Mary Wesley
Mary Wesley
Mary Wesley, CBEwas an English novelist. During her career, she was one of Britain's most successful novelists, selling three million copies of her books, including 10 bestsellers in the last 20 years of her life...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 June 1912
imagination appearance reader
I have deliberately left Sylvester and Julia's appearances to the reader's imagination.
awful children france keen knew local took travels west
It was pretty awful for us children because we never really knew the local children. Mother was keen for us to learn languages, so our travels took us to France and Italy, as well as the West Country.
suggestion
You know what it's like to persuade a pigheaded child to do something they don't want to. If they hear the same suggestion from someone else, they'll go right off and do it.
people challenges threatening
That image of the countryside being a threatening place still exists. People continue to resist the challenge of learning about aspects of life they don't understand.
divorce years people
People try much less hard to make a marriage work than they used to fifty years ago. Divorce is easier.
real book writing
Writing Part of the Scenery has been a very different experience. I have been reminded of people and events, real and imaginary which have been part of my life. This book is a celebration of the land which means so much to me.
children animal cities
I remember the evacuee children from towns and cities throwing stones at the farm animals. When we explained that if you did that you wouldnt have any milk, meat or eggs, they soon learned to respect the animals.
book titles finished
I never really know the title of a book until it's finished.
garden people young
I have a garden, and I'm passionately interested in young people.
teaching writing looking-back
Looking back, I understand that I was teaching myself to write.
moving towns sensible
It seemed sensible to move to a market town where I could walk everywhere.
growing-up children thinking
We're all like children. We may think we grow up, but to me, being grown up is death, stopping thinking, trying to find out things, going on learning.
children husband men
Women's courage is rather different from men's. The fact that women have to bring up children and look after husbands makes them braver at facing long-term issues, such as illness. Men are more immediately courageous. Lots of people are brave in battle.
falling-in-love love-is play
Imagination which comes into play in falling in love is different from any other. Certainly in my case, and I've fallen in love all my life, one imagines the person to be as you want them to be. They frequently turn out to be someone different, for better or worse.