The Hendersons
by Daphne Glazer
Daphne is a local author and a good friend to several book club members;
she was invited at the suggestion of Sue, who, owing to illness unfortunately could not be with us for the evening.
Daphne recounted how the book had been 30 years in the making, and had been written three times;
previous versions had not been taken as far as publication owing to lack of interest from publishers.
The published version emerged owing to the interest generated by the centenary of WW1.
The book is essentially an exposition of conscientious objection during World War 1, and as such is an “uncomfortable read”.
Several of Daphne’s family members had been the models for characters that appear in the book.
Daphne’s writing approach included he creation of a dossier on each of the characters, and her upbringing in Sheffield had excluded patriotism,
(the national anthem was unknown to her), formed the values system shared by the characters.
Daphne’s life-long interest in the prison system was sparked by her father’s imprisonment, and the character of Amy, striving to become a pharmacist, was based on her mother.
She had three uncles, all conscientious objectors, and the barber in The Hendersons was based on her maternal grandfather.
The book struck several chords with club members, one member having been inspired to be a pharmacist by her mother, and another member growing up in Sheffield.
Club members had become well immersed in the book, at least one person saying she couldn’t put the book down.
(BTW. We need an adjective that will describe a book that leads to total involvement even if not on an enjoyable topic).
Everyone learned something about the treatment of conscientious objectors some found it fascinating, some were inspired to do some background reading.
None of us were aware before reading the book of the appalling treatment of conscientious objectors.
However, we now need the sequel so that we can tie up the loose ends!
PC. May 2017.
|
