It's true. All we have is our story...
Mine is about recovering an identity. When I was two and a half, first my father left me behind, and then my mother. With a new family and a new name I went to live in a new country. Recovering my identity, which included my name, my nationality and my ethnic origin, has been a struggle, an adventure, a delight, and, now that I am approaching sixty, is, it seems, at last, almost a triumph...
In doing this I have observed something. Where once I was in a rare position of having been left behind by middle class educated parents following their dreams, I am now among the elders of a growing tribe...
A novelist and a cook by profession, it is hardly surprising therefore that I am beginning to gather together all the ingredients to write two new books that tackle this theme. I am lucky indeed that my publisher is interested in them since they are quite a departure from novel writing...
2 SWEATERS & SOME PIES is the history of my family and in a way is a repatriation, since they were lost to me. THE PAYSCALE OF THE DOVE charts a life from sunny California to war torn Britain, meetings with royalty, celebrity and the most humble...but is fundamentally about acquiring an essential skill set...
I intend to use this blog to discuss the progress of these books, from the practical issues of gathering together the photos, the census information and the stories, to the internal process of trawling through the emotional wreckage and finding it is far from a spiritual wasteland.
My hope is, by making this process transparent, others will feel inspired to find their way to reflect their story, creating something of value for them, for their families and for others.
Mine is about recovering an identity. When I was two and a half, first my father left me behind, and then my mother. With a new family and a new name I went to live in a new country. Recovering my identity, which included my name, my nationality and my ethnic origin, has been a struggle, an adventure, a delight, and, now that I am approaching sixty, is, it seems, at last, almost a triumph...
In doing this I have observed something. Where once I was in a rare position of having been left behind by middle class educated parents following their dreams, I am now among the elders of a growing tribe...
A novelist and a cook by profession, it is hardly surprising therefore that I am beginning to gather together all the ingredients to write two new books that tackle this theme. I am lucky indeed that my publisher is interested in them since they are quite a departure from novel writing...
2 SWEATERS & SOME PIES is the history of my family and in a way is a repatriation, since they were lost to me. THE PAYSCALE OF THE DOVE charts a life from sunny California to war torn Britain, meetings with royalty, celebrity and the most humble...but is fundamentally about acquiring an essential skill set...
I intend to use this blog to discuss the progress of these books, from the practical issues of gathering together the photos, the census information and the stories, to the internal process of trawling through the emotional wreckage and finding it is far from a spiritual wasteland.
My hope is, by making this process transparent, others will feel inspired to find their way to reflect their story, creating something of value for them, for their families and for others.
No comments:
Post a Comment