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.
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Book Description
A moving memoir from Mervyn Peake's daughter.
About the Author
Clare Penate (née Peake) was born on the island of Sark, but has lived in London all her life. She has worked as a bookseller, flower-seller, waitress, child-minder, nursery school teacher and maid. She has three children, one being the singer Jack Penate, and one grand-child. She reads, goes to the cinema, listens to music, and hand-makes patchwork quilts.
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By G Talboys
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I hold Mervyn Peake to have been a genius. As a painter, illustrator, poet and novelist he excelled. But there is one aspect of his genius that is rarely listed, but which should not be overlooked. In collaboration with his wife Maeve Gilmore (a superb artist in her own right), he was a genius parent.
If you want proof, read this book. It is there in several ways. To begin with, the story it tells. Clare was the youngest child of the Peakes and her father's illness began when she was seven. The harrowing tale of this wonderful artist's descent into a living hell has been documented more fully elsewhere. It still makes me cry. The perspective here is of a child. Clare Peake does not attempt an adult's retrospective other than to explain this was her life and, as a child, hard as it was (and the pain emerges later), that is how it was.
To write so confidently and simply about this, as Clare Peake does, is a great gift. She tells her story. And it becomes clear just what wonderful parents she had, that their talents as artists spilled over into their care for their children. It was not conventional. On the other hand it was not outrageously bohemian. It was a childhood of love. Because the artistic genius of the parents did not make them precious, did not make them feel superior to lesser mortals (unlike some of the unprintable people they met along the way, especially when Mervyn Peake became ill).
As a combination of biography and memoir it does not gloss over the bad times, but neither does it dwell on them. This is no rosy-visioned romp in a perfect childhood; but neither is it a misery fest.... Read more ›
If you want proof, read this book. It is there in several ways. To begin with, the story it tells. Clare was the youngest child of the Peakes and her father's illness began when she was seven. The harrowing tale of this wonderful artist's descent into a living hell has been documented more fully elsewhere. It still makes me cry. The perspective here is of a child. Clare Peake does not attempt an adult's retrospective other than to explain this was her life and, as a child, hard as it was (and the pain emerges later), that is how it was.
To write so confidently and simply about this, as Clare Peake does, is a great gift. She tells her story. And it becomes clear just what wonderful parents she had, that their talents as artists spilled over into their care for their children. It was not conventional. On the other hand it was not outrageously bohemian. It was a childhood of love. Because the artistic genius of the parents did not make them precious, did not make them feel superior to lesser mortals (unlike some of the unprintable people they met along the way, especially when Mervyn Peake became ill).
As a combination of biography and memoir it does not gloss over the bad times, but neither does it dwell on them. This is no rosy-visioned romp in a perfect childhood; but neither is it a misery fest.... Read more ›
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I wholeheartedly agree with the first review here. This is a beautiful book that is clear and honest. I wept several times throughout the book but often happily as well as from the touching compassion of the author towards her wonderful parents. Nor is this book only for admirers of Mervyn Peake - anyone would find the human story within an interesting one. Covering the war and then the 1960s afterwards, the exuberance and talent of those times bursts forth. Clare Peake may have waited many years to publish her first book but I hope she will not hold back any more of her writing for us to all enjoy.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a beautiful memoir, beautifully written; full of fascinating details, not only about her father, a great artist and writer, but also about Clare's own life within such a hugely gifted family. It's a story not without its tragic elements, but threaded throughout with good humour and a rich humanity that almost glows on the page. Thoroughly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What an extraordinary achievement this book is. How do you capture a uniquely beautiful childhood without any tinge of boastfulness or celebrate your love for a great father of unique talent without a shred of self indulgence? Clare Peake has succeeded with a gentle self deprecating humour and a love of humanity the size of a planet.
Anyone who loves Mervyn Peake's `Gormenghast' or his poetry, or his fantastic illustrations must read this book as Clare introduces us to her father in a book that is partly a tender biography. Secondly we have a playful and original account of what it was like to grow up in Chelsea in the 60s. But most magically Clare has managed to include here everything that her two exceptional and loving parents taught her about life, about parenting, and about love and in doing so generously shares her parents with us all.
Ten stars out of a possible five Clare Peake.
Anyone who loves Mervyn Peake's `Gormenghast' or his poetry, or his fantastic illustrations must read this book as Clare introduces us to her father in a book that is partly a tender biography. Secondly we have a playful and original account of what it was like to grow up in Chelsea in the 60s. But most magically Clare has managed to include here everything that her two exceptional and loving parents taught her about life, about parenting, and about love and in doing so generously shares her parents with us all.
Ten stars out of a possible five Clare Peake.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Jarah
Format:Hardcover
I've read so much about Mervyn Peake that I almost decided not to buy this book, thinking it could not add anything new to my understanding of this extraordinary man. How wrong I was. But it is not just for Peake fans - Clare's mother is arguably the heroine of the book for her warmth, courage and refusal to let her husband's terrible illness destroy her life and those of her children. Misery memoir this is not; Clare's childhood was idyllic in many ways and the book is very, very funny in places, as well as fascinating in its vivid evocation of London in the fifties and sixties.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J. K. Cook
Format:Hardcover
Like many teenagers I was spellbound by Gormenghast, which led on to a fascination with Mervyn Peake as a writer and artist. I have read other biographies, as well as his wife Maeve Gilmore's beautifully written book of their lives together, 'A World Away'. This sensitive memoir by his daughter reveals Mervyn the father and family man too, and is a wonderfully evocative portrait of growing up with two exceptional and loving parents. Clare writes with a direct simplicity which really makes her experiences come vividly alive, whether it's as a small child or as a teenager in London's swinging sixties - the atmosphere and sense of place comes through strongly. Of course the great tragedy at the heart of the book is Mervyn's premature illness and long decline, which again is told with love and honesty. I felt a huge regret for all the years of creativity that were denied to him - years when this prolific author and artist could have delighted us with unknown works - as well as the terrible loss that his family suffered. Ultimately though the warmth and humanity of Clare's book is uplifting and inspiring, and I am left with a sense of gratitude that she has shared these unique and personal memories with us. Thank you.
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