Britannia All At Sea - Discussion Thread

To compensate for the totally pedestrian last name of Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Smith named their daughter Britannia. Very patriotic of them. It brings to mind the song "Rule Britannia", whose lyrics were taken from a poem by James Thomson. Here's the first of six verses of the poem:

When Britain first, at Heaven's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

The Founding Bettys also had patriotic forbears. Amongst our ancestors can be found a George Washington Brewer and a Joseph Eggleston Johnston Walley (that's patriotic if you happen to be from the formerly Confederate state of Mississippi).

Sisters have coffee with the doctors in their offices. The lowlier staff have to drink their tea or coffee when and where they can. Staff nurse Britannia drinks her coffee in the linen cupboard sitting on a hamper--where the little people take refreshment.

An unusual sartorial statement is made by the dear Professor. This is not the only time The Great Neels has her heroes dressed in scrubs...however, this very well may be the least flattering example. "The professor, being the size he was, looking as though he might burst every seam although his dignity remained unimpaired". Sorry, not quite buying the dignity unimpaired bit, I'm snickering as I type. A tight theatre smock doesn't seem conducive to comfort in the operating theatre, except as a way to lighten the atmosphere with a few repressed chuckles.

She packs a pink dress to Holland because her mother told her that 'men are susceptible to pink'. That phrase makes it sound like the colour pink is a disease that is gender specific, such as colour blindness. I guess that makes some sense.

Commenting on Nurse Joan's hot date, Britannia says, "I thought he looked nice..." Jake replies: "...If by nice you mean unmarried and able to support a wife and anxious to marry your friend, then yes, he is nice." That's the money line.

This is such a fun book. Britannia and Jake play duets on the piano! Not just chopsticks, they thunder through a mazurka and skim through a waltz.

Jake's sister Corinne dumps her baby on pretty much anyone who will hold it. Brilliant strategist!

We are treated to a double cross-over! One is pre-marriage (Laura and Reilof from The Hasty Marriage) and one post-marriage (When May Follows). I'm wondering if The Great Betty may have felt the readers needed reassurance that Jake and Britannia ended up happily ever after.