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A review by treereader
The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
3.0
I'd forgotten just how sexist, classist, and racist this is. Coming into the re-read, I remembered vaguely that it was sexist, and I guess this might have been all I noticed when I first read it - I was 10 or 11? Not sure.
Anyway the entrenched classism especially was interesting to read - so much about noble blood, and nonsense about being able to tell one's class based one their appearance, and forester's garb not disguising aristocratic birth. But the stuff about what Patience and Edward were able to say/acknowledge to each other (even just the use of titles and surnames) was really interesting in terms of social dynamics and how the English speaking world used to be structured soooo differently and strictly.
I'm not sure if I'd let many kids read it actually unless they were pretty savvy, the sexism is thoroughly built in through the whole book, impossible to not absorb in some way. Read any sentence where the boys are talking to their sisters (or about their sisters) and you'll see.
Anyway the entrenched classism especially was interesting to read - so much about noble blood, and nonsense about being able to tell one's class based one their appearance, and forester's garb not disguising aristocratic birth. But the stuff about what Patience and Edward were able to say/acknowledge to each other (even just the use of titles and surnames) was really interesting in terms of social dynamics and how the English speaking world used to be structured soooo differently and strictly.
I'm not sure if I'd let many kids read it actually unless they were pretty savvy, the sexism is thoroughly built in through the whole book, impossible to not absorb in some way. Read any sentence where the boys are talking to their sisters (or about their sisters) and you'll see.