Victory For Victoria--Discussion Thread

I'm with Betty Debbie on this one. It's not a favorite but the end is awesome.

The implications of Victoria living in Guernsey are that she has to take a boat to get anywhere worth going and she is also able to stock up on soap, lipsticks and face powder because they were all so much cheaper. The only time I ever shopped 'duty free' was in Milan on the way back to the U.S.--I had to get rid of the pesky left-over Euros. With no imagination at all, my purchases read like a Betty Neels travel gift list: chocolates, cheese and pastas. (I didn't have that many left over Euros...) But I didn't have a loyal (but underpaid) housekeeper named Mrs. Honeythistle to give them to.

Victoria's younger sister and, later on, a nurse both comment that our hero "turns me on". My, my, Betty. Pardon me while I clutch wildly at my old-lady church fan and ply it wildly. But Betty Debbie assures me that this was a very 70's phrase more related to "he sends me" then "Let's go to Brighton". [Betty Debbie] Mind you, I was only 12 when this book was published...and 12 year olds are not notorious for their understanding of double entendre.

Victoria muses that "she would have been quite happy sitting in a Wimpy Bar with him for the whole evening." Wimpy Bars were named after the character in Popeye--they're fast food hamburger joints. That's a cheap date. I once had a co-worker in college complain that her boyfriend (also in college and hard up for cash) used an icky coupon on a date. They married eventually but based on this incident I have often wondered if they are happy.

In a vain attempt to forget the RDD, Victoria went so far as to play table tennis, which she loathed. I do not loathe table tennis--little ball but always coming from one direction. Because I wear glasses (blind since 8th grade!) I hate having things fly at me out of the corner of my eye. Hence, I loathe playing basketball. Soccer (which I love) has a much wider field of play and much softer balls so that when I am hit in the face, it is somewhat expected. Basketballs are hard.

Victoria makes sure that her handbag "contained all that was necessary for a young woman out for the day". Here's a list of things I considered 'necessary' from before I had kids and after:

Before: lip balm (there will be kissing tonight!), enough cash to get me home or a meal (in case he is a tightwad or has Brighton-ish plans), feminine hygiene product (because Fate so often is Remarkable).

After: Diapers and wipes (the consequences of forgetting these are unimaginable), a toy (because motherhood is 90% distraction), snacks (the waiting line at the DMV is not going to get any shorter because three of the van Voorhees children want to go home NOW.) and a change of clothes for someone (because when vomit happens, it won't be tidy). Now that my kids are fairly grown, I have a whole different bag of tricks. Travel size Advil or Tylenol, fingernail clippers, a book, ipod and headphones.