‘. . . for many years I looked on William as
“my character”. He was my puppet. I pulled the strings. But gradually the
tables have been turned. I am his puppet.’
– Richmal Crompton, 1958
Lancashire-born Richmal
Crompton is best known for her thirty-eight-strong Just William children’s
series, which shot her to global fame. Yet it is little known that the
incredibly prolific writer expressed deep regret over William dominating her
work, most notably her forty-one adult novels and nine collections of short
stories. On 27th August 2015, eleven of those adult novels will be brought to a
new readership by Bello, Pan Macmillan’s digital imprint.
Despite the popularity of
the Just Williams series, Crompton remains widely misunderstood and many
readers assume the children’s adventure series was written by a man. It is
Crompton’s perceptive adult novels which offer readers the best insight into
her psyche and life. Largely realist, they are centred around family, social
and village life, sadness and dissatisfaction, and explore the strains of family
life, a woman’s place in society and the lives of older widowed men.
These novels include Marriage
of Hermione, The Old Man’s Birthday and There are Four Seasons, each
every bit as charming as her beloved Just William series.
Marriage of Hermione, first published in 1932, tells the story of the
married life of Charles and Hermione Dereham from their first meeting in 1882
to their golden wedding in 1932, an ordinary and overtly honest depiction of a
marriage without sensation. Marriage of Hermione contains much comedy,
tragedy and drama, all universal facets of family life, in its analyis of a
marriage marred by monotony.
First published in 1936, The
Old Man’s Birthday, is a thoroughly entertaining book offering a dry satire
of British village life and a nostalgic treat for fans of the gentler brand of
interwar fiction. It is the story of old Matthew Royston’s 95th
birthday. A day which, from breakfast to the family dinner party, preciptates
climaxes for each member of his assembled family. Teaming beneath the calm
surface of village and family life, readers will find a whole world of secrets,
desires, hopes and dreams.
In There are Four
Seasons, first published in 1937, a young girl Vicki’s faces resentment
from her fathe for resembling the wife who ran away and left him for another
man. Following Vicki from her childhood to old age, Crompton explores how this
childhood trauma stays with Vicki throughout her life, through marriage and
motherhood.
Bello will also reissue Chedsy
Place, Narcissa, Merlin Bay, Caroline, The Holiday, Steffan Green, Portrait of
a Family, and Journeying Wave.
Richmal Crompton was born in 1890 in
Lancashire. She won a scholarship to Royal Holloway in London, where she took
part in the Women’s Suffrage movement and studied Classics. She trained
as a schoolteacher, before turning to write full time. Richmal Crompton died in
1969 at the age of seventy-nine, having written thirty-eight books featuring
William Brown, forty-one novels for adults and nine collections of short stories.
Elizabeth Campbell, Editorial
Executive at Bello, comments,
‘Richmal Crompton’s adult works
truly are a remarkable testimony to the breadth of her talent as a writer. We
are delighted to have unearthed them and to be finally giving recognition to
her largely forgotten adult work.’
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