We continue our explorations (note: with *spoilers*) of Joan Aiken’s Midnight is a Place (1974) by listing those people mentioned as living in Blastburn, the town in the northeast of Albion that features in this alternate history fiction, set in 1842.
Though truly no justification is needed as to why I go into such detail, here is a brief summary, a kind of apologia, of my reasons:
- Art for art’s sake — these details are there to be enjoyed for anyone immersing themselves in the narrative.
- Personal satisfaction — literary sleuthing, such as digging out influences and parallels, is a deeply pleasing activity.
- Education, education, education — discovering the hows and whys, the whos and whats, and the whens and wheres of the plot and characters encourages one to range widely outside the confines of a book’s narrative, revealing gaps in this reader’s (and perhaps others’?) knowledge and understanding. No bad thing, in my book.
In fact all about Exploring the world of ideas through books!
And now, on with the show.
Calmgrove 