People used to believe that women only went to university to get their M.R.S. - i.e. to find a husband. Nowadays, universities have larger numbers of female students, but even I sometimes can't shake the feeling that there are still girls who aren't really academically inclined, and are really just looking for a boyfriend, and are only there to not get a job.
Thank god then that this novel portrays it's female characters with academic focus and dedication!
LOIS
Lois and Fflur have dropped out of university, faking some psychological issues so they can keep their scholarships. Because mental health problems are just a thing that helps you get out of taking responsibility and getting money. Lois though hasn't told her parents about any of this, and now they've angrily turned up at her flat, where they're all apparently doing nothing but get drunk and smoke weed, and are, quite reasonably, concerned. Of course, in this narrative Lois is acting like their interference is a total downer, and why can't they let her be free! They point out that they're giving her £200 a month.
WAIT! WHAT? SHE GETS £200 A MONTH FROM HER PARENTS, AND A SCHOLARSHIP.
Her rent, apparently, is £30 a month? Her scholarship, which she got to keep, was £1500. On top of that her and Fflur have just got jobs in the supermarket (ah, the heady days of 1991/2 when you could just go to the supermarket, ask for a job, and you'd both be hired!) By my count, Lois here is getting a pretty reasonable income even before you factor in the £200 she gets from her parents. And living costs in 1991 weren't that bad either.
Anyway she escapes her evil parents (GOD HELP YOU, YOUR PARENTS LOVE AND CARE FOR YOU EMOTIONALLY AND FINANCIALLY!) on Daniel's bike to hide out in another house in Aberystwyth. All these empty bedrooms going!
CERYS
Cerys is PREGNANT! That's what she gets for being a whore. Bad girls always get punished! ALWAYS! FEMINISM! Anyway, she wants to talk to Lois and bumps into her in the supermarket with the Fat Slags. Because they're women, they handle this potential dilemma of a pregnant woman with tact, discretion and consideration:
'At least I don't overeat because no one wants to have sex with me!', said Fflur.
She then overcharges them £60 for the sweets. Which apparently is twice the costs of rent, so WTF, how much did she overcharge them? How many crisps did they buy? Did Davies do any research into how much anything should have cost?
Lois has a go at Cerys for telling her own mum about Lois dropping out, who then told Lois's mum. Because this is obviously Cerys's fault, and not Lois's fault for lying to her parents for months.
So, Cerys tell Marc. Marc gets angry at her for tricking him by deliberately getting pregnant, which Cerys actually did do, so this piece of stereotypical male fear of a baby trap is actually legitimated by the narrative. FEMINISM! Cerys doesn't want to get an abortion. He tells her she has to, 'it's just a bunch of cells.' She doesn't respond with 'You're gonna see a bunch of cells soon, you utter cunt!' No, she makes up some story about how if she has an abortion she'll never be able to have a baby again, so she can't have an abortion. No, Cerys, you can't have an abortion because it's your body, it's your choice and you can't be forced into it, and if you told the doctor that your boyfriend is a married man who's pressuring you into it because he's afraid his wife will leave him and that you didn't really want to get rid of a baby and you wanted to keep it, that doctor would undoubtedly refuse to perform such an operation. Hell, its generally the case that most girls find their doctors reluctant to do it, not being all 'well, spread your legs, I'll get the coathanger!' But I wouldn't have expected a female author to have any more nuanced grasp on the complex nature of it.
Cerys decides that she's gonna leave it long enough so she can't get an abortion, so then she can pressue Marc more. BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA WORK!
The Fat Slags tell her that she'll be kicked out of the college if she's pregnant. I very much doubt that would be in any way true. There surely is a women's officer in the student union that could advise her more clearly on this? She decides that the Fat Slags are ugly fat bitches! 'Seeing one of the Slags's stark naked amours running helter skelter down Taliesin's corridors, screaming in shock and disbelief was a regular occurence.' Yep, let's mock the fat girls. Fat girls deserve to be mocked. Guys are horrified by the thought of sleeping with a fat girl, they literally run away so fast they don't even get dressed. And how many people live in this hall? And if this is a regular occurence, that would mean various men have at some point been sexually interested in these women.
Lois tells Cerys she should get an abortion. They decide not to talk about it any more because they've got to go to a wedding. Cerys asks to borrow something sexy off Lois? Because, you know, she's a whore!
Hywel gets married and they move into a flat, because his life is basically great! BUT WAIT! The warden/academic from Taliesin has come to their flat to tell them something (and apparently, there's no problems for these two either moving out of the halls mid-term.) Hywel's father passed away!
For some reason it specifies that Dr Edmund is a PhD, not a medical doctor.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
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