![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() You’re right in saying that there is a certain romantic female sensibilty in Sutcliff’s writing, most notably apparent in her adult novel “The Rider of the White Horse” – she clearly sees Sir Thomas Fairfax in the light of rather breathless romantic hero-worship – but I’m sure that on the whole she identified with male characters because they were free to act in ways women weren’t and so more able to satisfy her necessarily vicarious desire for action and adventure. In these rare cases there’s always an understanding that this friendship will in time become a marriage: Damaris and Peter in “Flame-Coloured Taffeta”, Freya and Bjorn in “Shield Ring”, Hugh and Darklis in “Bonnie Dundee” and Tamsyn and Piers in “The Armourer’s House”. The central pairing of two friends is a very strong element in Sutcliff’s novels and sometimes this pairing is male and female rather than the usual two males. Again, in “Flame Coloured Taffeta” as in “Shield Ring,” Damaris does not act alone, but with her friend, Peter, though she does get more of a starring role. ![]()
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