'The House Sunset' (4) Jonathan's & Frances' Tales Quiz

Answer: it was supposed to be haunted

In a typical Norah Lofts' twist, Jonathan was living in the very house where Lydia Walker was murdered along with Millie and the baby. The landlady admitted that a previous tenant had been spooked, but Jonathan never had cause for complaint - in fact he felt he had landed on his feet as his landlady did not let rooms to make money, rather for the company.

Answer: Cliff Ficking and Miss Barstew

We do not know the exact number who lived in the Old Vine - 30 are numbered along with Miss Barstew in the summerhouse, but whether the couple in junk shop had children or not is not mentioned. Their accommodation had three bedrooms, so I would surmise that they had two children although there may have been more.

These people make up eight units (although ten are sub-tenants) and only two live alone. The café proprietor, Cliff Ficking, does not live on the premises; the rooms above his cafe are rented out as three different units, two of which were rented by Mrs Woody and Miss Cattermole.

Answer: Baildon Property Company

There was an organisation called the 'Reed Charity' which provided almshouses and 'goodies for old folks at Christmas'; this could well date from the original Old Vine family. But it was the Baildon Property Company that owned, among other properties, the Old Vine, Alma Court, Mafeking Terrace, Priory Close and Goose Lane, and charged exorbitant rents for pokey and sub-standard accommodation.

As the council Housing Officer told Jonathan, it was a gold mine.

Answer: he was shot at with an arrow

The letters sent to the Clerk were designed to show that Jonathan was neglecting his real duties while he was messing about with the Old Vine, and he ought to leave it alone. The loosening of the car wheel and the falling bricks came close to killing him, but by a stroke of luck each time he escaped with just cuts and bruises, and a couple of broken ribs.

Answer: Mrs Franchise

Mr Horley was the Conservative MP for the area and Mr Hartopp was his Labour opponent who tried to bulldoze Jonathan by donating his Baildon Property Company shares to the Reed Charity. Miss Hatton was an elderly lady introduced to Jonathan by his young lady in an attempt to get him to change his mind, for a few years at least, as her few shares in BPP brought in a small amount of money.

It was Augusta Franchise who went on television with regard to the Old Vine, and thereafter on various different local topics.

Answer: Viking Television

Westcountry and Meridian were names of real television stations (Devon and Cornwall, and Hampshire areas respectively). I don't know if there ever was a Viking Television in the Suffolk/Norfolk area, but there is in this book.

Answer: as an early Tudor house

The house itself dated back to the early 1400s ('Tudor' dates from 1485) when Martin Reed was given the land and some money from the Abbot as a thank you for helping to save the abbey. It was built on over the next hundred years or so, so the advertisement was not far out.

Answer: alcoholism

Frances' aunt had left her a few thousand pounds, and she spent a portion of it on a special clinic for her husband; during the story, which takes place over the space of just a few hours, Larry is found in the Station Hotel drinking. At the end they decide to go their separate ways.

Answer: she would not leave their children as he suggested

Her first verbal excuse was that the climate would not be good for the children and Larry said that they could be farmed out somewhere ('park, or be parked on'). When it came down to it, Frances knew that if she went to Nigeria with him, it would not work; she envisioned herself 'standing on the edge of a wide, turbulent sea and being offered two ships. One, the 'Nigeria', manned by Larry, into which I must step alone, knowing that it was bound to go down; the other my own, the 'Old Vine', where I should be captain and crew, were I could have my children and in which, if I tried hard enough, I had some hope of staying afloat.'

Answer: she wanted to take in children as a day-carer

They were currently living in a small bungalow, with help from her brother; she wanted to provide a service for other mothers in an environment that did not appear as if they were dumping their children in a tiny hole. I like to think that she made a go of it and the Old Vine is still standing, but in better condition than Jonathan found it in!