Pure as the Lily - Catherine Cookson

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ABOUT PURE AS THE LILY
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Pure As The Lily is a fictional story based in Jarrow and traces the life of Mary Walton from the 1930s through to the 1970s . Mary’s father (da) Alex idolised her but he had been out of work for eight years during the dark years of the Depression and had been stripped of his self respect not only by unemployment but more so by his nagging, manipulative wife Alice. ...
...Alex was shattered that his pure daughter had been taken by Ben. Alex knew that Alice wanted Ben. Alice was like a mad woman. She wanted revenge. Revenge on Mary. Revenge on Ben. She told Alex to be a man for once in his life and beat up Ben. She really wanted Ben beaten up because he had chosen Mary and not her. She hated Mary from this point onwards. Alex stormed up to the shop and, in front of the customers, beat Ben so badly that his once handsome ... more

ABOUT CATHERINE COOKSON

Catherine Cookson, born 1906, is one of the greatest authors of our time and her stories are set in the backdrop of the North East of England where she was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields. Her books are sold all over the world and several of her stories have been adapted for TV.

She was the illegitimate daughter of a poverty stricken woman and she had always believed this woman to be her sister. We must bear in mind that in the early 1900’s it was a sin to have a child out of wedlock and it brought shame and disgrace to the family.

Catherine was brought up by her grandmother and entered service life when she was 14 years old. At 18 she worked in a laundry before leaving to settle in Hastings and eventually marrying Tom Cookson who was a local grammar school master. She did not begin writing until her 40s and I am just so pleased that she did so. She writes with so much passion about her beloved North East and of the working class people she had known and grew up with.

She won the Winifred Holtby award in 1968 for her novel called The Round Tower and she was awarded an OBE in 1985 and became a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. From humble beginnings she died an icon of the literary world.

ABOUT PURE AS THE LILY
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Pure As The Lily is a fictional story based in Jarrow and traces the life of Mary Walton from the 1930s through to the 1970s . Mary’s father (da) Alex idolised her but he had been out of work for eight years during the dark years of the Depression and had been stripped of his self respect not only by unemployment but more so by his nagging, manipulative wife Alice. At one time he had held his head up high, earning a fair wage and providing for his wife and family but now he was a wreck and Mary was his only form of comfort although he did have a younger child called Jimmy.

In typical Cookson fashion, the heroine of the tale, Mary’, had been made to go to work in service by her dominant mother, Alice, and when she finished her day’s work she would have to go home and do all the housework and prepare the meals; although Alice did everything in her power to make sure that Jimmy, Mary’s brother got the best of everything because she wanted him to have a profession. Mary would try and salvage cigarettes from her employer to give to her beloved da as a treat for him.

Her da wanted her to get out of the grimy street, out of service and into a shop, preferably a high class shop. He wanted Mary to have a decent job, to get on in life. Mary was such a kind girl, she only earned fourpence an hour but would give her da and her granda money for the little things in life.

Her da had been to see an old lady friend of his who worked in one of the high class shops and had arranged an interview for Mary. However, on the day she should have gone for the interview her mother fell and broke her ankle and forced Mary to take her place working in the corner shop for Ben Tollett. Ben was an old friend of Alex but Alice had wanted to have an affair with Ben but he declined. He was a widower with a small baby son called David. So,Mary had to go and help Ben in the shop and looked after the baby.

Then an event was to happen that would change all their lives forever.

One evening Ben had gone to a function and came back quite tipsy. He made love to Mary (who had been looking after David) and she became pregnant. Mary did not know how to tell her father, and was terrified to tell her mother because she had overheard the conversation between Alice and Ben and knew that Alice wanted to have an affair with Ben. Mary decided that she should tell her paternal grandma and she would know what to do. Her grandma always knew what to do. Grandma told Alex and Alice and Alex was shattered that his pure daughter had been taken by Ben. Alex knew that Alice wanted Ben. Alice was like a mad woman. She wanted revenge. Revenge on Mary. Revenge on Ben. She told Alex to be a man for once in his life and beat up Ben. She really wanted Ben beaten up because he had chosen Mary and not her. She hated Mary from this point onwards. Alex stormed up to the shop and, in front of the customers, beat Ben so badly that his once handsome face was scarred for life. Alex was arrested and sent to prison for 18 months. When Ben came out of hospital Mary looked after him and told him that it didn’t matter that his face was scarred. They got married and Mary had a little girl, Annie. Ben taught Mary all about his hobby, stocks and shares, and they bought other businesses and lots of houses, especially during the Second World War period.

Jimmy became a teacher, married a woman called Betty who turned out to be a replica of his mother. Needless to say, Betty and Alice got on extremely well. But Jimmy was dissatisfied with being a teacher, he liked his poetry – just like his granda did. Throughout the years since the incident with his father and Ben, Jimmy would always sneek round the back street to go and see Mary as he loved Mary so much. Mary was a great comfort to Jimmy and the children David and Annie loved him too. Jimmy got the sack from his school after hitting one of the pupils.

Jimmy left Betty to live with “Dally” one of his neighbours and the people in the street would call her “Dally” thinking she was doodle dally – meaning stupid. She wasn’t stupid at all and Jimmy loved her immensely. They lived with Mary at first but when Dally fell pregnant Mary gave them Moat Cottage so that they had a nice home in which to raise their baby son Ben – they had called him Ben after Mary’s kind husband. Alice was furious when Betty told her that Mary had owned, and had given, Moat House to Jimmy and Dally who were renovating it and would be moving in the following week. Moat House had been the house Alice had dreamt of for so many years. She was so furious that she piled wood high against the front door and started a fire … little did she realise that Jimmy and Dally were asleep upstairs – they had decided to move in sooner rather than later. Jimmy survived the fire but Dally died and he never completely recovered. Mary took on the task of looking after little Ben. Jimmy then died and Ben regarded Mary as his mother and Mary loved little Ben with all her heart.

It was one day during the war that a bomb hit one of the shops owned by Ben and Mary. Ben and his son David had been working in the shop and were killed. Mary was devastated. But more sorrow was to come. Her granda and grandma’s house was bombed and they were killed. Four deaths in one day. Mary could not believe that God had been so cruel. He had taken four of her most beloved people. Her da had not been in the house at the time and Mary took him into her home and so he remained there, being looked after by his daughter until his death.

Mary’s life was one of looking after her daughter, little Ben and her father and taking care of the family businesses. She had yearned to go travelling for such a long time but she knew that this was impossible as she had to look after her da who was ill. Annie grew up and married and had her own child, Patricia, who doted on Mary.

Patricia had secretly loved Ben for years and was always jealous when he had a new girlfriend. But Ben didn’t marry. (I will leave something a surprise for you). Mary’s life was to change yet again when Hughie Amesden, a boy who Mary had secretly idolised in her youth, came to visit … …

ABOUT MY VIEW ON THE BOOK
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Cookson had a hard upbringing during the early 1900s; suffered four miscarriages and had a nervous breakdown. Her childhood saw violence, abuse and alcoholism together with the shame and guilt that all this brought. Her determination to escape this situation, together with great courage, helped her to get out of her childhood slum. It was through the advice of her doctor that she began to write and her experiences tend to reflect these scenarios in most of her works.

This particular novel traces the life and fortunes of young, naïve Mary, who started her working life in service, just like Catherine. She talks about meetings held in the grand house and how Mary collected all the cigarette ends after the meetings finished to give to her father and grandfather. The 1930s were a depressing period for the working class families of the North East and the hardships she recounts sound familiar to those that my own mother has told me. Cloth-capped men hanging around on street corners sucking fag ends, men getting depressed because there was no work; men feeling inadequate because they could not provide a fulfilling meal for their families.

Cookson tells of Alex (Mary’s father) going “over the river” to try and find a job and being chased by the other workmen. This I can relate to as there has always been a rivalry between certain sectors of the North East eg. when the shipyards were in full existence the Tyne shipyards were loath to hire anyone from the Wear shipyards hence most workers kept to their own side of the river.

Pure as the Lily has the classic trademarks of Cookson’s life: the downtrodden naïve, young girl; the wicked mother; the kind knight in shining armour and the twists to the tale. Her characters, although supposed to be fictional, are really true to life and are symbolic of the impoverished North East people of the early 20th century. It portrays the strong determination and courage of the people to get out of the slums and make a better life; the hardships and heartache encountered along that path; and the rewards of that same determination.

Personally, I find her books spellbinding and I just cannot put them down until I have read them. Call me biased because I know the North East slang language and the area, but I just want to keep on reading and reading. I can always visualise the scenes, the cobblestone streets, the children with bare feet, the back to back houses, the tenement buildings – all these things bring out memories of my youth – going to visit an elderly aunt in a tenement building, seeing the black range with the kettle boiling on it, seeing the tin baths, seeing the outside privvy in the yard.

Yes, her books are very real and true to life – true to people’s sufferings, people’s torture, but also reflecting the generous side of life too.

WHERE CAN I BUY BOOKS BY CATHERINE COOKSON
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You can buy her books in most bookshops. However, I bought this particular one from the Co-op for £1.99.

If you want to be really thrifty, like I was last week, then search in the charity shops and you can pick them up for between 50p and £1.

 

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