong winds continue and more of the same is expected on Thursday.

Do not plan to travel - this storm has the potential to be the worst blizzard in decades. Stock up on needed supplies and medications now. Power outages are likely, rural areas in particular should be prepared for extended outages.

Conditions should begin to improve on Friday as the winds taper off and the heaviest snow moves into northern Ontario...although the clean-up after this storm will likely last well into next week.

Rapidly accumulating snow will make travel difficult. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas. Heavy snowfall accumulation combined with strong winds may cause damage to trees or other structures. Poor weather conditions may contribute to transportation delays.

Winter storm warnings are issued when multiple types of severe winter weather are expected to occur together.

Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to MBstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports using #MBStorm.
• Source: Environment And Climate Change Canada https://weather.gc.ca/canada_e.html

And Shirin, regarding our precious McCartney gone to Heaven and missed so badly only a week ago: God bless you and thank you. Your grateful friend, Carolyn.

I have arrived at "Year 3", chapter 1, page 200.

If we will soon breeze to the end of our books, which we are at leisure to do, let's please preserve a few notes off-line or on-line, while we are on the journey. I recommend recording our views first, so they are new and not about what anyone notes. Then in a separate message, make our rounds of replies: what say you?

I think we mainly meet lasting, important series figures. It doesn't matter if some of them appear briefly in one volume or another. However, I will grant Leeanne that Hazel was a page waster that were thankfully short. She is a bitch we could do without. I reassure you, Shirin, that everything unpleasant works out quite early for everyone. You must have stopped playing your CD or audio file at a less pleasant spot and waited to reprise and move the story forward. Good moments abound.

I don't think there was a clamour of advertising in the early 1900s: only stores, letters, and radio. Letter-writing types about books they like would have to be numerous and I can't see authors scraping together material for that reason. If Joanne Rowling in the age of accessible media and unbelievable fandom, did not continue "Harry Potter"; who would? I give credence to our other suggestions. Maud must have had ideas for more of Anne's life, more storylines, or wanted to thoroughly realize character references. My guess is that ideas were there and fan affection might have encouraged her forward. That is different from being the reason Maud wrote more.

It will be easy and fun to see for ourselves in the succeeding books! They precede 1936. If they contain Elizabeth, Katherine, Dusty Miller, and Rebecca who also quickly became likeable to us.... it will be a pleasure to see their enduring influence. :)

Leeanne, we know Elizabeth's Dad accepted an overseas job and lost his wife. Except local fishing, life at sea is always about trips that require time for returning home. On those trips, does he not meet other parents, children, babies, widowers? I thank the good Lord that our first thoughts are not our only or concusive ones!

In 8 years, he should have visited, written, or understood he was lucky to have a Daughter and living connection to his wife. Even parents who are disinterested or unfamiliar with offspring at first, send mail or visit out of duty or curiousity. Then of course, he would fall in love with Elizabeth, see her needs firsthand, and disapprove of what Leeanne astutely called neglect, if not abuse. Scaring a child with stories of crows and allowing them to sleep in fear of the dark without relieving it, is inappropriate.

I think I have coloured in my thoughts so far. I want to make it easy for Kerri, Leeanne, Shirin to go along and comment on whatever catches your fancy, as well as delight me with your new notes. That is; the funny, clever Shirin who needs a break from mysteries containing crimes, will delight us again soon. ;> Girl, you see why I prefer mysteries that are about adventure and clue solving, instead of crime. They are more fun!