Posted by Colin Havard on August 18, 1998 at 20:29:15:
In Reply to: Re: Just double-checking two titles of books posted by kate crosby on August 17, 1998 at 21:45:18:
I have never given much thought to it, but I don't think AR painted Captain Flint as a failure. The impression I get is that James Turner was someone with "independent means" whose travels and gold prospecting and book writing were more hobby than career. His trips abroad were more for the sake of adventure than for economic reasons. It's a sort of existence that hardly exists today (certainly not here in the USA), but you find it in the books of Robert Louis Stevenson or John Buchan.
Socially the Blacketts and Turners were a bit above the Walkers and Callums, country gentry rather than of the service/professional class. Beckfoot, as portrayed in PP, is a fairly substantial property with its stable yard, boathouse, and expanse of lawn. I suspect that it was supported by inherited wealth.
Finally, I don't think Nancy regressed in Secret Water, I think John (and Titty to a lesser extent) suddenly became insufferably priggish because of the proximity of their father. It's one reason I've never liked the book as much as the others. They needed a "pigeon a day to keep the natives away"!