South Riding

When I finish the Penmarric blog I hope to write about South Riding, by Winifred Holtby. It is a drama set in Yorkshire, in the 1930s and was her last book before her tragically early death. The heroine is Sarah Burton, who has just become headmistress of a girls High school. Sarah is liberal minded and wants to use her job to help the girls get a better education, and to improve social conditions generally. But she does have a tendency to fall in love with men who often dont agree with her political beliefs. The story covers the middle classes of Yorkshire and the poor who are suffering from the Great Depression... Sarah tries to help young Lydia Holley, a girl from a very poor background, whose mother dies after having several children while living in a railway carriage. She becomes friends with Mrs Beddowes from a well to do middle class family who is on the local council, and through her gets to know Robert Carne, a gentleman farmer who married into the aristocracy and ends up in dire financial straits. The book starts with Sarah taking over headship of the High School, and clashing frequently with Robert Carne.  He is on the local council and sees himself as the ratepayer's friend, which tends to mean that he is generally in favour of cutting aid to the poor.  He is in trouble financially himself because he married a young upper class woman who was very neurotic and has ended up in a home for the mentally ill, and he tries hard to pay for her to be as comfortable as possible though he's been told she will never recover. Midge his daughter is now going to the high school and she too is spoiled and rather neurotic, causing spats more spats between Carne and Sarah. She makes friends with another councillor Joe Astell who is a strong socialist, and who has given up union work on Clydeside because he has TB and needs a less strenuous job.  But he is frustrated by the small help that his work as a councillor can give to the poor. He likes Sarah but thinks she is not radical enough. Carne is in increasingly serious financial straits and realises that he will have to sell his land and perhaps ask his wife's family to help look after her and Midge. Holtby's work is not simplistic. She portrays many different people on the council, and shows that not all liberals are good, nor conservatives necessarily bad. Sometimes, her liberal characters do good by accident, at times, improvements occur because of a desire to make money. Sarah disagrees vehemently with Carne but she is a little in love with him. As Carne's financial problems get worse, he considers moving his wife to a new care home, and moving to Manchester where he can get a job. He meets Sarah there, on a holiday, and they decide to spend the night together. However, Carne has a heart attack before they can make love. ;

Penmarric final narration

The final part of the novel is narrated by Jan Yves, the youngest Castallack who is loosely based on King John. Jan is considered by Philip to be a silly spoiled young man who is not very honest, he himself being honest to a fault. Jan is shrewder than his brother and has been brought up in a difficult situation. Both of his parents had ignored him, because of the circumstances of his conception. Jan resents both parents, though since Janna has tried to make up to him for her coolness towards him, he starts to visit her at the farm. He has been sent down from college. He takes a job in the mine, but Philip does not trust him with the books. At the time of the Sennen Garth disaster, Jan has made a marriage of convenience to a local heiress, the horsey plain Felicity Carnforth. He wants an income, and she wants to be married. He is now 25. He and Felicity get on well, and he continues his on and off affair with Rebecca, with his wife turning a blind eye. Philip tolerates him, but does not much like him. However some months after the disaster, he asks him to visit Penmarric. He has been busy for a time with organising a fund for the families of those who were killed, but now he is aware that the mine will never re open.. and he has no job that he wants to do. Jan is not surprised to be told that the mine will never re open and his own job has vanished. But Philip shocks him when he tells him that he himself is going to go off to Canada for a couple of years. He wants to go to work in the mines there. Jan asks how their mother will manage as she and Philip are devoted to each other and she is now an old woman. She has lost 2 of her sons, Marcus in the war and Hugh in a swimming accident and she really is close only to Philip. Philip says that he and Helena are going to separate, unofficially, as his marriage has not worked out. He thinks his mother will be all right for a few years, if Jan helps to keep her company. He adds that he has decided to leave the estate to Jonas, his nephew because Jonas, who is only a child, has nothing but the name Castallack. Jan is now married to an heiress and will inherit the Carnforth estate with his wife. Jan is horrified. He has had a long standing secret romance with Rebecca, Jonas' mother but he has never much liked the boy... He had hoped that he would inherit Penmarric, rather than a child who has no connexion with it. Jan has also grown fond of his mother but he is not all that keen to assume the role of supporting son to Janna.. being spoiled and selfish still. After Philip leaves for Canada, Jan finds that his brother has said that it would be best if he does not visit Penmarric during his absence, because Michael Vincent will be in charge, together with a new bailiff. Jan is very angry at this, and is not happy with the suggestion by Philip that he can help his half brother William who has now moved to manage the Carnforth estate.. He and his wife Felicity have a friendly relationship but it is not a close one. For some time, things go all right. Jan does try to be supportive to his mother, who is lonely without Philip. Adrian, now a clergyman has come to work at the local church and he also visits Janna. Helena has returned to her old home to live with her brother and his wife Jeanne. Gerald, her brother is now increasingly ill from his war injuries. It does not look like he has long to live. Jan begins to visit Penmarric in defiance of Philip's instructions, trying to insinuate himself into a position where he can run the estate, in hopes that Philip may change his mind about leaving it to him if he is a good manager. The new bailiff, Smithson is not popular and Jan finds that the tenants are willing to complain to him about the way he is managing the property and his lack of sympathy for their problems. Over time, the locals take such a dislike to Smithson that in the end, Philip has to dismiss him. He decides to let Jan take over managing things. Jan has moved into the house, and Janna is angry with him over this. Philip says rather contemptously that he is not that bothered, as he doubts if Jan Yves will stick the job long enough. Simon Peter Roslyn, son of Janna's stepson Jared, is young Jonas' cousin. He is now an assistant solicitor to Michael Vincent. He suggests to Jan that Philip seems happy abroad in the mines and hints that he may not ever come back to Cornwall.. Jan, still sore at Philip's remark, interprets this as meaning that Philip may not return and that he may still change his mind about Jonas being the heir. It seems that the boy is not all that promising, and has been brought up by Rebecca in such a way that he isn't really suited to managing a big estate. Janna is still annoyed with Jan for disobeying Philip and living in the house, which was supposed to eliminate disputes about who was managing the property. Adrian falls out with him over the fact that he is not living with his wife and that he's clearly coveting Philip's property. Jan feels that he is always seen by his family as the one who is at fault. He continues to justify his own behaviour to himself. Then his plans crash. Philip announces that as he had promised, he will soon be home. It is now 3 years since he went abroad. Jan is caught out, he has been borrowing money from the estate to keep up a lavish lifestyle and suddenly he is no longer seen as master of Penmarric. His fair weather friends drop him. He tries to pay back the money to the estate, but is short of cash, and he has nowhere to go. Felicity is still fond of him but her father refuses to let her take Jan back or lend him money. William is the only one who still cares for him and he takes him in to his house. Jan decides that he can't face his family or anyone now that he has been disgraced.

Penmarric VI

Philip finds himself talking more intimately to Trevose, and tells him that his marriage is a failure and that he and Helena see little of each other. Alun suggests that he and his friend might like to go to the pubs and restaurants in St Ives, which has an artistic community. He makes it clear that he thinks in terms of picking up men, not women. Philip is a little shocked but says that he does not mind what Alun does for amusement, but that he himself is not interested and there's also the risk of blackmail. But in due course, he begins to see that he has always cared for Trevose more than anyone else, and he and his friend become lovers. He has reached his early 30s without ever suspecting his own homosexuality, but he and his friend have a year or so of happiness. Then another disaster strikes. An earth tremor hits the mine and several miners including Trevose are drowned when the sea rushes in and floods the lower levels. Philip was over ground, to meet a visitor, though he usually tried to spend as much time in the mine as possible. The water makes it impossible even to bring the bodies to the surface. Philip's brief time of personal happiness is over, and he knows that the mine, Sennen Garth can never be reopened. It would cost too much and would not be safe. He has lost his life's work and his lover. Howatch was one of the first writers to use the technique of using a historical background as a basis for her story. With Philip who is Richard I, she works it very well, Philip's obsession with the mine mirrors Richard's desire to fight on crusade and take Jerusalem. His marriage to Helena is a failure, as it seems was Richard's with Berengaria which produced no children.

Penmarric Part V

Philip inherits the estate under certain conditions, that he can leave it to his brother Jan or his nephew Jonas, if he does not have a son. He is allowed to leave it to one or the other, because they were alive when Mark died, and they both have the name Castallack. He starts to consider marriage, because he wants an heir for his home and his mine. But he has never had any interest in women. Philip is not a very reflective man, and does not consider why this might be. He dedicates himself to his mining work but he finds that running the Penmarric house etc is expensive and he does not have a lot of ready money. He then thinks of Helena Meredith, who is attractive and intelligent. She also has a large fortune.. and he decides to pay court to her. After a short courtship, he asks her to marry him. His sister Jeanne then announces that she is engaged to Helena's invalid brother, who is in a wheelchair and who has loved her for years. Philip does not consider the implications of his approaching marriage, even when Trevose cools on him over the issue. He considers finding a woman to get in a little discreet practice at sex, but he's always too busy. Then he and Helena get married and disaster begins to hit him. Their honeymoon is a nightmare. Philip finds himself unable to make love to his wife... it brings up memories of his seeing Janna after she was raped by his father. He goes to see doctors who recommend a psychiatrist. He talks to the doctor who says that he would have to see him several times. Philip says that he cannot keep coming to London.. so his doctor suggests that he should try writing out his experiences and see if that helps him to find a solution to his problems. Philip is not keen on the idea but he accepts it as a possible way out. So he starts writing about his life, back in Cornwall and then realises that he has reached a conclusion in his own mind. On consideration, he decides that he does not want to be a husband... that that is the big block that he has. He doesn't love Helena or find her attractive and he does not want to be married, except for the idea of having a son... He feels it is only fair to offer her a divorce. She refuses, and they continue to live together but are privately estranged. Philip feels that there is nothing wrong if Helena does not want a divorce, with his deciding to lead his own life, and he spends more time with Trevose and seeing his mother, and Helena begins to spend more time with her brother and Jeanne.

Penmarric Part IV

Now the war has ended, there is less demand for tin. Mark refuses to keep the mine open because it will not make a profit..and would cost a fortune initially to make sure it is up to standard for safety. Philip is in a constant battle with his father over keeping the mine going. He has no friends of his own class, and his best friend is Trevose. Soon after the war, Elizabeth, the youngest girl of the family goes to university (she is very clever). Jeanne the middle daughter, joins a nursing order of Anglican nuns. Hugh marries Rebecca Roslyn, the daughter of Joss, Janna's stepson from her first marriage. As time passes Janna hints to her son that he should get married but although his siblings are now marrying Philip continues to focus on the mine and his miner friends, particularly Trevose. As Mark comes closer to shutting down the mine, Philip tries desperately to think of a way of stopping him. With a change in the divorce laws, he suggests to his brothers that Janna could now divorce Mark for adultery alone, and that he's sure that his father is having an affair with Alice Penmar. Jan Yves has gossiped about this, and Philip hopes he could get him to testify to an affair. He writes to his father saying that if he closes down the mine, he will advise Janna to sue for divorce and that it will drag Alice's name through the mud. Mark reads the letter, has a stroke and dies. Philip is upset that they were estranged.. but he fears that Mark will have left the estate and mine to Jan Yves.... and is amazed when he finds that his father, in spite of their problems, left Penmarric to him.

Penmarric Part III

The next section of the book is narrated by Philip, who is passionate about mining. His father has never been interested in the mine on his property and has closed it when it ceased to make a profit. Philip is angry at his father's treatment of Janna, whom he loves deeply. He hates Mark and sees him as a selfish arrogant snob. He thinks that his father has always looked down on his working class wife and the working population of St Just where they live. Marcus, Philip's older brother joins the army and dies of illness, in the early stages of the Great War. Mark tries to make a new relationship with Philip because he feels guilty about the split in the family, but Philip refuses to listen. The 2 men quarrel continually about the mine. Then because tin is required for war production, the government is willing to put money into the mine and run it as long as needed, so Philip is able to manage his beloved mine. He also makes friends with a mining expert, Alun Trevose, who is Cornish but grew up in South Africa. Trevose is independent minded, hates the upper classes and is also passionate about mining.. and he and Philip become very close. Meanwhile, Mark takes on Alice Penmar, the vicar's grand daughter who is a connexion of old Giles Penmar.. as lady-housekeeper at Penmarric. She is clever but rather plain and she becomes a companion to Mark. The sons become suspicious of her - believing that she might be Mark's new mistress or angling to become his wife. An elderly neighbour dies, leaving his house, Polzillan House, to relatives. Gerald Meredith has served in the War, and is confined to a wheelchair due to war injuries, and his sister Helena looks after him. Janna hopes that her favourite son might take an interest in Helena, but he does not.

Penmarric Part II

After the rape of Janna, she still refuses to give Mark a divorce. She does not want him to be free to marry Rose. She becomes pregnant from the rape which embitters her furhter. Mark is ashamed but still retaliates by pushing for custody of his children. Since he is a gentleman and Janna is not upper class, he wins and the Castallack children spend several years in Oxford, living with him and Rose. Philip is angry and hostile to his father and his illegitimate brothers. He vows that as soon as he's old enough, he will leave school and go back to Janna. She has returned to Roslyn farm.. her old home. She had never cared for Penmarric and the upper class life but was happier as a farmer's wife. The next narration is by Adrian, the younger son of Rose and Mark. He is a schoolboy, and is most unhappy with the invasion of the Castallacks. Before the war, Rose dies of TB and Mark decides to leave his home in Oxford and go to Cornwall taking all his children. Jan Yves, the youngest son of Janna, conceived in violence, is difficult and only likes William, his older half brother. Janna had left him at Penmarric with his nanny when she went back to Roslyn Farm. Now, Philip goes to live at Roslyn Farm with his mother, and Adrian leaves school and joins up when War breaks out.

Penmarric by Susan Howatch

I've just been re reading Penmarric which was a big hit back when it was published in the 1970s... it was a best seller which had a solid historical background. I think that Howatch was the first writer to use a historical story as a skeleton for her own story. She has based her novel on the history of the Plantagenet kings, particularly King John.. and set it in 19th and 20th century Cornwall. She used the device of having different characters narrating each part of the story. The novel starts in 1890 - the narrator is Mark Castallack, a young upper class man who is based on Henry II. He falls in love with a working class widow, Janna Roslyn, (Eleanor of Aquitaine) who is left badly off by her elderly husband, a farmer. Mark is staying in Cornwall, visiting his father, who has inherited a large farm and is looking it over. He meets Janna when she is being persecuted by her 2 step sons. Janna was a fisherman's daughter, and started out as a servant. She married the elderly farmer John Henry Roslyn, but he became jealous of her attracting men. Mark and Janna fall in love and Mark marries her. Janna is 11 years older than her husband. He is at first drawn to her by her beauty and her passionate nature, but he grows bored with her because of their class differences and her lack of education. He begins to spend time visiting Oxford and writing historical works, while Janna produces a large family of children. Mark did not want so many children, and resents the way that Janna tends to use her family to avoid socialising with the upper classes or going to London with him. Janna's favourite child is Philip, her third son, who shares her love of Cornwall and who is very interested in the mine on the estate. When he is 10, he and Janna go during half term holiday to Brighton, because Philip wants to move to a school in that area. Mark is not home and Janna thinks he is in Oxford, where he spends much of his time. When they go to dine at their hotel, to her horror, she sees Mark with a younger woman and 2 young boys. She has known for some time that Mark had a mistress, a former governess called Rose Parrish, but she did not realise that they were in contact all the time. A row breaks out. Janna realises that Mark is living with Rose, who is acting as his housekeeper and that he is now at a point where he wants to end the marriage. She and Mark leave Philip alone and go to talk.. Mark telling her that the marriage is over and he wants a divorce. Angrily, she refuses not wanting to let him become free to marry Rose. In his anger, he forces her to have sex with him.

Clouds of Witness Part VII

Simone and Wimsey search for the missing letter, and they find it in a jewel case. Simone gives it to him to take back to England. While he is away, just before the trial begins, Mrs Grimethorpe turns up in London, having run away from her husband.. She comes to Peter's flat and Bunter summons Lady Mary who calls in Mr Murbles, the solicitor. Mrs Grimethorpe tells them that she felt guilty that she was unable to give Gerald an alibi, and that when her husband was drunk, she took the chance of escape. Gerald is reluctant to let them use her evidence as he has gentlemanly ideas about not revealing that he was her lover. Lady Mary takes the lady home to her mother's house, to look after her. The trial begins but Peter is not there, as he is flying from America. He makes it back safely to London and hurries to give evidence. He produces Cathcart's letter to Simone, where Denis reveals the row about cheating at cards and tells Simone that as she has left him, he no longer wishes to live. He writes that the house party will probably think that he killed himself over the exposure of his card sharping. He reminds her of how he had been in love with her for years, but that he knew that she was not in love with him.. and that she was unfaithful to him. He knew that when he lost his money, Simone would not stay around indefinitely. So he first cheated at cards, then got engaged to a duke's daughter to secure an income. He mentions in the letter that Gerald left his revolver around and that he can take it and shoot himself, now that he has unburdened himself to Simone. Sir Impey Biggs, Gerald's barrister, dramatically recreates Denis' past and how it led him to the point of killing himself.. while gliding over Gerald's apparently walking on the moors, and falling over the body when he came back. Gerald is acquitted, as the death is ruled to be a suicide. After the verdict, there is a commotion in the street outside. A man fires at Gerald, and in his rush to shoot, is knocked down and killed by a taxi. It is Grimethorpe. He has unwittingly set his wife free. Gerald meets with his ex mistress but she tells him that she will go home to Cornwall to her own family, with her child, and that she is all right. Now she is free and her own woman again. Gerald is relieved and Peter takes care of her until she leaves London. Much later that night, Inspector Sugg, who works for Parker in Scotland Yard, finds someone addressing a statue near the House of Commons. He finds that it is a taxi driver, trying to persuade a very drunk Peter to come down from the statue. He tries to put Peter in a taxi but he refuses saying that it's Freddy's taxi. Sugg manages to get Peter into a taxi, which he sends off to Picadilly. But he also finds his own official superior, Parker, asleep and dead drunk. He gets him safely off home before some MPs come out..though he still has to support a very drunken Freddy Arbuthnot. But he thanks God that there were no witnesses!

Clouds of Witness Part VI

Peter and Parker agree that they will try not to use Mrs Grimethorpe's evidence, but that it may be necessary. Peter goes on examining evidence, looking at some papers he took from the study at the Lodge but when he comes across a piece of blotting paper, he suddenly notices something strange about it. It consists of copies of scraps of writing, but he realises, being a fluent French speaker, that one of the phrases is certainly in French. He and Parker know that none of the people in the house party would use French.. except Cathcart. He had been brought up partly in France and kept a flat there. Peter remembers the books in Cathcart's place, among them French novels such as Manon Lescaut. He tells Parker that he thinks the key to the mystery may be found in Paris. He sets off for France as soon as he can and relays information back to Charles who makes more enquiries in London. After a few days, Peter returns to London and tries to see the American Ambassador, as he now has to go to the US. The Ambassador is dining with the King so he manages to secure entry and gets assistance from the Ambassador to get into the US quickly. He flies there, and meets a young Viennese woman called Simone Vonderaa. She is living in New York with a rich American.... having left Paris recently. He has discovered that she was a demi mondaine who was Catchcart's mistress.. He was passionately in love with her. Simone says that she wrote to Denis to tell him that she had a new lover, a rich American.. and that she is going to New York..Denis was a rich man before the war, but he lost most of his income because the war played havoc with his French properties and investments. Simone was getting fed up with his being short of cash. She was fond of him, but had reminded him that she had her old age to consider, that she needed rich lovers to build up a retirement fund. Peter is struck by her good looks, and can see how someone like Cathcart might fall passionately in love with her but be unable to marry her because she would not fit in with his diplomatic career. She tells him that Denis had sent her a letter, and that she had just skimmed it because she saw no point in mulling over what could not be helped. Denis was a nice man but he could not afford her services - and he was engaged to someone else. Peter begs her to try and find the letter which will hopefully give a clue as to what Denis was planning.

Clouds of Witness by DL Sayers Part V

 Peter is dumbfounded.  He had not imagined this happening, that they would turn up some evidence that backs up Gerald's story that he was not killing Cathcart on the fateful night.  But given the jealousy and dangerously violent streak of Mr Grimethorpe, it is hard to imagine that Mrs Grimethorpe will be willing to give his brother an alibi.  And since he (Peter) was alone when he found the letter the story of finding the letter may not stand up in court. Shaken, he gets dressed and goes to see the wife.  

He can see how lovely she is and is not surprised that his brother was attracted to her.  Gerald's wife Helen is a somewhat chilly and prudish woman and she and Gerald have never been all that close and Peter guesses that this was not his first affair.  He finds Mrs Grimethorpe in the dairy and tells her that he knows that on the night of Cathcart's death, Gerald was sleeping with her in the bmain bedroom, and that he has found a letter in the window sash which confirms his brother's being there.  Mrs Grimethorpe becomes hysterical and says that its not true and that she will deny it and so will Gerald. 

He can see that she is terrified, and says that if she is willing to cooperate a little, he will do his best to protect her from her husband until she can get a divorce and points out that Grimethorpe is openly brutal to her. She still refuses.   Matters seem to be at an impasse, so he leaves the farm and he and Bunter return to talk to Parker.

Parker feels that since the whole business proves that Gerald is innocent, they must do their best to prove it in court and that it should be possible to do so. Peter is more sympathetic to the unfaithful wife.