Heath, Bertie, 172
Heath, Neville, 171–2
Hill, Dallas, 107
Hoare, Penelope, 193–4
Holmes, Richard: pilgrimages to Linkenholt, 12; and RT’s birthday difficulties, 131; on Ivo’s wariness of driving in fog, 143
Holroyd, Michael: Basil Street Blues, 84n
Howard, Jean, 114–15, 117
Hughes, Mrs (cook), 86
Jill (two spaniels), 3, 13–14, 30
Keats, John, 54, 107; ‘To Autumn’ (poem), 103–4
Kenninghall, Norfolk, 66
Kerr, Deborah, 28
King Solomon’s Mines (film), 28
Lathbury, General Sir Gerald, 183
Lathbury (now Arbuthnot), Virginia (Ginny): joins RT in Switzerland, 183–4; breaks leg skiing, 186–7, 190
Lawrence, D.H.: Essays (1922), 124
Leighton, Margaret, 33
Lelièvre, Mademoiselle (of Mon Fertile school), 178
Lightbody, Archie (RT’s grandson), 48
Lightbody, Eleanor (RT’s daughter)see Tremain, Eleanor
Linkenholt Manor, Hampshire: childhood visits to, 1–7, 13; Christmas, 9–11, 14–15; shooting, 16–18
Lowe, Jenny, 170, 172, 181
McKenzie, Jane: friendship with RT, 39–40; riding lessons, 63–5; cold parental send-off to school, 69; taught by Robbie, 107; on visit to Masefield in Oxford, 111; poor knitting, 112; plays in Mysteries of Udolpho, 118; performs at Royal Festival Hall, 137–8, 140–1; identifies Keith at Festival Hall, 140; and RT’s painting Milton mural, 149
McKenzie, Pam, 69, 141, 168
McKenzie, Malcolm 141
Mancroft, Diana, Lady (earlier Quarry), 145
Marshall, Doreen, 172
Masefield, John: friendship with Ida Robinson, 105; influence on RT’s stories, 108; dedicates book to RT, 109n; RT illustrates stories, 109–10; RT visits in Oxford, 110–11, 179; Lost Endeavour, 108; The Midnight Folk, 108
Masefield, Judith, 111
Meadows (Nan’s sisters’ cottage), 90–2
Mellish, Miss (Crofton Grange School ghost), 95, 101
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 148, 150
Michell, Annie (RT’s great-aunt), 66
Michell, Marie (RT’s great-aunt and godmother), 65–7
Michell, Violet (RT’s great-aunt), 15, 72
Milne, A.A.: It’s Too Late Now, 98; The Old Sailor’ (poem), 80
Milton, John: RT paints mural for school, 148–50; L’Allegro, 148, 194; Lycidas, 158; Il Penseroso, 194
Mon Fertile (Swiss finishing school), 169–70, 173–5, 179
Monod, Pierrette, 180–1, 187
Morges, Switzerland, 169–70, 174
Nell Gwynn House, Chelsea, 84
Osborne, John: Look Back in Anger, 33n
Oxford University: RT’s hopes for admission denied by Jane, 152–3, 161–2
Paris: RT in, 191–2
Parker, Carol (née Thomson; RT’s stepsister), 41, 126–7, 168
Parker, Kate, 127
Parker, Commander Mike, 127
Peat, Nancy (née Phillpotts), 145–6
Peat, Robin, 145–6
Petersdorff, Elisabeth von, 139
Phillpotts, Julie, 107, 113
Phillpotts, Nancy see Peat, Nancy
Pitt, Guy (Jo’s son), 53
Pitt, Jo (née Thomson; RT’s sister): childhood visits to Linkenholt, 2, 4, 7, 13–15; curly hair, 10; never revisits Linkenholt, 12–13; accompanies shooters at Linkenholt, 17; painting, 19; wins prize for drawing of RT, 20; pretends to be French, 32; schooling, 39, 48; learns of mother’s remarriage, 45; and RT’s babyhood, 72; childhood trip to Switzerland, 74–7; early reading, 78; trip to Brighton, 84–5; unhappiness with new nanny, 87; adds to RT’s grotesque drawings, 88; respect for Ida Robinson, 107; prospective career as artist, 122; studies art in Paris, 142; falls in love in Paris and returns to England, 159; studies design at Central School of Art, 160, 168; marriage and later life, 160–1
Pitt, John (Jo’s husband), 160
Racine, Jean, 176
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho, 117–19
Ray (tennis coach), 114
Reid, Miranda, 192
Reunert, Carol, 170–2, 178, 181–2, 184–5, 187, 190
Reunert, Liz (earlier Heath), 171–2
Reunert, Mike, 171
Reunert, Tricia, 172
Road Home, The (RT; novel), 181n
Robinson, Ida (‘Robbie’): teaches and inspires RT, 103–7, 109, 116, 122, 169, 194; asks RT to paint Milton mural, 148–52, 158; recommends RT for Good Citizenship Cup, 159; and RT’s leaving Crofton, 167
Royal Festival Hall: RT performs in concert, 137, 140; RT attends Joyce Hatto concert at, 164
Sabine (French pupil at Crofton Grange), 113–14
Sacred Country (RT; novel), 36n, 40n, 50n, 135n, 193
Sadler’s Birthday (RT; novel), 8n, 193
St Austell, Cornwall, 62
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de: Le Petit Prince, 176–8
St Monica’s school, Buckinghamshire, 47
St Peter’s Church, Linkenholt, 11–12
Sawrey-Cookson, Barbara (earlier Dudley; née Stern; Michael’s widow), 20, 72
Shakespeare, William: Romeo and Juliet, 105–6, 152, 158
Shepherd, Gillian, 107
Shrapnel, Frankie, 28
Shrapnel, John, 28
Simpson, Wallis (Duchess of Windsor), 51–2
Slaughter, Carolyn, 73–4, 93; Before the Knife, 73n
Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, 31
Stern, Bertie, 20
Stern, Jane, 107, 119
Stevenson, Robert Louis: A Child’s Garden of Verses, 80–1; ‘The Land of Counterpane’ (poem), 81–2
Sturt, Judy (Nan’s sister), 71, 85, 88–9, 91
Sturt, Lilian (Nan’s sister), 71, 85, 88–9, 91–2
Sturt, Vera (‘Nan’): as nanny to RT and Jo, 31–2; and RT’s parents, 35; and Keith’s departure, 37–9; and RT’s move to Crofton Grange, 39; sent to Dogmersfield, 39; and Sophie Whitmee, 42; returns to care for RT and Jo, 44; loving role in RT’s childhood, 45–6, 53, 57–8, 74, 84, 93–4, 190; friendship with nanny Gladys in Cornwall, 59; pleads for RT with mother, 62; and RT’s fear of riding, 65; background, 71–2; cares for Peter Taylor, 71–2, 80–1, 94; accompanies RT and Jo to Switzerland, 74–8; reads with children, 78, 80; RT and Jo sing to, 78; bedroom, 83; takes RT and Jo to Brighton, 84; called away to family troubles, 85; fortune told, 85; returns, 88; inherits sister Sissy’s cottage in Dogmersfield, 89; RT stays with while recovering from appendectomy, 90–2; invited to Frilsham Manor, 133–4; not invited to Festival Hall concert, 141
Suez crisis (1956), 116–17
Sumohadiwidjojo, Muhammad Subuh (Bapak, or ‘Father’ Subud), 189
Swanage, 129–30
Switzerland: RT visits as child, 74–8; RT attends finishing school in, 168–73
tar (word): associations for RT, 53–5
Taylor, Elsa see Buckley, Elsa
Taylor, Peter, 71–2, 80–1, 94
Tenniel, John, 79
Thomson, Carol see Parker, Carol, 127
Thomson, Sir Ivo (RT’s stepfather): memorial plaque in St Peter’s church, 12; Jane’s love affair with, 40, 42–4, 44; marriage to Jane, 45–6, 90, 129–30; buys Frilsham Manor, 125; fishing, 125; alarmed at RT’s dangerous rowing, 128; character and good nature, 128–9, 131–2; relations with RT and Jo, 128; kindness to Nan, 134; hates flies in Frilsham garden, 135; drives RT and Mawkie to local dances, 143; ignores RT’s hints at entering Oxford, 153; brings back Jo from Paris, 159
Thomson, Jane, Lady (née Dudley; RT’s mother): relations with parents, 4; at Linkenholt, 10, 20–1, 26; relations with daughters, 10, 129–30; memorial plaque at St Peter’s church, 12; arguments with father, 20, 30; tennis-playing, 23–4; affected by death of mother, 28–9; marriage to Keith, 34–5; love for Keith, 35, 44; Keit
h leaves, 36–9; love affair with Sir Ivo Thomson, 40, 42, 44; marriage to Ivo, 45, 90, 129; sent to school aged six, 47–8; mother’s coldness towards, 48–9; changes name from Viola Mabel to Jane, 49–50; cooking, 51; gynaecological problems, 52; chain-smoking, 53; lacks love, 53; plays game of cross-identity with RT, 55; rages and anger, 56–7, 130; holidays in Cornwall, 59, 61, 63, 80; forbids RT from visiting circus, 62–3; appropriates RT’s money gift from godmother, 66–7; throws away RT’s letters and papers, 67; envies and resents daughters, 68–9; sending-off indifference at Liverpool Street station, 69; emotional weakness, 70; death, 82; sits with RT convalescing for appendectomy, 90; RT fantasises about exchanging for Nan, 93; life at Frilsham Manor, 125–6, 133–4, 143; trout fishing, 125–6; fails to attend to RT’s first productions and publications, 138n; misses RT’s concert at Festival Hall, 138; and RT’s teenage dances and infatuations, 144; denies RT admission to Oxford, 153, 161–2; rescues Jo from Paris, 160; tyrannises family, 162; defaces RT’s final school report, 167; freedom from family, 168; and RT’s weight increase, 188; sends RT to school in Paris, 191; RT rebels against, 192–3
Thomson, Jocelyn (RT’s great-uncle), 18n
Thomson, Keith (RT’s father): playwriting, 32–3, 36, 117, 121; character, 33n, 34–5; relations with children, 33–5, 38; marriage, 34–5; piano-playing, 34, 139; awarded OBE, 36–7; falls for Virginia Wood and leaves Jane, 36–8, 41, 42; mocks cordon bleu cooking, 51; absence in war, 72; and care of children in Nan’s absence, 86–7; congratulates RT on play Always a Clown, 120; influence on RT as writer, 121; attends RT’s Festival Hall concert, 139–41; RT writes to from Switzerland, 188–9; follows Bapak Subud and renamed Stephen, 189
Thomson, Sir Mark (RT’s stepbrother; ‘Mawkie’): adds memorial plaque to Jane and Ivo in St Peter’s church, 12; hurt by parents’ divorce, 41; becomes RT’s stepbrother, 126; conversations with RT, 127; rowing at Frilsham, 128; and Jane’s swimming suit incident at Swanage, 130; on RT’s struggle with piano, 135; calls RT ‘Baitie’, 136; youthful parties in Berkshire, 142–3; teenage crushes, 144; and servants’ attack on Jane, 154–5; joins Fleet Air Arm, 168
Thomson, Mary (née Virginia Wood; RT’s stepmother), 36–37, 42, 189
Thomson, Sybil Marguerite, Lady (‘Tweets’; later Whitmee; Sir Ivo’s first wife), 41–3, 127
Thomson, William, Archbishop of York (RT’s great-grandfather), 129
Times, The, 19
‘tits to the valley’ (expression), 184–5
Tom (Linkenholt head gardener), 5
Toronto, 73–4
Tremain, Eleanor (later Lightbody; RT’s daughter): Christmas visits, 11; pilgrimages to Linkenholt, 12; Jane’s affection for, 53; RT’s love for, 93
Tremain, Rose: childhood in Linkenholt, 1–29, 71–3; earliest memory, 1, 72; drawn by sister Jo, 19; Jo’s drawing of wins prize, 20; loved and protected by Nan (Vera Sturt), 31–2, 37–9, 44–6, 53, 57–8, 74, 84, 93–4; schooling, 31–2, 39, 48, 95–101, 121, 148, 154; and father’s leaving, 35–9; shock at mother’s remarriage, 45–6; first name, 50; game pretending to be mother Jane, 55; knocks over glass cabinet in Liberty’s, 56–7; holidays in Cornwall, 59–60; sand sculpting, 61; forbidden from visiting circus, 62–3; blood vessel bursts in nose, 63; riding lessons, 63–5; mother appropriates money gift from godmother, 66–7; childhood trip to Switzerland with Nan, 74–7; reading, 78–81; illnesses as child, 81–3; makes mats with Knitting Nancy, 81–2; trip to Brighton with Nan, 84–5; resents new nanny, 87; appendicitis, 89–90; convalesces with Nan at Meadows, 90–2; handwriting, 104, 111; school drawings, 104, 113; knitting, 112; crush on female schoolteacher, 114–15; juvenile playwriting, 117, 119; origins of writing career, 121–4; rowing on river at Frilsham Manor, 128; birthdays spoilt by mother, 130–1; piano-playing, 135–7; performs in Royal Festival Hall concert, 137–40; teenage infatuation with Dermot Halloran, 143–5; prepares for O-levels and paints Milton mural, 148–51, 158; Jane denies admission to Oxford, 161–2; leaves Crofton Grange, 166–7; final school report, 167; attends Swiss finishing school (Mon Fertile), 168–75; speaks French in Switzerland, 170–1, 178; suspends writing at Mon Fertile, 179–80; learns to ski, 184–5, 188; sense of imperfection, 185; puts on weight in Switzerland, 188; ponders future, 190; spends time in Paris and resumes writing, 191–3; rebels against mother, 192; attends University of East Anglia, 193
Trespass (RT; novel), 131n
Trusted, Eileen (‘Auntie Eileen’), 58–9, 61–3, 80
Trusted, Johnnie, 59
Trusted, Susan and Sarah-Jane, 59
Trusted, Timmy, 59, 61–2
University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, 193
Ure, Mary, 33
Vermidge, Miss (Crofton Grange history teacher), 103
Violet, Great-Aunt see Michell, Violet
Vista, Miss (dancing teacher), 39
Wainwright, Clare, 107
Walker, Deborah, 107
Walsh, John, 36n
Warburton, Mrs (daily cleaner), 86
Way I Found Her, The (RT; novel), 152n
‘Wedding Night’ (RT; story), 60n
Wengen, Switzerland, 74
Whitmee, Brian, 40–3
Whitmee, Sophie, 42
Whitmee, Vera, 40, 42
Wilson, Sir Angus, 121
Wisest Fool, The (RT; radio play), 138n
York mystery plays, 33, 36
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Paradise
fn1 In my first novel, Sadler’s Birthday (1976), written when I was 32, when I was no longer ‘Rosie’ but Rose, the apprentice writer, I was making my own fragile amends for the social structures still in place in England in the late 1940s and 1950s. The book is about a butler, Jack Sadler, who inherits the big house, the ‘Linkenholt’ where he has once been a servant. The roles have been judiciously reversed. Yet such reversals can be distorted by the very people who benefit from them. Sadler finds that he’s unable to lead a life mirroring that of his former employers. He can’t lead it because he can’t bring himself to employ servants. And so he suffers on two counts: he’s intolerably lonely, and the house and grounds begin to crumble around him. He keeps himself alive by remembering his only loves: his adoration of his mother and his desperate, transgressive love for Tom, a London evacuee boy billeted on the house during the war. His world is full of ghosts. The only living thing to give him comfort is his nameless dog. He spends Christmas absolutely alone.
fn2 In our childhoods, Jo and I were told the fiction that a great-uncle on our father’s side, Jocelyn Thomson, had ‘invented’ cordite and, appalled by the deaths his own destructive invention had caused on the battlefield, later committed suicide. I have no idea how this lie went wandering through the generations. Cordite was alchemised by Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Augustus Abel in 1889.
fn3 In Johnny’s short book Winston, Churchill and Me, about his friendship with young Winston Churchill, grandson of the Great Man, he recounts a fearful moment at Chartwell when Sir Winston asks him (he is eight years old) what he’s going to do when he grows up. Having really no idea what he’s going to do, he embarks on a ‘first big consonant, an F’, planning to say that he might be a film director. But he can’t get the words ‘film director’ out. Churchill tells him gently to take his time. But time doesn’t necessarily help stammerers. They are in real psychic pain. They have to latch onto the first word they can manage to say. Johnny finally blurts out that he’d like to be ‘a fishmonger’ when he grows up and registers in Churchill’s eyes ‘a deep boredom, an ennui so implacable there was nothing for it but to retreat to my chair and hope that I would never have to speak again’.
Cast Away
fn1 Keith always claimed to have ‘discovered’ Mary Ure, who went on to star in the film version of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (1959) and other high-profile movies. But perhaps she had already been discovered. Perhaps she just liked the idea of playing the Virgin Mary and so agreed to work on the mystery plays for a brief season. We were told so many untruths by and about Keith Thomson that I no longer know precisely what was true and what was a fiction.
fn2 We’d been told that Virginia Wood was our father’s secretary in York, but years later, when I dropped the fatal word ‘secretary’ into a newspaper interview about my childhood with John Walsh in The Sunday Times, a ton of unlooked-for fury came screeching at me from Keith’s household in Kent. I was accused of ‘insulting’ Virginia. I’d recently sent my father a copy of my 1993 novel, Sacred Country. This was returned unread. And as far as I know, none of my subsequent novels were ever read by him.
fn3 Though I’ve seldom drawn directly from my own life in my fiction, in Sacred Country, I have a ‘thistledown’ scene. Six-year-old Mary Ward, who lives with the conviction that she’s really a boy and embarks on a long, arduous journey to change gender, is enrolled in dancing classes, which she despises. At the Christmas show, orchestrated by a teacher also named Miss Vista, Mary is due to come on as a thistledown, but sabotages the event by appearing in her wellingtons. After the show, her father takes her outside and beats her.