Opposite the Cross Keys A Memory of Childhood - Hardcover

The artistry that wins praise for the British author's mysteries ( A Ritual Murder , awarded England's Silver Dagger et al.) is evident as well in this wonder-filled tale. Haymon evokes laughter and tears with her recollections of her 10th year, 1928, as she became attached to the Fenners, family of her governess Maud. They lived "opposite the Cross Keys, St. Awdry's," an area that provided adventure for the little girl, unlike her upper-class neighborhood. In the working-class milieu, Haymon spent happy hours with cheerful, uninhibited Mrs. Fenner, made a loyal friend of young Tom and tightened the bond between herself and the spiky, utterly devoted Maud. There was, to be sure, a worm in the apple, despised Ellie Fenner, who sat all day long, combing her long hair and sitting on it to prove that she could. But Haymon could simply ignore slothful Ellie, while enjoying otherwise rewarding times. The greatest was falling in love with a grown-up, a bewitching rogue named "Chicken," and this romance forms the core of the poignant, funny memoir. A skilled novelist, the author keeps the secret of how the romance turned out until the book's surprising finale.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Growing up as a middle-class female in the 1920s in Norwich, England could have been unexceptional. The parents of British mystery writer Haymon, however, had the foresight to engage Maud Fenner, nursemaid and factotum, who changed all of their lives. In remembering her tenth year and her first visit to Maud's family, Haymon portrays the wonders of the Fenner household in a vivid display of heartwarming and heartrending events. She experiences firsthand backbreaking manual labor, betrayal and loss of friendship, snobbery, and the depths of poverty. Hers is a curious loss of innocence for she is both exposed to the harshness of life by the Fenners and protected from it by their unconditional love. Haymon again triumphs. Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Hts.
University Hts.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.