Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Must be a typo...?
Picky as you know I am...Atarah...


Deathly dark Pits that the Devil strode
Bleak graves where the grass as grown
Broken widows, broken stone
I miss you Accrington, you where my home

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She is on Radio 4, this Friday 23 November at 11am, in a programme about the Pendle witch trials.

BBC Radio 4 - The Curse of Pendle

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

My aunt and uncle told me they saw her in Accrington, she was there for a photo shoot outside Peel Park at the beginning of October. Has anyone read her latest book about the witches -a friend told me it's a bit gruesome...

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I read this book, The Daylight Gate, but was really disappointed with it to be honest - I'd read a lot of hype about it and pre-ordered it so I'd get it on the release date but wish I hadn't bothered - I much preferred the book 'Mist Over Pendle' which I read years ago. If anyone wants the book to try for themselves I'll happliy give it away, pm me if interested

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Oh dear -that bad!:eek::D

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She is on television on Tuesday 4 December: 10.35pm on BBC1.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Wonder if she will mention Accrington.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

The blurb in the Radio Times says she "returns to the scene of her extraordinary childhood in Lancashire".

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thanks Michael

Nearly thirty years after her triumphant debut novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson returns with Alan Yentob to the scenes of her extraordinary childhood in Lancashire. She was adopted and brought up to be a missionary by the larger-than-life Mrs Winterson. But Jeanette followed a different path: she found literature, fell in love with a girl, and escaped to university.

BBC

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I watched "Imagine " last night and yes Jeanette did return to her roots.200 Water St, she sat on the doorstep as a lot of her childhood was sitting on that very step. Visited Accrington libary and eventually went to the Burnley Road cemetry where she saw her (adopted ) mums grave for the very first time , she was taken aback with the headstone saying wife and mother, as her adopted parents had disowned her many years ago as her being a lesbian they could not accept , as they were very strong christians, or that is how she put it across. Interesting programme but how our streets looked so clean and empty.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I totally forgot this was on last night. Would have been interesting I am sure.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Have you not got iPlayer?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Not sure. Not well up on this sort of thing. I will ask my son tonight.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I enjoyed the programnme, and ended up liking her a lot more than I had before. I found it intersting that things like 'playing out' were still common in the 1960s & 70s. I want to know whuich schools she went to (Peel Park?, High School?) and howe she got from being kicked out by parents to university - something which would need parental suppport I think. I had always thought she lived in Russia Street across t'back from my parents. Still got a local accent.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She's as mad as a box o' frogs.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Agreed. Totally cuckoo. The problem is - certainly from the perspective of the big smoke - that once you mention you're from Accy it's no longer an automatic reply of 'Stanley' but '.......isn't that the town of crazy bible bashers and lesbo's. There's no escape. Talk about putting the place on the map....

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I really enjoyed it and yes she is bonkers but a lot of writers are

Nearly 30 years after her debut novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson returns with Alan Yentob to the scenes of her extraordinary childhood in Lancashire.

BBC iPlayer - imagine...: Winter 2012: Jeanette Winterson: My Monster and Me

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

we recorded it and watched it back tonight, really good.
Water Street
Accrington Library
up the Coppice
Bumley Road Cemetery ( no typing error )
Cant understand the gravestone about Mr Winterson... died 1951 ?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Wouldn't normally watch that but it was quite interesting really. :eek:

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Cheers fer the link Wadey, Shes as mad as a hatter, but was interesting.;)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Judging by the dates 1877-1951 I reckon he was the father of the Mr Winterson who was Jeanette's dad, who erected the stone in memory of his wife and father.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

But surely yeh would think jeanette woulda twigged that?:confused: Shes nuts, but sure no half wit.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She no doubt did twig the connection 10 minutes later ..... and regretted that she had not twigged it on camera .... ******* eck ...... !!

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Yentob sure can make some excellent documentaries. But I'm afraid it didn't make Accy look good. It was taken as read that anyone with half a brain cell would want to "escape" and "get out of this". Maybe this is actually true. But then again, you could argue that Jeanette must have been to excellent schools to get from Water St. to Oxford. Plus maybe Accy library should be in for some praise. But this was not the angle presented in this programme.

Alan Yentob ambling around Water St and Accy library ! When was it filmed....?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

It was enjoyable watching her life but we don't all have the luxury to write books about our childhoods and talk about them on TV.

Waz wondering if she is being creative with the past? - I lived up Water Street same time Jeanette did and I never saw her sitting on the doorstep looking like a waif, out of Les Miserables. ;):D When I did see her she looked very normal - more like Dorothy out of Wizzard of Oz with a little terrier.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

What this programme boiled down to is Winterson wasting an hour of television viewing time to tell us " My mother made me a lesbo."
We all know the answer to that one, don't we?
If I'd bought her the wool would she have made me one too?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Not sure, why would jeanettes mum be buried with her father in law ? ah get it, to save money, i was thinking they were both in same grave.... penny drops

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Why shouldn't they be buried in the same grave? If they were both buried by Mr Winterson junior it's likely, there's room in all graves for more than one occupant.

However, just because they are both mentioned on the headstone doesn't mean they are both in the grave - I know of one headstone in Accrington cemetery which mentions five members of my family but I know that two of them are buried elsewhere.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Today's Accrington Observer page 8 has a piece by Kate Watkins entitled "Author praises role of her local library" not much chance it will quieten some of the negativity generated by some trolls in this thread but we can only hope.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Watched it last night. I thought a very intelligent but disturbed woman with the black cloud of Mrs. Winterston low over her head all her life.
She mentioned her Dad and her father but it was always Mrs. Winterston, never Mum or Mother. Love and hatred of one person in conflict.
Must try one of her books although I don't think I'd like them.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thing wi that is depends what yeh pay fer wi the first funeral, fact, i had to pay extra fer a 2 plot grave when i buried me late wife.;)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Try her autobio' "Why be happy when you could be normal" Gordon. It gets a few mentions in these threads and the Yentob programme supplements it. The book covers in more detail her search for her birth mother and her problems in so doing.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Guardian review here Gordon.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson ? review | Books | The Guardian

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

You can read the book online here

?????: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I only hope it doesn't convert you to Lesbian leanings, Gordon

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

The multi talented Ms Winterson....

Jeanette Winterson

How many on here knew/know this side to her?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She was pictured in the doorway of the shop during the film, and I guess when she and Alan Yentob were talking in front of the fire in a rather grand room, that was in her Georgian house.

jeanette winterson's shop at spitalfields | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Don't knock it if you haven't tried it, Bob.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thanks, susie, just spent a few minutes reading the first two chapters( I tend to speed read, old habit), seems to be the basis for the TV script. I'll read it all but it re-enforces my impression from the programme, a disturbed woman with a devil on her shoulder, put in place by her mother. Perhaps the devil is her mother.
Good with verbal pictures.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

They weren't - the Mother died first and had the father's name put on the grave in advance apparently. But when he died, later on - Jeanette didn't know where here grave was so she buried him in another area on his own. I think that is what she said in the program.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I don't think she noticed the date of his death on the headstone was 1951-9 years before he adapted her. It was probably his father(her adapted grandfather) buried there in a family grave so her adapted father ended up in the wrong grave!

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

see my posts 221 and 228

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Oops!
All kestrelx's fault, honest.
Forgot it was discussed two days ago.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I think Jeanette doesn't feel she quite fits in with Accrington or belongs - I know the feeling! Which is why she stated she has mixed feelings about going back there.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

It's the constant victimhood which annoys me. I've never read her books, maybe a more balanced view is apparent there. But the TV programmes give only her side of the story.

Consider: we only really hear about her primary school years. All I'll say about that is young children learn to read at home more than at school. After that, she must have passed her 11+ to get into Accrington High School for girls. She then went to Accrington and Rossendale College (and must've been there at the same time as Max from Brookside BTW).

Whilst there, she must have taken the Oxford entrance exam, presumably she passed because she was accepted. She then went to Oxford (and apparently possessed a car at the time, albeit a rather humble one -so she learned to drive at a very young age).

Is all this really possible without a very supportive background? I would say not. In many respects she had a privileged background. Can today's teenagers look forward to this level of social mobility? Again I'd say not. Far from being this downtrodden heroine, she was probably helped and supported in most important respects.

I think the truth would not have made such an entertaining story ?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

You cover some great points here bzk. One is minded of that old adage “Why let the truth get in the way of a good story. I have just finished reading David McRaney’s excellent book “You are not so smart” ** and in there is a chapter “Confabulation” The Misconception: You know when you are lying to yourself. The Truth: You are ignorant of your motivations and create fictional narratives to explain your decisions, emotions and history without realising it.
He finishes the chapter off, How do you separate fantasy from reality. How can you be sure the story of your life both from long ago and minute to minute is true? There is a pleasant vindication to be found when you accept you can’t. No one can, yet we persist and thrive. Who you are is sort of like a movie based on true events , which is not necessarily a bad thing. The details may be embellished, but the big picture, the general idea is probably a good story worth hearing about.

There is a pre “Why be happy.....” interview where JW says her birth mother is dead, interesting and not true and hinting at her sense of theatre, play and danger.

** One World Publications ISBN 1-85168-939-2

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

When Susie provided the link for a free read. I did make a start.

I soon lost patience with her 'victim' mentality.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Having read a bit more I agree, MargaretR. I don't think I'll bother with 'Oranges are etc'

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I have done the same on the memorial stone for my wife. On the bottom it says "Beloved wife of Russell Taylor" and there is room for the date of my death to be added later.
Also her son by her first husband who died in 1973 aged 8 is buried in the fathers grave. We put a memorial on the grave using the son's name "Tregurtha" (my wife's maiden name) because his father would not put his own name on the birth certificate. The father died later and no one knows any other relative.
There may be some person from the fathers family, who in the future, objects to the memorial so the Cemetery superintendent told us it would be in order to have the little boys name on his mothers memorial. That way he will not be forgotten.

I was advised to watch the Winterston TV program and sat through it with nowt else to do. I don't think I would have bothered otherwise. It didn't show Accrington in a good light in my opinion.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Have too agree,endured 3 chapters n then thought "Stuff This"

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

She has the luxury to keep going over this and selling it as a book - many people have had worse lives and still have - she is lucky that she's made money and has a relatively good life - others don't have that fortune.;)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I believe that sometimes adopted children really do not connect with their adoptive parents. When the child also knows their biological parent is still out there, coupled with teenage rebellion, inevitably you have trouble.

I wonder how much of her perception of her past is simply a rationalisation of this. I doubt an independent person would be so one-sided as she is. Maybe she is simply incapable of being objective on her upbringing for psychological reasons.

Someone above indicated she had a puppy as a child. Apparently at age 16 she also had a Mini. Did she learn to drive at 17? Who paid for that?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I have just read the first three chapters from Sue's much-appreciated link. I think it's brilliant and will read the rest. She is an amazing writer and her scope and use of language is unique -it spirals around and draws you in and I can identify with many of the people and places.
I don't get "victim" coming through at all, some flashes of anger and wry humour are there and also some nice things about Mrs. Winterson - undoubtedly her reading to Jeanette as a child was very powerful in shaping the direction her life took.
She has dedicated the book to three people one of whom is Constance Winterson and that is very significant - for a writer to dedicate their book to someone is a very important and emotionally charged decision. That person or persons is usually instrumental in the inspiration of the writing and its execution -the two are inextricably linked.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Quite a coincidence but I just got a Xmas card from Accy -my Aunt has put in a DVD recording of the programme in so I'll be able to watch it now!:)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Sorry to pick up on this but any child sometimes does not connect with their parents, it's how your brought up and loved that influences this.

In Jeanette's case I might be wrong but I'm sure the programme said her adoptive Mother told her that her Mother was dead.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thats what it did say on the programme.;)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thanks Cashman, just been doing some reading online, she says her adoption never really played a big part in Oranges although her Mother often called her the wrong child etc. When she found papers of her adoption in 2007 it changed things for her I've read.

I'm quite intrigued by her for some reason I might even order 'Why be happy' and I've never read a book in my life :eek:

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

You can read it online here

?????: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Thanks Susie I had just found the link by reading some earlier posts.

I know this might sound daft to some but I don't mind buying the book, I always feel I appreciate something more if I've paid for it !!! Weird ;)

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Have just finished watching the programme - and she did indeed say that.

I found it a very interesting watch, she's honest and funny and obviously very intelligent and I think she's a great writer. She seems to have made peace with Mrs Winterson as at the end she said "I think she got the right daughter for her and I got the right mother for me." She is undoubtedly who she is because of the up-bringing she received but her sexuality was in no way affected by it, it was already decided on the day she was conceived!

I thought Accrington came across very well in the programme.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Adopted Child Syndrome:

Adopted child syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also:

Adopted Child Syndrome (ACS) - Amfor.Net

Quote:
Adoptees are 15 times more likely to kill one or both of their adoptive parents than biological children

Although I've only just started digging on the web, there is obviously quite a lot of psychology going on with adopted children. Even those adopted so young that they could have no conscience memory of their biological parents.

Please don't get me wrong, the vast majority will be happy well adjusted people, and almost certainly end up in better households than the one they were born into. Their life outcomes are no doubt improved way beyond what they would have been if they had stayed with their biological parent(s). I am making the point this is almost certainly the case with JW, but it does not come across in the TV programmes.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

People who get some fame always have an alure, strange how if your ex suddenly becomes famous or gets a bit of celebrity (no matter how small) - how suddenly they become attractive again in the light of celebrity.

If you are adopted it must always be at the back of your mind...

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Not quite like that kestrelx Jeanette sought out her birth mother not without some difficulties and blocks from the "authorities" along the way and it didn't really solve anything or have a happy ending for either of them.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Any Questions today:
Andrew Lansley gets creamed by JW when he says food banks are a good idea. Way To Go Jeanette

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

I pass her adopted mothers grave often and soon after the program was shown on TV I noticed flowers had been placed on it.

Re: Jeanette Winterston - famous novelist
 

Jeanette is on Question Time - BBC 1 tonight (20/Feb/14) again!