Posted by Adam Quinan on May 06, 2019 at 06:42:29 user Adam.
It seems that TarBoard has been in the doldrums and very quiet for quite a long time and so I thought that I would post something to see if some discussion can be provoked.
I don't know how many people here have visited and explored our companion site All Things Ransome . It developed from the Literary Pages of an earlier version of the TARS website.
It contains a lot of interesting Ransome related material, from articles and reviews to simple quizzes and games.
Today I thought that I would look in the Connections pages, Arthur Ransome Connections which contain a number of articles about people who met or somehow connected with Ransome during his lifetime. Several of them descrbe reply cards received by a young fans after they wrote to Ransome, another describes a visit by Ellen Tillenghast to have tea with Arthur and Evgenia when they lived in London.
However, the story that I found most informative was that of Roger Wardle's interview with Phillipa Ryan, Ursula Collingwood's daughter. She describes Ransome as a rather insecure and irascible man she knew as a child. Competitive and did not like losing. Her impressions of Evgenia were a bit different. Many people sem to demonise Evgenia a bit with concerns over her disapproving nature for Ransome's later books but she did seem to rule the roost as she was a decisive character. Reading this some of Ransome's later distancing from the Altounyan family can be explained as being part of his character.
The article also contains short snippets about the Collingwoods and Altounyans which are not really very complimentary. I did find Susan's later activity in France during the war etc. to be interesting when you think of how Ransome portrayed her in the books. Much more like Nancy than Susan in my opinion.
Of course one does have to wonder about the descriptions and how much it is a generational attitude towards her uncles, aunts and grandparents.
I suggest that yu have a read (see link below) and give me your ideas
Post a followup (Only if you agree to the Terms and Conditions)