The Girl Who Never Grew Up

"A little lost girl with magic at her fingertips."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Short Story

Released: October 2013

Printed in: Summer Falls and Other Stories 04

Featuring: Amy, Rory

Synopsis

With a new introduction by Amelia Williams, as well as a rare interview with the reclusive author, The Girl Who Never Grew Up, comes Summer Falls by Amelia Williams.

Verdict

The Girl Who Never Grew Up was a great story to wrap up my reading of the Summer Falls and Other Stories collection! I had almost forgotten about the existence of this adventure at the end of a book that contains three very important and much bigger in-universe tie ins and representations. The idea behind the book is very good and I like how this one is written in the form of a magazine article for the Brooklyn Fayre by Chrissie Allen. I think a short story format like this is one that is underutilised because it really is a gem of a style. It just works for the seven pages or so that comprise this adventure and the addressing of the reader was terrific. I must say in the real world I am far from familiar with this kind of magazine and article type, but I know my mother used to read this type of thing back in the day and this felt like it could fit right in with that. The journalistic approach was great and it was actually good to engage the reader. It got me invested almost immediately. I love the idea of catching up with Amy and Rory a few decades after the events of The Angels Take Manhattan and their emotional departure, and it's good to know that they got on with their lives and made a big success of it! They stayed in America and New York specifically which is interesting as I wonder if they were ever tempted to move elsewhere. It makes a lot of sense though given the link up with the ending of Day of the Moon and the entire Series 6 story arc regarding River Song. Amy and Rory know they can't interfere in established history and it's nice to know that they took that on board from their travels in the TARDIS, but it's emotional for them as they know out there somewhere on the streets of the Big Apple is their daughter. Amy knows she must have been scared and petrified wondering the streets and I like that motherhood is clearly there ingrained in her. That's despite the fact she didn't really get the chance to be a mum given everything that happened at Demon's Run and beyond. The way the article subtly captures the relationship of Amy and Rory was really quite lovely and it's nice to read how much Rory still loves his wife. How can he not after waiting for two thousand years and everything they've sacrificed together? I also thought it was fun for him to be referred to as quintessentially British with him offer Chrissie a cup of tea and then Amy wanting her bacon sandwich which she duly provided. It's quite strange for me to think of those as part of British identity. Chrissie questioning Amy about the origin of her ideas now that she's an author is good fun because she can never truly give the right answer. Rory also blundering a little when it came to him competing in World War Two was a nice touch as well and that clumsy nature of him was captured really nicely in the prose. He needed his wife to bail him out which sounds like exactly what would happen! It was nice to get that little detail on him holding her hand in thanks. That was rather lovely. It was also fun to touch upon Rory's medical breakthroughs because of his foreknowledge. I hope he's being careful! The fact that Amy and Rory had forgotten about the interview date was terrific and presented more of a real side of them which was lovely. It's so nice to get this insight into their future life and just being a few decades older than what they were when travelling companions of the Doctor. I still maintain it doesn't make sense that the Doctor can't visit another city and get the train to New York to see them, or just visit in a slightly different time to pick them back up, but in their own lives I thought this was a really nice story to capture them together. Overall, a great little read to conclude the book!

Rating: 8/10