My new book, ‘Joyce to the World’ – a
collection of short stories inspired by the work of Joyce Grenfell, is now
available on Amazon. Here’s the introduction and a taste of the stories:
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| Cover artwork by Howard Taylor - @aitchteee on Twitter - commissions taken! |
Joyce Grenfell died in 1979, just before she was due
to become Dame Joyce Grenfell. But she is by no means forgotten, indeed she is
thought of fondly by many of us who are too young to have been aware of her
during her lifetime. It is interesting to think about the reasons for this,
when many of her contemporaries are becoming more obscure as time passes.
The two roles that she is most fondly remembered for
are Policewoman Ruby Gates in the St Trinian’s films; and the harassed nursery
school teacher as portrayed in her monologues. Mention Joyce’s
name to a lot of people and they will smile and reply “George, don’t do that!”
These characters have similarities – at first glance they are failures. Ruby
fails to secure marriage with her long-term fiancé Sammy and she is hopeless at
controlling the school girls while masquerading as a games mistress. The
nursery school teacher loves children but it is not returned in the fashion
that she probably envisaged. But, we British love an underdog, especially one
that perseveres to the point of insanity. Of course it helps when they have a
hilarious turn of phrase too. We adore Joyce as a character that has been lost
to progress, to dumbing down and mass boorishness. She represents an England
that we feel we have left behind.
But Joyce herself was half American and she was no
underdog. The world that she represents to many of us did not exist in the pure
form that we sometimes imagine either.
In my blog, The History Usherette, I look at
nostalgic films and try to pick out pieces of real history. This history is
often not as rose-tinted as we would like it to be. I have applied this thought
to this collection of short stories. Each is inspired by a piece of Joyce’s
work, they run in chronological order from the 1930s to the 1970s. I hope – and
I think that Joyce might approve of this – that this might encourage the reader
to appreciate some the progress that we have made in more recent decades. It is
fun to look back and think that maybe things were better. But they weren’t. Not
always.
Natures Gifts:
The original speaker of ‘Useful and Acceptable
Gifts’, first performed by Joyce in revue in the 1930s, is horrified to see
herself being parodied on stage.
Many women remained single into middle and old age
at this point in time due to the mass slaughter of young men in World War
One. Yet to be married and a mother was still looked upon as a woman’s
only natural calling. Those that tried to make themselves useful in other ways
were sometimes turned into figures of fun.
The Demi-Angel:
Upper class teenager Julia volunteers to help care
for wounded soldiers in 1943, going against her mother’s wishes. She is
inspired after watching Joyce in the film ‘The Demi Paradise’.
A rigid class system and narrow constraints for
women was to some extent broken down by World War Two. This is a look at how it
took death and injury on a mass scale to liberate those trapped at home as well
as those in the occupied territories.
Dear Miss Grenfell:
Old soldier Robert writes to Joyce to thank her for
cheering him up while she was touring with ENSA.
Like so many household names, it was this wartime
work that really helped to shape Joyce into the performer we so loved. It took
war to allow talent to shine through, and to introduce people to different
forms of culture.
Red Letter Day:
Old bachelor Jim is haunted by Joyce’s song ‘I’m
Going to See You Today.’
These 1940s lyrics paint a picture of a nation being
reunited again with loved ones. It might refer to short leaves from the
fighting, or to the post war homecoming. But the war took a huge toll on
British relationships. Divorce rates were hitherto unheard of, and this is only
the official picture. Some promised marriages didn’t happen; while some unhappy
marriages limped on to save face.
Oh Ruby!:
Billy’s mother discusses his decision to join the
police force.
We all love St Trinian’s, although I think it does
colour our perception of all-girl schools. Do we let what we see on screen
influence our lives too much? Are we losing the capability to make decisions
for ourselves?
Forgetting:
New husband Bob struggles to reconcile his views of
marriage with a society where women are newly liberated. He tries to take back
control, implementing a hare-brained scheme inspired by Joyce’s ‘forgetful
woman in church’ monologue.
The laws are in place, but male attitudes are too
often trailing behind. Even now, I wonder if we’ll ever get true equality.
Some Ladies Have to Dance Together:
A woman reflects on how she first hated, then loved
Joyce’s song ‘Stately as a Galleon.’
Another look at how girls are at the mercy of men’s
expectations, often rooted in their own base desires.
Retirement Time:
Joyce’s nursery teacher dedicated her life to her
job (although she often thought about a change of career, she could never quite
break away). But when she reaches a certain age she is forced to retire with no
other life to fill her days.
Extract from ‘Red Letter Day’:
He heard the song performed again about
a year later. He had listened to Bob Turner whistle it continually as he pinned
photographs of his trio of girlfriends onto the wall above his bunk. And then
it had played on the radio while he drunk his first beer on English soil. So,
from boarding the train to London on that day he remembered too well, the song
had been bumping around in his brain. The rhythm altered itself to fit the
dominant noise of the moment, whether it was the sound of the train wheels, or
the creaking of the carriage body as it pulled away from a platform. He caught
a tube train from Kings Cross to Waterloo. He thought he could hear the tune in
the wind as it rushed through the tunnels. She would be waiting for him at
Waterloo, under the clock, of course. He had told her every time that they had
met that this would be the place where it would all begin for them.
“We’ll put our name down for a prefab,
then get the marriage licence. When we’ve had our cup of tea and rock cake in
the buffet. First thing’s first.”
This refreshment had become their ritual
– at the beginning and end of each wartime liaison; a talisman. If they didn’t
have it, then perhaps one of them wouldn’t return for next time. It was silly,
they knew. But once the suggestion had been made it was difficult to let the
idea go. He had smiled about it as he climbed the stairs up from the tube
station onto the main concourse at Waterloo. This would be the last time. Now
he was home, it would be all house hunting and picnics by the Serpentine.
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