Okay, I did some googling in response to the questions about why she didn't use actual names of places. I also find that annoying, but I've seen it in lots of books by lots of different authors and it was normal to do that at the time in England. I found a website quoting someone named John Barth - I didn't verify this or anything, but it sounded good, so here you go:
"Initials, blanks, or both were often substituted for proper names in nineteenth century fiction to enhance the illusion of reality. It is as if the author felt it necessary to delete the names for reasons of tact or legal liability. Interestingly, as with other aspects of realism, it is an illusion that is being enhanced, by purely artificial means."
I do remember that when novels first started, authors went to a lot of trouble to make it seem like they were telling a true story. If you were telling a true story, you wouldn't use real names, and so hence the X-Shire.
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4 comments:
I like the X_____ it lets the story be set anywhere, or everywhere.
It totally bugs me still. So, Charlotte, if I may, was thinking of a real actual place but couldn't or didn't use the real proper name for the various reasons you quoted...hmmmm...I guess. But still.
Why couldn't she just make up a name?
Why couldn't she just make up a name?
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