Comments | calove: Fic: On Parliament Hill. Part 1.

calove

Fic: On Parliament Hill. Part 1.

Jul 11, 2005 13:50

This is the first thing I've written since the run in with the black dog, so forgive me a rush of nerves. I've been wanting to work on a couple of sequels, but don't seem to be in the right frame of mind yet, and this insisted on being written, thanks to a BBC news story about a table and chair. Here goes ( Read more... )

Comments 40

fredsmith518 July 11 2005, 09:52:15 UTC

Oh, Cass, this is super! The feel for the times comes over so well, Dickens lover here. The way the parents behave an dthe father, son relationship, little man indeed. The description of the boat and its loss make sthe incident easy to picture and the meeting with the little girl and again so easy to see her.
The ending was sudden and unexpected. Well done!

calove July 11 2005, 16:45:39 UTC

Oh, thank you, Jane. I was bit worried about writing the period, not being much of a historical buff - but my beta writes Victoriana so well, and she didn't faint with horror, so I hoped it wasn't too far off target. It was interesting to write - not my usual!

jamalov29 July 11 2005, 10:20:57 UTC

It was gorgeous and poignant . Brilliantly written , sweetie .

Spike/William is such an inspiration for you..

A beautiful writing like this is a mirror of your beautiful heart.

calove July 11 2005, 16:47:28 UTC

You say the loveliest things :)

I'm really glad you liked it, Caroline. There'll be a bit more of William tomorrow.

curiouswombat July 11 2005, 10:55:20 UTC

Thank you for this, it is calm and elegant - pretty neat in this weather. Do the table and chair turn up later? Or am I being stupid?

calove July 11 2005, 16:52:27 UTC

Thank you! The table and chair may well put in an appearance! But the inspiration came from a news story about the new bit of public art on Hampstead Heath (not this story, but this is the artwork ), and associated talk about the Romantic poets who used to frequent the Heath, about which more tomorrow. It sort of grew from there.

curiouswombat July 13 2005, 10:34:39 UTC

Ah yes- I saw the table and chairs on TV a little while ago - it was sweet the way that people were sitting under it having picnics.

enigmaticblues July 11 2005, 16:54:27 UTC

Ignore? Um, no. That would deprive me of pleasure, and when it comes to reading, I am a hedonist.

This was just lovely. I admire how you've managed to capture the family dynamics so that no one is too good or too bad. They're just human, and products of their time.

calove July 12 2005, 01:42:06 UTC

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. I didn't want William's father to be too much the Victorian stereotype; but as you say, a product of his time. Feels a bit mean killing him off.

enigmaticblues July 12 2005, 05:36:39 UTC

You weren't the one who was mean. You can blame the writers for that, since it seemed fairly obvious that William's father wasn't around.

You know, your story really does fit very well into what we know about William. Makes me think, and I like that sort of thing.

lillianmorgan July 12 2005, 03:03:02 UTC

Wonderful stuff. So absolutely from the mind of an eight year old, yet at the same time caught up in a very effective Victorian, London, English world. I love how William is "the child" and never William - as if his namelessness makes him more anonymous to the people around him, yet we hang on with fierce love, just as his mother, nevertheless.
given the 'circumstances in the colonies.'
Heh. Had to smile at that one :)
Really looking forward to the next five - you positively go girl!

calove July 12 2005, 07:27:55 UTC

Thank you, Lillian, I'm really glad it worked for you. Names aren't named at all in any of these (more or less) - I don't know why, but I didn't want to use them, and it felt better without, despite getting a bit tricky later. I like your take on it, though :)