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| Not to be. Hélas |
We cancelled the French villa. The others were alarmed about the huge sum of money which VR and I would pay, half of it already lost. She and I were more concerned that this might be our last go at France, a yearly tradition which goes back forty years. In your eighties none of your plans are ever “firm”.
On Skype we toyed with other destinations. “Anywhere but England,” said OS and everyone agreed. I’ve never been so ashamed to be English, to be represented in the world by the most wretched collection of liars, brown noses, self-servers and what my mother used to call “clawpokes”.
We favour Wales which is close by and beautiful. Also because Wales has regularly been screwed by Whitehall and we sympathise.
The novel is going well:
Threesome (The third or fourth working title; it may stick for a while)
3961 words.
… Those of Gladys’s schoolfriends whose parents were rackety, over-familiar or plain negligent said they envied her.
Envied Gladys her hollow step-parents.
The Greenwoods lacked imagination. They assumed everyone they met toed the line that guided them. If, subsequently, they discovered that other parents owned a glider, were devout Christians, bet on horses, had become vegans, organised exchange holidays with Germans or voted Communist, they ascribed these deviations to random aberration. None of which really mattered.
What did matter were the assumptions they made about Gladys. Except “assumption” was too strong a word. It was impossible to imagine them thinking about their stepdaughter in a way that differed from their banal and repetitive dialogues. Or asking questions which might encourage unexpected answers.
Grammatical note: I’m aware of the “them/their” prescription. Decided (if I’m wrong) this sounds better.
Really good! I'm liking the "assumptions" paragraph quite a bit. It hints at all sorts of interesting characters to come.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the word "clawpokes."
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/yorkshire-words-week-1911673
I'm sad you aren't going to the French Villa. Bummer!
DeleteColette: One of the dangers of quoting work-in-progress is you see it on display and you itch to change it. This quote will be changed, made less abstract, more human. If I've space I'll do it in two versions as "before" and "after". Very important to avoid thinking that anything at this stage is carved in stone.
DeleteBummer indeed. But we've now booked two rather lovely places in Wales, one on the isle of Anglesey. I'll include a rough map for those who don't understand the relationship between the two UK countries - England and Wales. Many don't.
Colette: "Piecan" I knew but had completely forgotten. Thanks for the reminder. The article is from The Yorkshire Post, a newspaper published in Leeds, just 9 miles away from my home-town, Bradford.
ReplyDeleteClawpokes!
ReplyDeleteWhat you say about seeing yourself "in print" as an impetus to re-think seems to be a common sensation. Much luck on the new novel--interesting to see a few snips from the in-progress book.
Marly: That quote was almost a thousand words ago. And for the moment remains as is. The surge I feel with this new novel (compared with Rictangular Lenses; 56,000 words done but so so slowly) is irresistible. The future is a wonderful tangle of plotting possibilities that - when I reach that point - I may majestically sweep away in favour of another possibility as yet undreamed of. It's that kind of energy, that conviction of creativity.
DeleteI shall remember the term clawpokes and like you feel ashamed to be English these days. A country run/ruined by elitist tossers, liars and has beens. We had a lovely holiday in Anglesey a few years ago but nothing can compare to a villa in France, sorry.
ReplyDelete