Cicely is a superb performer of her own work. At a recent poetry reading in Camden Town she held her audience even when a furious dog fight broke out in the street outside, accompanied by uncouth human cries. reviews Anthea Boulton interviews the author and reviews The Biggest Female in the World and Other Stories by Wendy Perriam Robert Hale (London). 2007. £18.99. 224 pages. hbk. ISBN: 9780709083777.
When Wendy’s third, latest book of short stories arrived in the mail my first thought was ‘how does she do it? How does she come up with all these new stories and characters that burst from the pages with such energy and emotion and quirkiness’?
We arranged to meet so we could record an interview, and my first question was, ‘How much do the stories reflect your life?’ ‘Writing a book is like building a nest,’ she told me, ‘you gather bits from here and there, stories just jump out at you. But some recurrent themes such as loss, the feeling of being an outsider, the influence of parents especially fathers, depression and suicide do come from personal experience. My story Birthday tells of a mother trying to compensate for the loss of her babies; I had two miscarriages before my daughter was born. In Dandelion a woman’s life is dominated by memories of her dead father; my father was not dead but away in spirit for most of my childhood, therefore linked in my mind with God the Father.
I went to convent schools between the ages of four and 17. During those years I was always writing, but by 16 I was seriously questioning my faith, I was so aware of the suffering in the world.
So I stopped attending communion. The nuns declared I was in Satan’s power and, finally, expelled me for heresy, which was terrifying for a once-devout child. I went into a total depression, which resulted in a loss of health, happiness and any sense of purpose and which stopped me writing. At 18 I even attempted suicide.
The nuns taught me that men were superior, and there were few men in my family, distant figures mostly doctors and lawyers, so I didn’t question this. I grew up being attracted to older, cleverer authority figures and it was only later that I realised I was taking a submissive role. According to the nuns, sex outside marriage led straight to hell. So when I first had sex, as a student at Oxford, I was filled with guilt and shame, fear of my parents and worry about eternal damnation.’ Small wonder Wendy finds herself at home in Sea of Faith. ‘I still believe in hell emotionally, not rationally, but my indoctrination was so deep it’s hard to disentangle imagination from real fears. That’s why I’m so against the indoctrination of children, it will probably stay with them for life. A large part of me is still open to miracles. I miss religion and a sense of being close to God and the communion of saints – probably a total delusion.’ I noted that these themes run through the new collection. Paradise Lost imagines the appearance of angels, a character in Saviour notes how ‘God kept his distance nowadays’ and May suggests that we can’t define truth but should be open to possibilities beyond logic, reason and even common sense. ‘After graduating,’, Wendy continued, ‘I worked in the USA, but Dad wanted me to come back and get “a proper job”. He suggested Advertising, so Advertising it was. I hated it, especially as I was working on fashion accounts and cars, and I had no interest in fashion and loathed cars! It didn’t even occur to me that one could choose a career or do what one wanted in life. ‘In 1962 I spent 8 weeks in hospital. Doctors told me I had a life-shortening disease and that I would never have children. In 1964 I married Tim, whom I’d met at Oxford, and had a child a year later after two miscarriages. I wasn’t managing to write during this time because, on top of the illness, Tim lost his job so I became the breadwinner. ‘Then came a painful divorce. In fact I had a breakdown after Tim left and went to psychiatric hospital (where the psychiatrist had an affair with me and, much later, killed himself). In 1974 I remarried, taking on two stepchildren who were very damaged, since their Mum had died from MS and also had severe mental problems. We went to live in Surbiton and I decided to take a second Wendy Perriam reviews degree at Kingston Poly so that I could teach English (History had been my first subject). While I was there, the writer in residence saw the stories I’d contributed to the Poly magazine and showed them to his agent who wrote “Stop your degree and write me a novel. I will publish it”. With great trepidation I did stop and wrote my first novel in bed, fearing it would never work and I’d given up my degree for nothing. I was really delighted. I’d wanted to write from the age of 4, and it was very therapeutic. I could work through all life’s problems. I used miscarriage, illness and infertility, divorce and loss of faith as subjects for my novels.’ (Wendy has written 16 to date). ‘I decided to try writing short stories, and I loved it. Novels need to be more geared to reality, they require firmer structure and a lot of research.
With short stories I have the freedom to go off into the world of the imagination. I can create weirder characters, and these really exist for me. I’m irresistibly drawn to the transgressives, maybe because there’s a transgressive inside me, struggling to get out!’ Watching Wendy as she sits in my flat, dressed in her trademark style of bright colours and bold designs, it was hard to equate this vibrant, funny, sensitive woman with the extraordinary life experiences she had related. No wonder she sees so deeply into the anxieties of life, the obstacles, the pains and disappointments. What’s great is that through all these experiences she retains her generous-hearted sympathy and, through the alchemy of imagination, is able to transform bitterness into gold.
Life is evidently more satisfying for Wendy these days. ‘Since I’m very much a “morning person” I try to devote the first part of the day to my writing. I usually continue for several hours, but some of the work will be revision and rewriting, once that initial burst of energy starts to drain away. On certain days I teach Creative Writing and I find alternating teaching with writing is the perfect combination.’ However, bitter elements haven’t stopped leaking into the crucible. ‘My nephew committed suicide on the evening of the millennium. I saw the terrible anguish it caused my sister and that changed my view of suicide totally.’ In this collection, Wendy bases Suicide on a real experience she had on a train journey and she makes her characters consider the moral and emotional implications.
There are plenty of lighter ingredients in the brew, however. There’s humour, piquant description of the pleasures of the senses and, of course, sex. In Kentucky Fried the wife of a much older man, frustrated by his lack of ardour, goes out on a blisteringly hot summer’s day and, having encountered a gang of workmen re-tarmacing the road, imagines them all making rough, sweaty, brutish love to her. As Wendy explained, ‘I intend to continue opening bedroom doors because I’m interested in the huge gap between reality and fantasy. According to various research studies, many people are frustrated in their sex-lives (or don’t have any at all), yet the general impression given by our society is that everyone is experiencing multiple orgasm whilst swinging from the chandeliers.’ And so to the title story, The Biggest Female in the World, which threads together several familiar themes. There’s fantasy, comedy, a downtrodden partner, memories of sex, and a tease. At first, readers might assume that the Biggest Female is Edwin’s vastly expanded wife, Roza, but they’d be wrong. Wendy has done her homework. The Biggest Female in the World is in fact… Japanese Knotweed.
I’ll leave you to find out why, and to discover for yourselves the outward flamboyance and inner truths to be found in Wendy Perriam’s world.
Anthea Boulton worked at Granada TV from the mid 1960s into 1970s, writing storylines for Coronation Street plus some drama adaptations for TV. After her two daughters were born she freelanced for BBC local radio, programmes including writing book reviews and popular local history. She has been a JP since 1978 and is still serving. She now lives at Hobsons Farm, Dentdale, where she runs an oral history project recording memories of local people.
Review of The Biggest Female in the World and Other Stories by Wendy Perriam, Robert Hale (London), 2007, £18.99, 224 pages, hbk, ISBN: 9780709083777