New Year's Eve (The Charioteer story)
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | New Year’s Eve |
| Author(s): | fawatson |
| Date(s): | 24 December 2012 |
| Length: | 2635 words |
| Genre: | backstory |
| Fandom: | Mary Renault |
| External Links: | on AO3 |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
"New Year’s Eve" is a short story by Florence A. Watson (fawatson) based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. The story is set when Laurie is age 4, at least a year before Chapter One, when Laurie is still living with both his parents. In addition to young Laurie, it features three other characters from the book: his parents Lucy and Michael (apparently still happily married), and his maiden aunt Olive.
Synopsis
Michael and Lucy go out for a New Year celebration leaving Laurie at home with Olive babysitting. The evening’s events are told mostly from Laurie’s perspective.
Background
This story was written as a treat for Greer Watson (greerwatson) in response to one of the prompts she made for Yuletide 2012 .
Comments
The story elicited a number of comments, including:
- " Such a delightful story of little Laurie—and such a very nice auntie he has. As for his parents: well, obviously there must have been a time when their marriage was going swimmingly; but I don't think I've ever seen it in a story before. Even so, we see hints of trouble to come, with Michael wanting a wife to squire, and Lucy seeing herself as Mummie. I think Laurie is lucky, though, to have this early security as the foundation of his life."—comment by greerwatson
- " little boy Laurie is adorable, and it's good to read about an earlier time too, preparing the way for Chapter 1. Thank you so much!"—comment by trueriver