This week we’re spending time with Bess. Now, one of the things that interests me about Bess is that she’s a PK–a preacher’s kid–or to put it more delicately, the daughter of an Episcopal priest. I don’t know about you, but some of the wildest kids I knew growing up were PKs. They seemed intent on proving that just because their fathers were pastors, it didn’t mean they weren’t wild and crazy guys.
How I imagine a young Bess …
It’s hard to imagine that Bess going wild as a teenager, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem to be part of her temperament to act out. But I could see her being a bit of a prankster, and if she drank a glass of champagne at a high school graduation party, well, that wouldn’t surprise me either. Of course, she graduated high school around 1913–do you think they had champagne at high school parties back then?
Cary Grant and Irene Dunn in “The Awful Truth” (1937)
One of the subjects that gets discussed in this week’s episode is the difficulties of parenting older children. I definitely feel for Bess, who has to be both father and mother to her daughters. I have a son in college and another in high school, so I’ve reached that stage of parenthood where mostly you just make yourself available as needed, especially with the ones who are hardly home any more. Still, there times I’d like to be able to bend my children to my will, especially when I see them making the same mistakes I did at their age.
The question we’re left with at the end of this episode is what will happen with Bess and Joe Mayfield? In all honesty, I don’t know! I think the attraction between the two of them is clear, but is romance a possibility? Is Bess ready for that? I’m not sure that she is, but people can surprise you, even the ones you’ve made up!
If you’re enjoying Friendship Album, 1933, I hope you’ll review it on iTunes (you can search for the Quiltfiction Podcast, or use this handy link: QuiltFiction Podcast). It’s a great way to let other people know about the story.
Have you signed up for the Quiltfiction Newsletter? You’ll want to when you hear about the great giveaway that begins December 10th.
You can sign up right here:
