It’s 2am, and thus time for Anna and Peter to make their long-awaited escape attempt.
“Peter was pulling a blunt cutlery knife out of his overalls.”
I’ve never heard it called that before. Well, at least it’ll come in handy if they need to butter any rolls. Continue reading
This one’s a short chapter, but chapter 15 looks eventful so I didn’t want to do them both at once.
Anna wakes up in Solitary, where she’s conveniently in the cell next to Peter. As planned, they will be leaving tonight, between the midnight rounds and Evil Mrs Pincent’s 4am visit to make Peter ‘disappear’. That means she’s going to have him killed, by the way. I wouldn’t want you to miss the point because it was too subtle. Continue reading
The big day has arrived, and Anna is understandably nervous. As she doesn’t want the others – especially Sheila – to suspect anything, she tries to act normal.
“[Anna] had gone to Female Bathroom 2 to retrieve her journal, which was now burning a hole in her left overall pocket.”
Mere pages ago, Anna didn’t take the journal with her because she didn’t want someone to spot it, but now it’s okay? It’s like it was only left in the bathroom those extra few hours so Sheila could find it. Continue reading
“I am going to leave Grange Hall.
Peter and I are going to run away through a tunnel in Solitary.”
It’s taken twelve chapters, but Anna is finally on board with Peter’s plan. Before they go, though, she’s going to write down all their plans in her diary. What could possibly go wrong? Continue reading
“Mrs Pincent is evil. Peter was right – Mrs Pincent is the most evil Legal who ever lived.”
In a more nuanced book, she wouldn’t be, but here, Mrs Pincent is the ultimate evil of evils. Anna feels hurt, betrayed and angry, and because she has the emotional maturity of someone half her age, her first reaction is to have a tantrum.
I’m not denying here that Mrs Pincent is A Bad Person, by the way. She’s certainly manipulative and abusive. But this book isn’t often a fan of nuance. Continue reading
Yes, I know it’s been a while. First I got ill, then I was busy, then I was just too damn tired to keep reading The Declaration along with everything else I wanted to do with my life. But I’m here now, and ready to dive right into chapter 10.
It’s a new day at Grange Hall, and Anna’s got Laundry class, or as it turns out to be today, ironing class.
“She got to see the soft sheets and beautiful clothes that the people in the village wore – soft woollen jumpers, wisp-thin silk blouses and beautiful cotton dresses.”
I assumed this is an advanced Laundry class, or those jumpers and blouses would surely get ruined. Continue reading
Anna has gone down to Solitary to chat to Peter, because, if she doesn’t, the plot will never advance.
“’I…I just wanted to check that you were OK.’”
Peter is woozy and out of it, and Anna thinks it’s because Charlie and the others beat him senseless earlier. As it turns out, Evil Mrs Pincent and the random men had been interrogating him to try to find out more about his main character status.
