When they start going to the CS, the school is in Guernsey and they follow the school off the island and around the world when it moves. Maybe they originally thought the school would be in Guernsey for years so the girls would remain on the island.

I would have loved it if some of Beth's old classmates had also gone to the CS and sucks to Janie!

Sorry - I do actually like Janie and I realise her comments are the result of EBD's mindset and era. But I think why I find her comments annoying is because she is imposing a standard and ideas onto Beth's classmates which she does not expect her daughters/nieces to follow and the only reason is because she thinks they are of a lower class than her family.

Anne really doesn't think of Beth's future at all.

If the cousin had not left her money to Peter and she continued to refuse help for Beth, then Beth will continue to feel inferior to her own sisters and cousins.

And what happens when all the children are older? Does Janie and the other uncles and aunts continue to pay for higher education?

Anne seems so caught up in her pride and care for Barbara she doesn't stop to think about the other children's futures.

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It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how - Dr Seuss

Bumping this thread to ask who on Earth is Aunty Clare in England that the Ozanne boys have been staying with? Is it a mistake for Pauline because that would have made so much more sense and avoided the issue of Pauline appearing to have vanished without trace.

I've always assumed that this was Clare Raphael, Heather's mother - no she isn't their aunt, of course, but a quite likely candidate to be a brevet aunt, I suppose. I'd like to have seen more of Pauline, too, but at least she's mentioned in the letter from Janie in the second chapter.

Thanks, mystery solved, although it seems a bit tenuous for them to stay with the Raphaels.

Couldn't agree more, Mia - I put it up as the only answer I can think of!

Do we know anything about Peter Chester's family? Maybe he has a sister calleed Clare? (or even a brother married to Clare?) Wouldn't exactly be aunt to Ozannes, but a near enough connection to be called Aunty?

Peter has brothers Jim and Andrew, and sisters Linda and Mary. Jim's in Canada and Mary died young, so it could be Andrew's wife.

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Ring the bells that still can ring; Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything; That's how the light gets in
Anthem: Leonard Cohen

Sorry - fair enough, it's not mentioned.

And I hope that Beth or her parents did work out some kind of payment scheme for Beth as she ends up tutoring Mike and looking after Felix and Felicity, and then Joey also has Cecil while she is working there. I know she had Rosa to help out, but four young children is no joke.

Wouldn't Beth have received an allowance of some kind from father as well? Wasn't that standard procedure for upper middle class girls in those days? Technically, those girls are not supposed to work so accepting a wage indicates that she 'needs' to work.

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It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how - Dr Seuss

I don't understand why anyone might think Beth would not be paid, at least like some kind of au pair. The system was not as formalized as it is now but they were already around not long after the war.

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Cestina's dolls houses - I can't bear Christmas....