The Marlows - that large English family whose school and holiday adventures are chronicled by Antonia Forest over the course of ten books, beginning with Autumn Term - are completely unprepared, in this seventh title, for the news that Karen, eldest daughter and promising young scholar, is leaving Oxford in order to marry a man who is twice her age, and who has three children from a previous marriage. The fact that this "ready-made family" will be temporarily living at Trennels, the Marlow home and farm, until they can find a place of their own, makes the situation all the trickier, especially when it emerges that the younger Marlows - despite taking to the three young Dodds - have little fondness for their new brother-in-law.

After reading and enjoying (to varying degrees) Forest's six previous Marlow titles, I found The Ready-Made Family a distinct disappointment. It wasn't simply that I found some of the plot developments deeply distasteful, and was dismayed at the seemingly cavalier manner in which they were presented by the author, although there is that. But it also seemed to me that the author, whose skill I do not doubt, was being a terribly lazy storyteller here. I never felt that she offered a convincing explanation for Karen and Edwin's attraction and marriage - in fact, I found that aspect of the story utterly incomprehensible, and wholly unconvincing, throughout - and I eventually came to the conclusion that it was little more than a convenient (and poorly done) plot device, whose real purpose was to bring the Marlows and Dodds into close proximity with one another, in order to examine their interaction.

Which is all well and good. I enjoyed meeting the younger Dodds - little Fob (Phoebe), with her adorable toddler crush on Peter; insouciant Chas (Charles), with his love of trains and happy friendship with Nicola; and bibliophile Rose, whose quiet reserve masks a desperate unhappiness that precipitates the concluding crisis of the novel - a great deal. But never enough that I was completely distracted from my irritation at the clumsiness of Forest's framing device. And certainly, never enough that I was willing to overlook the ugliness of various incidents, and the way in which they seemed to be "swept under the rug" in the course of the story. From Karen's campaign to oust the elderly Tranter couple from their cottage on the Marlow property - I guess the devoted labor of thirty-five years doesn't count for much: one medical emergency and you're out! - to Edwin losing his temper with Peter - get a little mouthy in this family, and someone may whip you... across the face! - I never found the Marlows so unpleasant.

What on earth, I kept wondering, was Mrs. Marlow thinking? What was the author thinking? Did she seriously expect her readers to be convinced by the resolution of the Marlow-Dodd feud, at least as far as Nicola was concerned? Did she imagine that, having created a character whose utter lack of parenting skills was emphasized throughout, she could make him look better by throwing in a pedophile? I guess that, in comparison to molestation, a few lashes across the face are no big deal? Seriously?!? That's the answer? Poorly done, Antonia Forest - poorly done! In the end, despite enjoying Forest's depiction of the Dodd children, this is one I would recommend primarily to those who (like me) are interested in reading the entire Marlow series. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/jul04.html#foresttrmf ( )