The Most Memorable Picnic

I never read the Famous Five because I was more of a Magic Faraway Tree Blyton reader; picnics were always going to come second to a magic tree, a man named Moonface and different weird lands in every chapter. Even so I am aware of their famous picnics with their lashing of ginger beer because they have loomed so large in the public consciousness and because of the Comic Strip film! However, because I didn't read them personally, I can’t say it is my most memorable literary picnic. Two immediately come to mind in my adult reading, one from the early 19^th Century and one from a more recent novel.

Austen’s novel Emma is about a popular, chatty young woman who likes to match-make, but is seriously stupid when it comes to her own love life. She takes a girl called Harriet under her wing and starts the

process of ‘gentrifying’ her. Emma puts to Harriet that she shouldn't have a local farmer as her sweetheart, but should instead focus her affections on their local vicar Mr. Elton. Harriet obeys her friend, and transfers her affections while Emma tries everything she can to throw them together. Sadly, Emma’s efforts come to nothing when she is left alone with Mr. Elton and he reveals that he has been spending more time with the friends because he likes Emma. This kicks off a series of twists and turns within a small circle including Emma’s family and her brother-in-law and childhood friend Mr. Knightley, her nanny and her new husband Mr. Churchill, Mr. Elton, and other acquaintances. The picnic mentioned in the novel is a turning point where Emma starts to question her talents as a match-maker and also her own affections. The group make their way to Box Hill for a picnic and the view, and include among their party the young Frank Churchill who has been spending time with Emma, as well as an elderly lady from the village Miss Bates. Emma has always been kind and visited Miss Bates to take her produce from their garden. Miss Bates is a fussy, talkative older lady who has once been of Emma’s class but has been brought low in life. Their including her in the party is something of an act of charity. A game is proposed where people are to be asked to come up with one interesting thing and one very dull thing indeed. Miss Bates says she is sure to think of something dull, and Emma quickly jumps in to say that it will be hard because Miss Bates will be restricted to only one. Miss Bates feels the slight and becomes very embarrassed. Mr. Knightley gives Emma a talking to and tells her she should be more respectful of Miss Bates because others will follow her lead and do the same. He tells her she has behaved badly and this is the novel’s turning point. Emma reflects on why Mr. Knightley’s good opinion matters on her and then she realises she has feelings for him beyond friendship. Film adaptations of Emma show an idyllic picnic on the side of a hill with servants carrying chairs and hampers and the guests digging into strawberries and other delights. Although this is the first picnic that came to mind it is not the most memorable.

The second picnic I remembered is certainly the most memorable and involves another Emma. David Nicholls novel One Day is on most people’s book shelves and obviously has some resonance with all those people. I felt particularly moved by the novel because I also had a Dexter. During my sixth form years (also in the 1990s) I had a boy who was my best friend. Like Emma and Dex we have blown apart and come together over the years, but he is now married to someone else and we know we only work as friends – after a fair bit of heartache!! Emma and Dex though are supposed to be together. Even through his ‘arsehole’ years where he works as a TV producer, dabbles in drugs and binges on women. I love the character of Emma because she’s a Northern working class girl who loves English literature and desperately wants to be a writer – sound like anyone we know? She knows quite early on that she loves Dexter, but it takes him longer to grow up. The scenes in Paris where she is a success as a children’s writer and has a fabulous gamine new look are wonderful because she is finding her feet and then Dexter comes along and finally declares his love. This novel teaches us that if we love someone, we shouldn't waste time because we don’t know how much we've got left. The novel is ‘book-ended’ by two picnics at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. The first is after their graduation when they take a hike up there and start getting to know each other the morning after they almost had a one night stand. They take Irn Bru because champagne might be too

ostentatious. It is a great first date after the night before and those moments as they hike back down and Dex’s parents turn up just at the moment when he might have asked to see her again are so full of tension. The novel follows the construct of being the same day in July every time we meet the pair and the novel ends as Dex and his daughter take the same hike in Edinburgh and picnic on top of the hill. It is moving and I guess that’s why it’s so memorable. It isn't what they eat in the end; it’s why they are there that matters.