Given that Forester conveniently forgets that aboard warships there were frequently women who'd be doing the laundry, I think I can be forgiven for stretching believability here. And it's one nightshirt, it's not like he's suddenly doing his captain's bedsheets. Besides, it's Bailey at this point, who I assume has been given additional duties tending to the other captain and first lieutenant aboard the Hotspur. (We know there were fatalities in the other shipwreck, so let's just say it was the steward.) This story is set after the battle with the Félicité. It's the last hurrah of the Hotspur.
I think my biggest issue with Forester's characterisation of Barbara is he doesn't lean into the Not Like Other Girls enough. She's Not Like Other Girls until... she's Mrs Perfect Wife. So I'm glad to hear she causes some trouble later on.
I should have known! I apologise for telling you things you already knew :-) But yes, there was the social space for setting up house with your best friend. It was easier for women to get away with, because while they might face social ridicule or criticism at least there there's nothing illegal potentially going on. (Ladies of Llangollen, for instance.)
Oh, I wish I could draw better. I did write something once about someone cartooning Bush/Barbara/Hornblower, but written is far different from drawn.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-09-14 07:50 pm (UTC)I think my biggest issue with Forester's characterisation of Barbara is he doesn't lean into the Not Like Other Girls enough. She's Not Like Other Girls until... she's Mrs Perfect Wife. So I'm glad to hear she causes some trouble later on.
I should have known! I apologise for telling you things you already knew :-) But yes, there was the social space for setting up house with your best friend. It was easier for women to get away with, because while they might face social ridicule or criticism at least there there's nothing illegal potentially going on. (Ladies of Llangollen, for instance.)
Oh, I wish I could draw better. I did write something once about someone cartooning Bush/Barbara/Hornblower, but written is far different from drawn.