Never thought of that, but it makes sense. If Anita's dad is so 'nita-hating because he didn't marry a woman who liked like an adult version of her, if anything, Anita seems just a little prejudiced against Nordic types. I mean, it's a natural thing for her to be suspicious of a mummy-substitute at that early age, but that she hasn't evolved emotionally (even a more sophisticated and reasoned hatred of her stepmum would be more worth hearing about) is... strange. It's like LKH wanted to use that to make us like Anita more because she's the underdog; Reader/Character Bonding 101.

And so maybe it's a deliberte one, but still it seems like a huge oversight that the meet-the-family thing hasn't been done in the books before. Hell, we've even met Richard's family!