Some Perspective on Authors and Shipping
I present for your examination the Flambards trilogy + 1, by K.M. Peyton. The reason that I don't call it a quartet of books is that it's not. Here is the relevant portion of Peyton's Wikipedia entry:
Flambards
Flambards (Oxford, 1967), illustrated by Victor Ambrus
The Edge of the Cloud (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus
Flambards in Summer (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus
Flambards Divided (1981)
Peyton's extension of the trilogy followed its television adaptation and reversed the original ending.
And when the poster writes "reversed the original ending" what that means is "reversed the shipping".
That's right. Peyton completely upended the shipping TWELVE YEARS AFTER FINISHING THE ORIGINAL SERIES and two years after the 1979 television series (13 parts), a dramatization of the trilogy.
Oddly enough, I only just realized yesterday how similar some of the characters are to the HP characters (or at least, some can be considered analogous).
If you don't mind spoilers for all four books, proceed.
To explain who the players are, here is a quick run-down:
Christina Parsons (Protagonist) - An orphan (like Harry) of a wealthy couple (also like Harry) sent to live with her uncle and cousins (more than one in this case, and no aunt) because her uncle is scheming for this daughter of his half-sister to eventually marry his elder son and then prop up his crumbling estate (Flambards) with her inheritance, when she turns 21. Despite the superficial similarities to Harry (orphan stories will always be a "thing", I believe), I see elements of both Hermione and Ginny in her; she has grown up in the "outside world" with other cousins and aunts before being sent to the "medieval" world of Flambards (Hogwarts), where, to her delight, she learns that she is to be given riding lessons in order to join in fox hunting. (The riding is her chief delight, not killing foxes.) That she becomes very good at this reminds me of both Ginny and Hermione because of Ginny's Quidditch prowess and Hermione's magical prowess. The difference between this and HP, though, is that the expectation that she will marry a certain person looms in the distance, and if she doesn't marry this person, Flambards (and riding) will be lost to her. That's enough to start (and not very "quick", but Christina is the lead character).
Mark Russell - The eldest son of Christina's Uncle Russell, Mark is the one she is expected to marry. Mark's character is analogous to both Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy: Mark is raised to believe that some people are just "better" because of their blood; he was born to the life at Flambards, whereas Christina must learn to get on in a radically different setting than she previously knew; and Mark simply takes for granted that certain things will be handed to him, such as Christina.
Will Russell - The second son, Will is somewhat analogous to Harry. Will isn't interested in horses and hunting and his family's ancient estate, which he wouldn't inherit anyway. He is interested in flying machines and leaving his father's realm to make a life for himself as a pilot and aircraft designer. To say that he and Mark don't get along would be to downplay the antagonism between them, even more so once Mark realizes that Christina has fallen in love with Will.
Dick Wright - The groom who teaches Christina to ride, he helps to save the life of her beloved horse when it is to become dog food and loses his job as a result, all because he has fallen in love with Christina. There is a lot of talk from Mark about how Dick is just a "servant", as though he's a different species. Dick is analogous to Ron Weasley (he also has quite a temper when pushed, which Mark discovers the hard way). Will always treats Dick with the utmost respect and is well aware of the great risk to his job if he helps them save the horse; they are not friends exactly, but have a much more congenial relationship than Dick and Mark, and Will is well aware of the poverty in which the Wrights live. (They have a bedridden mother and dead father.)
Violet Wright - Dick's sister and the housemaid at Flambards, Violet has a crush on Mark, which he exploits to get her into bed, but when he gets her pregnant, his father pays her off and sends her packing. She has a son, Thomas Mark, whom she calls "Tizzy". She subsequently moves to Rotherhithe, in London, marries and also has some daughters. Some aspects of Violet are analogous to Ginny (making Mark/Violet analogous to Draco/Ginny). She isn't seen much after she gets pregnant, but her character is important to the class divisions in the story.
Dorothy Saunders - Christina's friend and daughter of Christina's first employer (Mr. Saunders is a hotelier), as well as girlfriend to Sandy, a pilot friend of Will's. Sandy is more of a footnote to the shipping activity than a main player, as his death is necessary to rearrange the ships a bit at one point. Poor Sandy. Dorothy reminds me of a slightly more put-together version of Luna, though she does also espouse ideas that shock Christina, and bravely goes off to be a nurse on the front lines during World War I.
I should probably explain that the story begins in 1912, and the Russell brothers (and Dick) mature to the perfect ages for military duty just as the war begins in 1914. I won't explain country estates and fox hunting and the rest of that--I will just have to trust that you know something about early twentieth century British society to proceed.
Continued in next post...
Flambards
Flambards (Oxford, 1967), illustrated by Victor Ambrus
The Edge of the Cloud (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus
Flambards in Summer (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus
Flambards Divided (1981)
Peyton's extension of the trilogy followed its television adaptation and reversed the original ending.
And when the poster writes "reversed the original ending" what that means is "reversed the shipping".
That's right. Peyton completely upended the shipping TWELVE YEARS AFTER FINISHING THE ORIGINAL SERIES and two years after the 1979 television series (13 parts), a dramatization of the trilogy.
Oddly enough, I only just realized yesterday how similar some of the characters are to the HP characters (or at least, some can be considered analogous).
If you don't mind spoilers for all four books, proceed.
To explain who the players are, here is a quick run-down:
Christina Parsons (Protagonist) - An orphan (like Harry) of a wealthy couple (also like Harry) sent to live with her uncle and cousins (more than one in this case, and no aunt) because her uncle is scheming for this daughter of his half-sister to eventually marry his elder son and then prop up his crumbling estate (Flambards) with her inheritance, when she turns 21. Despite the superficial similarities to Harry (orphan stories will always be a "thing", I believe), I see elements of both Hermione and Ginny in her; she has grown up in the "outside world" with other cousins and aunts before being sent to the "medieval" world of Flambards (Hogwarts), where, to her delight, she learns that she is to be given riding lessons in order to join in fox hunting. (The riding is her chief delight, not killing foxes.) That she becomes very good at this reminds me of both Ginny and Hermione because of Ginny's Quidditch prowess and Hermione's magical prowess. The difference between this and HP, though, is that the expectation that she will marry a certain person looms in the distance, and if she doesn't marry this person, Flambards (and riding) will be lost to her. That's enough to start (and not very "quick", but Christina is the lead character).
Mark Russell - The eldest son of Christina's Uncle Russell, Mark is the one she is expected to marry. Mark's character is analogous to both Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy: Mark is raised to believe that some people are just "better" because of their blood; he was born to the life at Flambards, whereas Christina must learn to get on in a radically different setting than she previously knew; and Mark simply takes for granted that certain things will be handed to him, such as Christina.
Will Russell - The second son, Will is somewhat analogous to Harry. Will isn't interested in horses and hunting and his family's ancient estate, which he wouldn't inherit anyway. He is interested in flying machines and leaving his father's realm to make a life for himself as a pilot and aircraft designer. To say that he and Mark don't get along would be to downplay the antagonism between them, even more so once Mark realizes that Christina has fallen in love with Will.
Dick Wright - The groom who teaches Christina to ride, he helps to save the life of her beloved horse when it is to become dog food and loses his job as a result, all because he has fallen in love with Christina. There is a lot of talk from Mark about how Dick is just a "servant", as though he's a different species. Dick is analogous to Ron Weasley (he also has quite a temper when pushed, which Mark discovers the hard way). Will always treats Dick with the utmost respect and is well aware of the great risk to his job if he helps them save the horse; they are not friends exactly, but have a much more congenial relationship than Dick and Mark, and Will is well aware of the poverty in which the Wrights live. (They have a bedridden mother and dead father.)
Violet Wright - Dick's sister and the housemaid at Flambards, Violet has a crush on Mark, which he exploits to get her into bed, but when he gets her pregnant, his father pays her off and sends her packing. She has a son, Thomas Mark, whom she calls "Tizzy". She subsequently moves to Rotherhithe, in London, marries and also has some daughters. Some aspects of Violet are analogous to Ginny (making Mark/Violet analogous to Draco/Ginny). She isn't seen much after she gets pregnant, but her character is important to the class divisions in the story.
Dorothy Saunders - Christina's friend and daughter of Christina's first employer (Mr. Saunders is a hotelier), as well as girlfriend to Sandy, a pilot friend of Will's. Sandy is more of a footnote to the shipping activity than a main player, as his death is necessary to rearrange the ships a bit at one point. Poor Sandy. Dorothy reminds me of a slightly more put-together version of Luna, though she does also espouse ideas that shock Christina, and bravely goes off to be a nurse on the front lines during World War I.
I should probably explain that the story begins in 1912, and the Russell brothers (and Dick) mature to the perfect ages for military duty just as the war begins in 1914. I won't explain country estates and fox hunting and the rest of that--I will just have to trust that you know something about early twentieth century British society to proceed.
Continued in next post...