Remember, Remember...

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Fanfiction
Title: Remember, Remember...
Author(s): fawatson
Date(s): 11 November 2008
Length: 3036 words
Genre(s): backstory
Fandom(s): Mary Renault
Relationship(s):
External Links: archived on MRF

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"Remember, Remember..." is the first in Florence A. Watson (fawatson)'s The Difficult Age series of short stories based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It is set during term time when Laurie is away at school, and focuses on his mother—and his dog, a lively Airedale.

Synopsis

It is All Saints Day, with Armistice Day pending, creating problems for Lucy, who is on the rota to do the church flowers with only a few plants still in bloom so late. After agreeing to let some local boys house their guy in her shed, she meets Colonel Ramsay,[1] who is new to the village.

Background

The Author's Note indicates that the story was started for Halloween, but only finished in time for Remembrance Day.

Comments

The story elicited a number of comments, including the following:

  • "This is lovely, a great glimpse of her day-to-day life and the home where Laurie grew up. I think it's easy for some of us to think "however did she fill her days," and forget that there weren't many labor-saving devices for housework, that almost every meal was home-cooked, and that women were all involved in volunteerism. You've made this all quite vivid, and redeemed some of Lucy's later actions."—comment by lorie945
  • "You have a lovely touch with both Lucy and Olive, and I enjoyed this as much as the In Their Own Words series."—comment by my_cnnr
  • "I enjoyed reading this so much, and it's lovely to bring Gyp into the foreground and pad out the detail where the Colonel is concerned, [...]"—comment by trueriver

References

  1. ^ Little is said in The Charioteer about Colonel Ramsay, but it is canon that, when Laurie was in his early teens, his mother considered marrying him, only to give up the idea because of her son's reaction.