Note on vol. 1, chap. 8, Lorna Doone

This chapter, in which fourteen year-old John kisses eight year-old Lorna, made me uncomfortable. The strangeness persisted to a certain extent as I narrated the chapter, but both John and Lorna were uncomfortable with the kiss, bashful, unselfconscious, and each innocently drawn to the other. No carnal element in the mutual interest can be discerned, only a preoccupation as John remembers. Indeed, Blackmore clearly states that John at that age found kissing in general repugnant, which makes his impulsive salute to Lorna all the more exceptional, almost an unwilling tribute to her precocious beauty.