Book Reviews - Murders/Suicide at WHF

[Jane]

Sorry, just realised how long that post was, whoops!

Hello, aj. Your brilliant synopsis has just reminded me of how many times I brushed away tears when I read it circa 1990.

I had forgotten how frightened was Sheila of Granny Speakman. It was some years later that her name came up in conversation. It seemed that grownups, too, found her intimidating. I was left with the distinct impression of an autocrat who treated everybody not of her class as subservient, who lived in a cold, forbidding house, heavy with Christian symbolism, who meted out condemnation, rather than praise.

[susan]

Hi april1  Yes I really enjoyed the post from ajross it is strange I have read many times that Jeremy was very protective of Sheila and really took care of her yet Colin is saying the opposite.  I know the type Grannie Speakman would be something like children should be seen and not heard.  My own Grannie was on that style and I never felt a warmth from her at all but I think they were brought up not to show emotion either that or she did not like me

[Jane]

Hi april1  Yes I really enjoyed the post from ajross it is strange I have read many times that Jeremy was very protective of Sheila and really took care of her yet Colin is saying the opposite.  I know the type Grannie Speakman would be something like children should be seen and not heard.  My own Grannie was on that style and I never felt a warmth from her at all but I think they were brought up not to show emotion either that or she did not like me

Morning, Susan. You know, I think this is very much a class thing. The "grand" side of my mother's family, although more attentive to me because I was the only girl in the family, in general, were restrained when it came to speaking with, or showing affection to children. They were deeply entrenched in the middle class Victorian era. I can still hear one Great Aunt saying "Sit up straight, darling!" and gazing in amazement at a large diamond adorning the finger of another Great Aunt, because nobody was speaking to me. They also cut hovis loaves so thinly that had it not been for the meagre amount of butter coating the slices and sticking them together, the wind would have blown them away when we had tea in the garden!!!

The "lower orders" within the family had nothing to be restrained about!!! and visiting them was much more fun and if the bestowing of food equates with the bestowing of love, it was there in abundance.

[susan]

Hi april1  I know exactly what you mean my Grannie was quite intimidating at times and I use to sit in one position and dare not move.  It is funny I always remember as a young child asking her in all innocence if I could have her jewels when she died this could be why she did not like me

[Jane]

Hi april1  I know exactly what you mean my Grannie was quite intimidating at times and I use to sit in one position and dare not move.  It is funny I always remember as a young child asking her in all innocence if I could have her jewels when she died this could be why she did not like me

Susan, I'm brushing away tears again!!!!! but this time I'm laughing. If it's any comfort to you, I didn't get the diamond!!!!! and remember what you were told, "Those who ask, don't get!" The problem being, if we don't ask, how will they know we want it? Sorry, I forgot, it wasn't about what we might want, it was what they felt inclined to allow us........or not!!!!!

[susan]

Hi april1  as a child I wanted the jewels so I thought I better ask for them.  I cannot remember ever getting a biscuilt or sweetie from my Grannie so as you will have guessedf I did not get the jewels well not the ones I wanted

[lookout]

Hi april1  I know exactly what you mean my Grannie was quite intimidating at times and I use to sit in one position and dare not move.  It is funny I always remember as a young child asking her in all innocence if I could have her jewels when she died this could be why she did not like me

Gosh,,,I remember being petrified of my great aunts many years ago. One of them had piercing eyes like Ethel Barrymore,,,and all 3 used to dress in long black frocks,,white aprons and mop caps. It was indeed a frightening experience for a child and I remember not being keen on visiting them.Besides the place being dark with heavy curtains and nets on the windows,,,there was an enormous grandfather clock in the hall which when it started to strike,,,frightened me to death.
These were very stern ladies from what I can remember and the reason I'm writing about them is that it was at about 1947/8 which proves that this sort of a household can and does have a lasting effect,,,,except that I look upon this experience as history on how some of us used to live,and which I find interesting.
To a person who has a tendency to be " over-sensitive ",meetings/visits to characters of this kind,can have an everlasting effect which remains as a negative feeling instead of it being turned around as a matter of interest.
I have a photograph of these relatives of mine,which was taken in 1908,,when my father was 8,,along with his brothers and sister and parents ( who I never knew ) and the 3 great aunts,,,but my perspective of them is far different now than it was back on the impressive mind of a 7 year old child.
Young children can be fearful of old people.I never liked them as a child,,but can't explain why,,only that perhaps I was surrounded by them,I don't know. I think I saw them all as being like my great aunts,,,,frightening.
I can understand Sheila being afraid of her grannie. They could be very strait-laced and intimidating.
The trouble with Sheila was that things weren't much different on the home-front with a controlling mother who still preferred to live within a puritanical era.

[susan]

Morning lookout  I never liked my Grannie much as a young child got on better as I got older but her house is not a place I wanted to be.  Her sister had a shop and I just loved being in the shop with her so not all older relatives were intimidating (perhaps I was hoping she would leave me the shop I think my Grannie and Grandad just lived for each other they were joined at the hip so to speak so all the affection was between themselves and had none left to share. Maybe Sheila did not feel any warmth from any female members of the family I think she was at ease with Ralph.

[lookout]

Morning lookout  I never liked my Grannie much as a young child got on better as I got older but her house is not a place I wanted to be.  Her sister had a shop and I just loved being in the shop with her so not all older relatives were intimidating (perhaps I was hoping she would leave me the shop I think my Grannie and Grandad just lived for each other they were joined at the hip so to speak so all the affection was between themselves and had none left to share. Maybe Sheila did not feel any warmth from any female members of the family I think she was at ease with Ralph.

Hi Susan,,,there was never any " warmth " in the female relatives at all in my day.They seemed very set in their ways from their forbears. There was perhaps only one aunt who appeared to be " human " because she wore face-powder,,,but it was her husband who used to scare the living daylights out of me with his thick-lensed glasses and his penchant for myriads of books,,,writing in braille,and playing the violin in the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. I think it was the violin that " haunted " me,,,but again,,it's only when you become older that you begin to appreciate that his violin playing was superb.

Needless to say,,neither my brother nor myself were ever affected by these stifling occasions that we experienced,,,where perhaps others may,and would well have been affected. It all makes for a less boring and tedious life.

[susan]

Hi lookout  yes I know where you are coming from perhaps I was an avaricious child and saw the potential in jewels and shops

[lookout]

Hi lookout  yes I know where you are coming from perhaps I was an avaricious child and saw the potential in jewels and shops

I was a child who was seen and not heard,,,Susan,so had no conception of what anybody possessed materially really,,,only that the old aunts were bedecked in rows of heavy-looking beads,,,hence their bent stances. These did turn out to be Jets and Ambers,as I learned later. Jewellery was found at a  later date. Even now,,I have stuff that " came out of the Ark ". Ah,,,the days of antimacassars and aspidistras.

[susan]

Hi lookout  I think maybe I was a child who was not heard but did see all Off for my daily walk

[Bridget]

I was a child who was seen and not heard,,,Susan,so had no conception of what anybody possessed materially really,,,only that the old aunts were bedecked in rows of heavy-looking beads,,,hence their bent stances. These did turn out to be Jets and Ambers,as I learned later. Jewellery was found at a  later date. Even now,,I have stuff that " came out of the Ark ". Ah,,,the days of antimacassars and aspidistras.

That reminds me of my great grandmother, she also had a glass case in the corner with stuffed birds in it... ick.

[lookout]

That reminds me of my great grandmother, she also had a glass case in the corner with stuffed birds in it... ick.

Hi Bridget,,,yes,we musn't forget the stuffed birds,,,along with the lingering smell of mothballs ( hardly surprising with heavy velvet curtains ) and the tin of " petticoat tails " biscuits,,,which I wouldn't partake.

[susan]

Hi Bridget  Hope you are well.  My Grannie had a fox fur slung around her neck.  Always a cage on a stand with a budgie in it.  When I was a child I was always at the church jumble sales and at the end they use to give me everything that was not sold always went home wearing a fox fur and carrying a bird cage my poor Mother ran out of storage space