Okay, i just started reading this book, and I've already bought all the books in the series (I've almost got like 75% of all OSC's books owned).... Well, I started reading it, and I'm confused as to how the family system actually works. What is all the talk about mothers and fathers and aunts and how they meet the women and whatnot.. I know it probably explains it later in the book, but I'm getting sidetracked trying to figure out how it all works... If somebody could explain it to me I'd be very thankful.
-The Maker
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
There are family relationship graphs in the beginning of the book. One maternal based, the other paternal.
The reason for such strange family relationships in Basilica is that the wife has the option of renewing the marriage contract every year. So if the woman is bored, they might simply choose to marry another for a year or two. Volemak and Rasa were married, had kids, seperated, had kids with other people, then remarried and had yet more kids. Hence the confusion. It gets easy to keep track of eventually, because the story is centered on those people so much you can't help but remember them.
Enjoy the books!
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
I'm almost finished with the third book in the series, and I am loving it.
Should I warn about spoilers? I'm not going to reveal any plot points, but just so no one gets mad... *SPOILERS*
My understanding is that marriages are only binding for a one-year contract. When the year is up, they can decide to renew it for another year, and they can do that as many years as they want to. Or one of them, or both, can decide not to renew it, and then they are free to marry someone else. This ends up creating a lot of half-siblings, because children don't often have the same mother and father. They usually have only one parent in common with their siblings.
It seems to me that sons pretty much stay with their fathers, because males aren't allowed to own property inside the city. Daughters stay in the city and are raised by a woman who is not their mother.
I'm not sure exactly what aunts are. They might be the women who raise other women's daughters. They also seem to be the women who teach young men about sex. Or something like that.