I loved Charles' and Julia's romance on the liner; but does Charles even bother to ever see his daughter Caroline ? They all seem to do whatever they please and have no regard for anyone else ...?

none of his family had gone to fetch him home, or tried to, except Cordelia towards the end. Weren't they such a dysfunctional family? My copy of the book is illustrated and when Cordelia is describing how he ended up with the monks, ill and emaciated, there's a watercolour of how Charles remembered seeing him with Aloysius under the blossoming chestnut tree years before, and my heart went out to him. Do you suppose he took to drinking to escape Catholicism or because of his feelings towards Charles? Maybe also because he didn't seem to have any career direction. Their relationship at the beginning is intriguing and there are hints that they may have had an intimate relationship at Oxford. I get the feeling Sebastian is homosexual, but not so much Charles. And I can't fathom if Charles is attracted to Julia because she reminds him of Sebastian, or vice versa. It really is a sad story.

I also expected there to be more about Charles and Sebastian, and whilst I missed Sebastian in the second half of the book, still thought it an excellent read. I found myself wishing for his return.

I really liked the humour in the book. I had to giggle at the tale of Bridey who didn't pursue a particular career in the end, as you thought he might, but instead got into matchbox collecting. I could see Julia and Charles trying to suppress their giggles at the dining table with Bridey - that scene, conveying the humour, was genius! And the affectionate private jokes they had at Bridey's expense - for e.g. when they mentioned the newspaper article about the woman found strangled with barbed wire...'oh that must have been Bridey' - I loved all that. It was conveyed so well I couldn't help tittering out loud.

I loved the descriptions of their time in Oxford. Enjoyed Anthony Blanche's character.

I know what you mean, Wonderlake, about Charles not seeing his children. Does he ever meet his daughter, Caroline?? It's despicable of him, I thought. At the end, there's talk of Robin, Celia's new chap, getting on really well with the children. The children seem to mean nothing to Charles. The fact he took off to South America for 2 years when his wife was pregnant. Clearly a marriage of convenience.

Were the family perhaps washing their hands of Sebastian because of his alcoholism (= Sin) ?
But yes they were very dysfunctional; when Seb first takes Charles there does he say something like "this is where my family live", rather than 'this is my home' and they avoid Julia when she is coming up the drive ?

And the whole Charles- Seb - Julia 'love triangle' is very complicated; does Charles say that Sebastian was the forerunner for Julia, and she then wonders who she is the forerunner for ?

Yes that could be very true, and yes he said Julia was the forerunner. Seems to me the religion came first, family happiness and welfare, second. (I'm a lapsed Catholic and whilst my mother was very much a Catholic, the guilt-trip side of it was no where near as bad as in BR, but I still reject it). I can imagine Sebastian wanted approval from his mother, but if he was homosexual, that alone would've been a huge sin? So no doubt he struggled with that. I remember him saying to Charles that if he lets him meet his family, they will take him away from him. And this happened as Charles was fascinated by the family and their lifestyle. He puts it over his love for Sebastian in the end. I wonder if his relationship with Julia was part convenience for him as he really hoped to inherit Brideshead on marrying Julia. However he did sense things weren't going to go to plan via the avalanche imagery, and in the end Julia felt she couldn't be with him as she'd have to give up her God. The religion is so ingrained in her and the huge sense of guilt she carries inside her, she feels she has no choice but to atone for her sins, in a way of making it up to her mother, even after her death.

The adults just seem to do whatever they please. They have children but don't seem to really interact with them, other than to give orders. I expect this is why Sebastian felt comfortable round Nanny Hawkins; perhaps she was more of a mother to him, more accepting of him, always there for him (does she ever move out of the nursery?! I suppose that shows how reliable she is for the Flyte children).

I love Sebastian - a great literary character. Even though he doesn't appear in the second half of the book but is talked about, I thought about him all the time. He was definitely my favourite character in the book.