Posted by Peter H on March 08, 2009 at 21:21:04 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: AR's 'silly books' posted by peteb on March 08, 2009 at 11:53:28:
it could have been done without the S & A characters
Well yes, and there are a few occasions on which the S&A's in-jokes seem to fall a bit flat, but look at it from AR's view. He had just finished 'The Big Six', and no doubt wanted a change of cast, so he went back to the tried and tested S&As. His publishers were nagging him for another book, and to invent new child characters would have been a big ask, expecially as ML was written in the dark early days of WWII, so he went back to characters he knew. It seems AR did consider writing a book about wartime child evacuees, but nothing came of it. Pity - that would have been interesting!
(By the way, talking of 'The Big Six', is it just my imagination, or is this the least discussed book on Tarboard? It never seems to be mentioned.)