Tempestuous Petticoat

by Clare Leighton

The author describes her childhood and her mother, a colorful woman who supported the family by writing a serial for the London Daily Mail

Genres: Memoir

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

Reviews

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read: artist Clare Leighton's biography of her now-forgotten writer mother, Marie Conner Leighton. It's told in the first person from child-Clare's point-of-view, and I went into reading it somehow unaware of the Leightons' chief claim to fame - Clare's older brother, Roland, was Vera Brittain's fiance. The book itself was interesting, but not necessarily in the way intended; Leighton takes a neutral tone towards her mother despite the fact that the woman was clearly a monstrous mother and kind of a terrible person. She's given to saying things like, "You'll always find that it's the lower classes who rush to pay their bills the moment they arrive," and is never happy without a string of adoring men paying court to her. However, Leighton's strict adherence to the child-perspective means that we don't get actual dirt on Marie (the actual nature of her relationships with these men seems somewhat nebulous; the actual path of their lives throughout Leighton's childhood is rather vague) and she never seems willing to come out and admit that her mother was kind of awful. Apparently throughout Marie's elegiac biography of her oldest son, who died in World War I, she refers to Clare as "The Bystander" and Clare herself seems to have, obviously, had a somewhat interesting life, even during the period described in the book, but none of that is covered. Marie's general awfulness prevents us from falling in love with her the way Clare herself did as a child, and the way Marie's numerous lovers did, but at the same time, Clare's avoidance of specifically acknowledging Marie's awfulness means that we can't enjoy watching someone else's terrible parenting/lifestyle choices. Seriously, Marie was obviously ripe for a huge take-down, but this book walks an awkward balance between admiring and truthful.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...
I might have been hoping for more about Clare - but this was all Marie, her mother. And it seems Clare chose rather opposite what her mother would have wanted. Becoming and artist, for one. Liking nature and "low people" (labourers)for another. A strange and interesting household - claustrophobic, really. Marie was a Character - not at all sensitive to a child's needs, although Clare doesn't come right out and say so. I didn't like her - not that it matters. It seems Clare learned more about the real world from her mother's secretary, Walmy.

The whole book is rather funny - in an ironic way. Clare's mother is so odd and opinionated, with everyone under her thrall, I wondered over and over how Clare got out from under! She must have had a strong sense of herself.

Loved the bit about her Aunt Sarah, the reading fiend, whose life revolved around books (sound familiar, anyone?).

"Uncle Jack selected her literature...he spent a great part of his days in the Library, discovering books that were worth reading. And then an enormous crate was sent down to Aunt Sarah at The Meadow. It was a wonderful thing to be visiting when one of these crates arrived. She acted like a drink addict before a sudden vista of endless bottles. A wild light came into her eyes, and her hands trembled as she began to open the crate."

No kidding.

(I was disappointed at the lack of illustrations.)

[Avis Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those good memoirs about British eccentrics which more people ought to know.