-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
Under a Canvas Sky
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
A moving memoir from Mervyn Peake's daughter.
Product Description
Clare Peake, daughter of the celebrated writer and artist Mervyn Peake, tells the story of her parents' romance and her own happy and bohemian childhood. Mervyn Peake was born in China, the son of medical missionaries, and the juxtaposition of his exotic surroundings and the very English manners at home had a lasting effect on him. Reading Treasure Island until he could recite it by heart and waiting for comics to arrive from England had him living a childhood bursting with imagery. He returned to England to study at the Royal Academy School and was then offered a teaching post at Westminster School of Art. There his charismatic and un-worldly presence made a huge impact: none more so than on Maeve Gilmore, a seventeen-year-old sculpture student. The couple fell passionately in love but Maeve's parents were determined their daughter would not marry a penniless artist and sent her away to forget him. She didn't and, refusing to be parted ever again, they married when Maeve was nineteen and Mervyn twenty-six. Mervyn Peake developed Parkinson's disease aged forty-five. His decline was rapid and he spent time in and out of mental hospitals until his death at fifty-seven, the diagnosis never fully understood. Clare Peake writes movingly of the impact on the family and her mother's determination to continue giving her children the happiness she felt all children deserved.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This is an enchanting read and you don't have to be a Peake fan to appreciate it as an insightful and well written account of childhood that will have you chuckling away as you recognise (hopefully) your own childhood from it but also reaching for a hankie or two. It's never sentimental but celebrates being a child. It's also very revealing about the Peakes as other reviewers have already discussed. What a wonderful couple they were and Clare really brings them to life. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have always been fascinated by Mervyn Peake, and loved his books and illustrations, but even if I had never heard of him, I would have rated this book five stars. It is extremely well written, and anyone who grew up in London in the 50's will relish the description of the life we led then. Similarly, anyone who has experienced dementia in their family or friends will find this book very moving.
Clare's love for her parents and appreciation of their talents and humanity shine through this book. The writing is superb. I would also recommend her mother, Maeve Gilmore's, book about her husbands illness. (A World Away by Maeve Gilmour).
Clare's love for her parents and appreciation of their talents and humanity shine through this book. The writing is superb. I would also recommend her mother, Maeve Gilmore's, book about her husbands illness. (A World Away by Maeve Gilmour).
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
