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BATH, 1920

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H [59] Brigadier-General Arthur Lionel Tarquin Blackstock (Emily Amy)
W [54] Venezia Romilly Hero Burdet (Wraith)

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S1 [29] Captain Arthur Hannibal Wulfhard Blackstock (cher529s)
- W [30] Thekla Miranda Heywood (JuliaF)
-- S [5] Constantine Horatio Arthur Blackstock (JuliaF)

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D1 [27] Guinevere Charis Letizia Blackstock (JuliaF)
- H [32] Sigmund Franz-Joseph Cavendish (BlueOcean123)

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S2 [25] Samson Jericho Marcus Blackstock (Guest)
- BF [26]

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D2 [23] Evangeline Camilla Aktaie Blackstock (JuliaF)
- Fiancé [27] Valentine Francis St. Anne (Darkbone)
-- S [1]

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S3 [21] Second Lieutenant Leonidas Enoch Tarquin Blackstock (.)
- Fiancée [19]

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D3 [19] Lavinia Constance Hero Blackstock (Uilos)
- BF [38]

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S4 [16] Hector Osric Maximilian Blackstock (RowenaRavenclaw)

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It is the autumn of 1920, and, miraculously, everyone is alive.

Arthur has returned to England, now a proud veteran of the Great War. The war has left him physically unscathed but mentally scarred. He remains a staunch supporter of British imperialism, but the empire for which he sent so many men to their deaths feels more fragile and less glorious than ever. Arthur has taken a role in the War Office, overseeing the transition of soldiers back to civilian life. He has shown no more devotion to Venezia, even as her illness has ravaged her body and mind.

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Venezia's health deteriorated considerably. The Spanish flu of 1918 nearly killed her. She is now completely bedridden and a shadow of her former self. She has lost all her cheerfulness, and even music brings her no pleasure. It seems to the Blackstocks that she is just lying there waiting to die - especially as her children, busy with their own lives, have left home. The presence of her youngest, Hector, is one of the few things that brings her peace.

Art returned to England a war hero - a disillusioned, broken war hero. He has been offered a promotion to Major but categorically refused it, wanting nothing more to do with the war machine that has claimed so many of his friends. Art has moved his family to a modest estate in Sussex, far from the city. He has become quiet, brooding and distant from his family. He struggles to connect with his son Constantine, who is now five - not least because he only met him when he was three.

Thekla has dedicated herself to rebuilding a world torn apart by war. Her involvement in organising aid has continued and she now works with war widows and orphans. She remains strong-willed and resilient, and has become a pillar of the Sussex community. Her relationship with Art, however, has become strained; they live more like partners in a common cause than a loving couple, and Thekla feels increasingly alone in her marriage. She worries about Constantine, who seems to have inherited his father's solemn melancholy. Her son is deeply attached to his mother, but longs for his father's affection, which always seems just out of reach.

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Gwen, now an outspoken socialist, has continued her work in the VAD despite being disillusioned by the war. She is passionate about justice and is involved in various political movements, campaigning for workers' rights and women's suffrage. Her relationship with Sigmund has deepened, though they often argue about their different approaches to activism. Gwen put her foot down and insisted on marriage when the war ended. The couple now live in an area of London that most of her siblings wouldn't dare visit, where Gwen is deeply involved in the labour movement.

Having survived the war, Sigmund plunged into political activism. He writes for a radical socialist newspaper and is often at odds with the establishment. His relationship with Gwen is both passionate and volatile: their shared ideals have kept them together, but their arguments often involve raised voices and china being thrown across the room. Sigmund's fiery rhetoric has made him enemies in high places: he must watch his back.

Sam, disinherited by his father, ekes out a living as the youngest lecturer in philosophy at Cambridge University. His appointment is controversial, as he makes little effort to hide his Marxist views. His friend has fortunately returned from the war unscathed, and they have taken rooms together in Cambridge. It is, they say, a prudent choice given the current economic crisis, but there are whispers about the nature of their relationship. They ignore them.

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Evie and Valentine married in 1918, as soon as the war ended, and settled in a cottage in the Cotswolds. But the rolling hills and picturesque villages do not inspire Evie's paintings: her art has become strange, dark, shadowy - inspired by what Valentine and other soldiers have told her about the war and its aftermath. The couple live off Evie's paintings and the occasional cheque from Arthur's father - who may not approve of Valentine's lily-livered poetry, published only in obscure, disreputable magazines, but will always support a fellow soldier.

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Sometimes Valentine is calm and gentle: sometimes he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and goes into fits of melancholy when he refuses to speak to anyone - not even Evie - and locks himself in the small study, scribbling frantically for hours. This worries Evie greatly - during his episodes, Valentine does not seem to recognise her or their one-year-old son, to whom he is usually a doting father and with whom he seems absolutely in love.

Leo joined the army as soon as he could, but the war ended before he could see combat. He feels cheated of the glory he so eagerly sought. Leo now serves in the British Army, stationed in Ireland as part of the force trying to quell the Irish War of Independence. His experiences there are far from the heroic battles he had imagined, and the brutality of the conflict has begun to undermine his idealism. He has become engaged to the daughter of a loyalist Anglo-Irish officer - though some question whether the relationship is based on mutual affection, and how much on Leo's military and political ambitions.

Lavinia has shed Vinnie, her childhood nickname, because at 19 she considers herself very much an adult. She exercises her independence to the full. Soon after her eighteenth birthday, much to the chagrin of her parents (especially Arthur, who never tried to hide his preference for his youngest daughter), she ran away to London and plunged headlong into the bohemian art world. Her rapier wit and good looks have made her a favourite at every avant-garde party, and rumours abound that she poses nude for London's most famous artists.

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Most scandalously, she has become involved with a much older artist: who happens to be the estranged older brother of Lavinia's brother-in-law, Sigmund. Gwen disapproves strongly, and has made no effort to hide it: Sigmund disapproves of his elder brother in the strongest terms, regarding him as a hedonistic rake with a habit of pursuing girls at least a decade his junior and political opinions he finds abhorrent. Gwen agrees with her husband, but Lavinia remains unconvinced, causing a rift between her and Gwen. She relishes the scandal and the attention it brings.

Hector is growing up fast, influenced by his older siblings, but still the sensitive boy who adored his mother. He remains close to Leo, who has become a surrogate father figure despite his absence - even though Leo remains in Ireland, Hector feels closer to him than to Arthur. However, Gwen and Sam's radicalism makes Hector question his loyalty to the military and whether Leo's actions are as honourable as he once believed. He no longer attends boarding school, instead pleading with his father to hire tutors to keep him as close as possible to his dying mother.

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Sam's intimate friend

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First name: the Scottish variant of a common English name.

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Middle name: an unusual name of uncertain etymology.

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Surname: English, Scottish, or Irish, and at least 10 letters long.

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Evie and Valentine's son

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First name: a long English name with an unusual or amusing meaning.

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First middle name: an archangel.

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Second middle name: Valentine or Francis, after his father.

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Leo's fiancée

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First name: common in mediaeval England.

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Middle name: after a member of the British royal family who was alive at the time of her birth (in 1901).

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Surname: shared with a famous Anglo-Irish historical figure.

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Lavinia's paramour

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First name: German, contains a Z.

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Middle name: a hyphenated German name.

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Surname: Cavendish, same as his brother.

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masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080

This message was edited 8/15/2024, 2:17 PM