Tag Archives: the roof of the Mercantile Building

Local Custom – Chapter 20

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In which Petrella yos’Galan is surprised by her guest.

A reward for the detail-oriented, here: the golden hair ribbon that Anne remembers losing in this chapter is surely the same golden ribbon that was among Er Thom’s treasures, way back in the first chapter, threaded with a scrap of silk the color of the silk they used as a ground cover. Which suggests that Er Thom remembers that night at least as affectionately as Anne, if there were still any doubt on that point.

Liadens clearly take hospitality seriously: even knowing that his mother does not in the least want Anne as a guest, Er Thom sees nothing remarkable in the lengths she’s gone to to ensure the guest’s comfort. (It is surely, as Anne hints, sometimes an expensive standard to live up to; Korval can afford it, but how do less wealthy Liaden houses manage?)

Local Custom – Chapter 5

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In which Er Thom yos’Galan meets Shan yos’Galan.

This chapter kicks off a major complication that lasts, one way and another, for most of the book, and illustrates a thing I’ve often observed in life as well as in fiction: that the most troublesome miscommunications often result not from something being said unclearly, but from someone assuming that the situation is so obvious to everyone that nothing need be said at all.

Local Custom – Chapter 4

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In which Er Thom and Anne meet again.

This chapter contains the situation in a nutshell: Er Thom and Anne love each other, thrive when together and struggle when separated; all that’s keeping them apart is the entire weight of social convention and expectation on both sides. Easy.

(Communication on the internet has its advantages, but there are times when I miss the ability to convey facial expression and tone of voice.)

It appears my memory let me down again: the Liaden face-touching taboo is explained in this novel. (Of course it is; it’s an important detail. I’m not sure now why I thought otherwise. I expect I was thinking of other stories where it is just an incidental.)