Did you know? The Bastable children make a surprise appearance in "The Magician's Nephew"
The very first sentence of the book Greta Gerwig is adapting winks at characters from another author, so convincingly that you could take them for real.
"In those days Mr. Sherlock Holmes was still living in Baker Street and the Bastables were looking for treasure in the Lewisham Road." That is how "The Magician's Nephew" opens, and Lewis slips a fictional detective and a fictional family into the same breath, as if both had lived. The Bastables are Edith Nesbit's children, introduced in "The Story of the Treasure Seekers" (1899). Lewis loved her books from childhood, and echoes show up in his story: the same period, the same London, the same blend of mischief and wonder.
Critics have also linked "The Magician's Nephew" to "The Story of the Amulet", in which Nesbit brings a Babylonian queen to the capital and sets off a riot: the parallel with Jadis arriving in a hansom cab is a reading by critics, not a statement by Lewis.
One detail for the film: the team has reportedly moved the story to the 1950s, according to press coverage of the Empire interview; Netflix has not confirmed that choice. So Nesbit's London of 1900 may not make it to the screen.
See also
Sources
- Wikipedia, "The Magician's Nephew" (Edith Nesbit section, citing Hinten and Lindskoog).
- One Eternal Day, "Edith Nesbit" (opening quote).
- What's on Netflix, "New Poster and Artwork Revealed for Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" (1950s timing, citing Empire).