A Tangled Blog

I for one am so, so happy you are back! Your writing has so much depth and detail to it; it always feels like enjoying a slice of rich cheesecake to read a chapter. (And that is a compliment, by the way - I love cheesecake and get it way too infrequently!) And I love how you are making Nan a three-dimensional character, and someone I can actually like, and probably would want to be friends with in real life.

For some reason, I am sort of making her twin a little less likable - at least in the first few chapters.

In your review, you stated, "Hm, I'm curious to see where Di's antagonism comes from - just not wanting to share her twin with anyone, or jealous that Nan has a beau, or a general dislike of Jerry?"

The answer is a little of all of the above, I think. The twins have been apart for the first time in their lives for the better part of a year. Di lived at home and taught at Mowbray Narrows, but Nan ventured off to Avonlea. She made new friends and such, where as Di really didn't. Then just when Di thought she had her twin back, she catches her in a very close moment with someone she can never imagine herself with. Nan is venturing into territory that Di really knows nothing about. They will never again be quite the same twins they were before they went their own way

I can definitely see that with Di - and I'm curious to see where you take her. Even though she's one of my favorites, I always like to see an alternate twist on familiar characters!

Not too alternate, just deeper. Having two sets of twin cousins, I can promise you that jealousy and such are often a very common denominator, even when two sisters love each other very much.

I can definitely see that. I used to baby-sit a set of twins, and they actually understood each other less than they did their other siblings - and they used to get very annoyed when people assumed they were best friends just because they were twins.

I'm glad you're back. SO glad.

I really like what you are doing with Nan and Jerry. It doesn't feel forced or rushed, and it seems very much like what might have happened if LMM had been able to describe what she had in mind, you know? I'm also finding it very easy to relate to Nan for the first time, though my heart goes out to poor Di, who must feel so left behind as her twin steps forward into love!

I do wonder what Nan's romantic personality might make of war? So far she is very young, and the only war she has ever known is in the context of ancient myths and stories of faithful knights. If Rilla's self-absorption make her indifferent, at first, will Nan's romantic streak give her a very different idea of what truly is meant by pitting nation against nation? I can't wait to find out.

I'm still working out what exactly Nan will make of the war. At first she's probably going to get a little caught up in the romanticism of it all, and the realities of it will come crashing down on her horribly.

She will find at least one very interesting way of escaping the realities of the war at some point - actually just about the time that Jem and Jerry are in the trenches.

There will come a point when she can no longer deal with it, but she will bounce back. When Jerry comes home, things will not be just the way she expected them to either.

All along the way, Di will be a major character. There's no way she can't be. At times, we may see more of her than Nan, as Nan sort of retreats into herself a bit - maybe.