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The Excellent Women are those - in this context - who quietly get on, in a volunteer capacity, with the myriad of small jobs needed to keep an organisation like a church running. In the 1950s these would have been almost entirely women - but also those who were not unable to perform this role due to needs of employment or domestic duties.

This is another way of looking at Tennyson's Lady Clara Vere de Vere The Ggand old gardener and his wife, Smile at the claims of long descent.

Anthropologists are a theme, but put me in mind of Domenica MacDonald from the 44 Scotland Street series, though she, in that series, is a more major character. Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World is a non-fiction examination of our culture by a contemporary anthropologist.

The Jumble Sale described in chapter 7 brought back memories of Scout Jumble Sales, where I remember the transformation of sweet old (as they seemed at the time) ladies into ruthless hunters snatching garments from each other and requiring the hapless scouts on the stall to adjudicate.

There are several places in the narrative where Laurie survives to continue, and eventually write about his adventures. This is an interesting example of Survivorship bias in that we do not get to hear the stories of those who try to walk during the day from Toro to Valladolid and do not complete the journey with the hospitality of strangers and a car ride.

Pre-war rural Cotswolds. The Lady Hardcastle books, although fictional, are also set in the Cotswolds from which Laurie departs. They are set shortly before the First, rather than Second, World War - but rural life was still similar.

Far from home - with a violin. Like Solomon Northup in Twelve years a slave Laurie benefits from the connections with strangers created through his violin.

The problem of Intelligence The Mismeasure of Man, discusses how difficult it can be to define what intelligence really means. There is not necessarily a correlation between measured IQ and 'book learning' and the ability to turn that into practical use.

Nature and Nurture. Throughout the book Charlie wants to learn, and to be a good person. Did this come from his nature, or was it imposed by his strict mother? Humankind argues for an inbuilt level of goodness. There are many examples of strict parenting not having the desired result.

The difficulty of treating unequal siblings equally. In Progress Report 12 Charlie's parents have told his sister Norma that she can have a dog if she does well in a test, but they have already told Charlie that he can not. Denying her the dog because of Charlie fuels resentment and further family strain. Finding the right balance of limited parental attention and limited family budget is always difficult, but particularly so if one child is different from the others in a major way.

The journal entries, which evolve in linguistic style with Charlie's capabilities, make it an Epistolary novel, but the rapid growth and change puts it more into the Bildungsroman, category. In some ways it resembles a rags-to-riches-to-rags format, echoes of the story of Faust and the concept of forbidden knowledge, and hints of the inescapable destiny which remind me of Arthurian Romance.

The way Charlie's relationships with his co-workers at the bakery, staff and students at the university and Alice change as he changes is important, and they too are changed - though in lesser amounts - as the sun is pulled less towards the earth than the earth to the sun.

Throughout there remains a central decent core to Charlie, with his aspiration to know and his wish to be good, which is very endearing and identifiable.

The introduction to 'Human Relationships' in which Natalia presents her thoughts, as if they are universal, but which probably reflect her own experiences. I find I'm OK, You're OK and similar more informative, but some sections strike a chord.

Human Relationships

Describes the way our relationships with others evolve through our lives. Beginning with her view of little children's relationships with adults, followed by those of adolescents with adults and each other. The having, and changing, best friends, and the uncertainty about whether we will find 'the right person'. The sliding into a relationship with the right person without realising this, and the way having children changes our views on relationships, and what is important. Almost returning to the start with the adults relationships with small children, and how this changes as the children grow into adolescents.