There are many different ways to be a mother. This way might not be the best.
I’m grateful to L Taylor – Lea – for
an advance copy of her novel, which is being published by Scaramouche
Press on March 21st 2021
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| The House Beside the Cherry Tree |
Extract
I would have given anything to
sit at the big kitchen table nursing a strong cup of tea while Mum busied
herself at the stove. … Without fail she dragged whatever problem that bothered
me out into the open. … Together we’d scrutinise it and winkle out a solution
with pointed questions, encouragement, reassurance and all topped off with a
warm embrace. She was completely at my disposal, just like she was for all of
the family.
And Dad, I couldn’t think of Mum without thinking of Dad. I could be stilled by his calming presence. There he’d be, sitting in ‘his’ chair in the corner of the kitchen, engrossed in The Times, muttering disgruntlements at the articles behind the pages. Identifying Dad’s moods was like reading semaphore. It was all in the way he held the paper. High signalled that he didn’t want to be bothered, half-mast meant he was listening in to what was going on, lowered meant that more than likely he was snoozing or very close to it. If only I had heeded his warnings. ‘Be careful with that one son – she’s not right.’ (p.218)
Review
The strapline for this novel is 'Motherhood doesn't come easy' - something this novel illustrates very well.
The year is 1959. Diane is a
bright young thing – the light in her parents’ eyes, given the best of education,
passionate about theatre, music and the arts – but just one clumsy fumble with
local lad Richard has her unintentionally ‘in the family way’. Life as she
knows it collapses. All her dreams for the future disintegrate. Her mother calls
her a guttersnipe whore who’s brought disgrace on the family. It’s sobering to
remember the attitudes towards single motherhood in those days, and Lea
Taylor’s novel brings this smack into the present with her visceral portrayal
of Diane’s abject humiliation and shame. Loss of dreams is a key motif
throughout this novel, as both Diane and Richard are shoe-horned into doing
what society expects of them. It’s a life that suits neither of them. A life
that stifles and represses them. The tree in the garden that’s planted as such
a sign of hope has the briefest of flowering seasons before the rot sets in.
The House Beside the Cherry Tree takes a brutal look at morality and convention in 1960s and 1970s Britain, but more fundamentally it looks at the impact on a woman’s mental health and the consequences for the child born into this dysfunctional family unit. By allowing each of the three main characters – Diane, Richard and their daughter Frankie – to tell their story in alternating chapters, we learn the harrowing details as experienced by each of them. There’s no doubt this is a challenging read. But there is lightness in it, too, in the love Frankie experiences from her temporary foster mother, in the boundless affection both Diane and Frankie have for the family dog, and in friendships that each of the main characters benefits from. Some interactions within the story are completely transformative, and this is where we find the joy in the novel. The House Beside the Cherry Tree conveys a message about the negativity and sterility of societal pressures on people, and the horrendous mental health treatments of the 1960s, but ultimately it’s a novel about the need for resilience and hope.
The online launch for The House Beside the Cherry Tree is on Sunday 21st March 2021. Attendance is free! To book a place, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/143121282609
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| Author L. Taylor |
Q&A
CMcK: Hello Lea – thanks for
joining me on my lockdown book blogging project, and for giving me advanced
sighting of your novel. It’s due to be published very close to Mother’s Day, so
I think I probably expected a sweet and cosy read. It’s anything but! Don’t get
me wrong – it’s very readable! I was quickly drawn in. That cover image – all
pink blossom and prettiness – is lovely, but you give us a very clear hint in
the fracture in the wording of the title. Tell me about the background to
writing this book. Where did the idea come from? What motivated you to write about
this era?
LT: Hello Carol, firstly, thank
you for inviting me to join your blogging project. It really is a pleasure.
The idea for the book came from a
number of sources really. Firstly,
though, my mother suffered from mental ill-health in the 60’s when I was a
child and I recall all the stigma associated with that, her preoccupation with
anyone knowing, like it was a dirty secret. That in and of itself did cause
issues within the family. So, I was curious about how mental health was viewed
in that era but also, following the adage ‘write what you know,’ I put a little
of my own experiences into the novel. Secondly a good friend of mine is a
therapist and I recall the two of us discussing how a lot of her clients’
problems stemmed from how they had been mothered.
Setting the novel in the 60’s and
70’s gave me ample opportunity to consider both women’s rights and how little
freedom they had back then– but also how people with mental health were
medically treated. Having done the
research I had more than enough to write the book.
CMcK: One of the most gruelling aspects for me was your portrayal of mental health treatments in the 1960s. And the impact by extension on poor Frankie, who suffers terrible neglect and abuse. I don’t want to give the story away, but can you tell me something about this? Why was it important to you to write about this?
LT: Mental ill-health isn’t
pretty and certainly back in the 60’s little was known about how to treat it.
Being mentally ill then was both stigmatising, isolating and frightening, there
were no holistic person-centred approaches. People with mental health issues
were given either heavy duty medication or ECT (electro convulsive treatment).
I didn’t want to put a sticking plaster on the story and paint a fluffly unrealistic
picture of someone having a bit of a rough time. If it’s happening in a family
unit everyone suffers. This isn’t an isolated situation relating to the 60’s
and 70’s. It still happens today but fortunately there are far more checks and
balances in place to help a struggling family. My years as a Community Worker
have also shown me the uglier sides of mental health and its impact on family
life.
CMcK: I couldn’t make my mind up about Richard. We hear so much negativity about him from Diane. And I started off loving Diane then gradually distanced myself from her, which is exactly what happened in the story – her family and friends abandoned her. As for Frankie – I think she was my favourite character, and I’d like to follow her to see how she gets on in her life after such a tough and loveless start. You created them all – is it possible for you to have a favourite? And might we meet up with Frankie again?
LT: Ha ha, yes, Frankie is
spirited isn’t she and I’ll admit I enjoyed writing her the most. Yes, we will be seeing more of Frankie. I’m currently plotting the sequel, Frankie’s
coming of age story. The working title is ‘Blossoms on the wind.’
CMcK: This is your first novel, but you’ve been in the writing business a good while, with an admirable track record. And you’re a storyteller, too. Tell me about your previous work and how you’ve found the expansion into long-form fiction.
LT: Storytelling and writing you
would think are very similar creatures but actually they are entirely different
crafts. With storytelling you are painting the picture through spoken word –
you are telling the audience so that they can see the story in the mind’s eye
and can use a number of different ways to enhance the story through tone, pace,
gesture, facial expression and change of voice.
With writing it’s all down to what you write and how you show the story.
Again, tone, pace and all the other subtle writing devices come into play but
are used in a very different manner to storytelling. The expansion into long
form fiction has been a huge learning curve. I’ve had to learn not to condense
into short form writing but to expand and really drill down. But I have loved
the process and as with storytelling, I have found my happy place writing.
CMcK: Where can we find out more about you and your writing?
LT: Through my publisher’s Facebook and Twitter pages;
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaramouchepressscotland/
Twitter: Scaramouche Press
(@ScaramoucheP)
My own website: https://awaywithstories.co.uk
Twitter: Lea Taylor -author@leataylor5783
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lea.taylor.54
CMcK: Thanks so much for coming on my blog. All best wishes with your new book!
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| Other titles by Lea Taylor |
I was very interested in Lea's comments about changing from writing short stories to writing a novel, something I am currently struggling with more than I expected.
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