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White Cargo: A Memoir
Felicity Kendal was brought up in India, touring the country as part of a troupe of actors managed by her father. Aged 17, she came to England for the first time. This book describes that exotic upbringing in India and explains what an unusual effect it has had on the rest of her life.
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 15, 2020
A fascinating insight into the upbringing of Felicity Kendal’s upbringing in India with her eccentric father Geoffrey Kendal. I would like to read his autobiography Shakespeare Wallah one day. The story is written while she is waiting for her father to die after he had a stroke and is unable to communicate.
Much of the book are reminisces of her life growing up in India performing shows everywhere. Her fathers determination never to have a mortgage. Her mother Laura, sister Jennifer and the characters that made up the company.
The novel uses correspondence from over the years and paints the picture of a loving family but one with a stubborn father. Bedbugs, snakes, paratyphoid, poverty, wealth and lots of train rides builds a wonderful picture of life in India for an acting troupe in the 1950s-1970s in India.
There is also a ruthlessness about Felicity. Her non farewell from her ayah Mary in Bombay was cruel and unthinking. Disorganized in England and reliance on her mothers sisters family as well as handouts from Shashi, Jennifers husband helped her survive. However, her compassion and love for her father, mother and her sister shine through. This was written on 1998 so another memoir up to 2020 would be of interest.
Much of the book are reminisces of her life growing up in India performing shows everywhere. Her fathers determination never to have a mortgage. Her mother Laura, sister Jennifer and the characters that made up the company.
The novel uses correspondence from over the years and paints the picture of a loving family but one with a stubborn father. Bedbugs, snakes, paratyphoid, poverty, wealth and lots of train rides builds a wonderful picture of life in India for an acting troupe in the 1950s-1970s in India.
There is also a ruthlessness about Felicity. Her non farewell from her ayah Mary in Bombay was cruel and unthinking. Disorganized in England and reliance on her mothers sisters family as well as handouts from Shashi, Jennifers husband helped her survive. However, her compassion and love for her father, mother and her sister shine through. This was written on 1998 so another memoir up to 2020 would be of interest.
July 22, 2020
If I had been hoping for tales of 'The Good Life' ('Good Neighbors' in the USA), Felicity Kendal's most famous role, I would have been disappointed, as that chapter of her life was relegated to the last chapters and skimmed over. It is clear however that she thinks back with great fondness to the series, and it is obvious that all the cast members had great fun making it.
The majority of 'White Cargo', however, concerns Felicity Kendal's childhood, touring around India with her parents' rep company, Shakespeareana. As such, it's a fascinating insight into the lives of a touring theatre company. Although set in India, it's less about the country than about the company and the family, all of whom were involved in theatre and acting. I also hadn't realised that Felicity Kendal's sister was a famous actress and married to a later Bollywood star, Shashi Kapoor.
The whole book is very well written, perhaps not surprising for somebody brought up from early childhood with plays by Shakespeare and the like. I particularly liked this poignant passage about her father at the end of his life: "To mourn or not to mourn. That is the bloody question. Are you dead or not? You are in a way, though of course not physically. I look and think of you now as someone other than the father I had before. This is a shadow of what was, merely a shell, a precious shell that must be treated with care, but an empty shell. You have long since gone. You came into this world with all the paraphernalia that you need now: the liquid food, the nappies, the nursing. It was done then in celebration. How very sad that when it ends up the same way, at the end of a paltry eighty-eight years, it is done out of pity."
I loved and sympathised with her descriptions of her attitude to becoming a wife and housewife: "I threw myself into the 'part' of wife, cook, cleaner, provider, as if it were a job that would last only for the run of the play. I expected rave reviews if I did well, and time off when I was tied. I was badly miscast. . . . After the first hot flush of excitement at housework, the dullness of it was surprising, and I could not for the life of me comprehend why anyone should want someone else to do it for them as a lifetime's work without payment."
Felicity Kendal's much-loved older sister Jennifer died of cancer, and I agree entirely with Felicity's view of the tendency of people to talk of "fighting" cancer: "I dislike the term 'fight': it implies winning or losing, and, when faced with a terminal illness, the burden of being told to fight can be as intolerable as realizing on your deathbed that you 'lost'. She was sick with cancer, she was ill, she got worse, she died. It's as simple as that. Except, of course, that it isn't."
All in all, a fascinating insight into theatre, family and friendship, well-written and enjoyable.
The majority of 'White Cargo', however, concerns Felicity Kendal's childhood, touring around India with her parents' rep company, Shakespeareana. As such, it's a fascinating insight into the lives of a touring theatre company. Although set in India, it's less about the country than about the company and the family, all of whom were involved in theatre and acting. I also hadn't realised that Felicity Kendal's sister was a famous actress and married to a later Bollywood star, Shashi Kapoor.
The whole book is very well written, perhaps not surprising for somebody brought up from early childhood with plays by Shakespeare and the like. I particularly liked this poignant passage about her father at the end of his life: "To mourn or not to mourn. That is the bloody question. Are you dead or not? You are in a way, though of course not physically. I look and think of you now as someone other than the father I had before. This is a shadow of what was, merely a shell, a precious shell that must be treated with care, but an empty shell. You have long since gone. You came into this world with all the paraphernalia that you need now: the liquid food, the nappies, the nursing. It was done then in celebration. How very sad that when it ends up the same way, at the end of a paltry eighty-eight years, it is done out of pity."
I loved and sympathised with her descriptions of her attitude to becoming a wife and housewife: "I threw myself into the 'part' of wife, cook, cleaner, provider, as if it were a job that would last only for the run of the play. I expected rave reviews if I did well, and time off when I was tied. I was badly miscast. . . . After the first hot flush of excitement at housework, the dullness of it was surprising, and I could not for the life of me comprehend why anyone should want someone else to do it for them as a lifetime's work without payment."
Felicity Kendal's much-loved older sister Jennifer died of cancer, and I agree entirely with Felicity's view of the tendency of people to talk of "fighting" cancer: "I dislike the term 'fight': it implies winning or losing, and, when faced with a terminal illness, the burden of being told to fight can be as intolerable as realizing on your deathbed that you 'lost'. She was sick with cancer, she was ill, she got worse, she died. It's as simple as that. Except, of course, that it isn't."
All in all, a fascinating insight into theatre, family and friendship, well-written and enjoyable.
June 22, 2010
The autobiography of Felicity Kendal, star of the British comedy series "Good Neighbours," PBS's Mystery! series "Rosemary and Thyme," and numerous stage plays.
Ms. Kendal was born in England then taken to India as a child by her parents. They ran a travelling theatre company and traversed the whole of the country in the last days of the British Raj. (Their lives are the basis for the Merchant/Ivory film "Shakespeare Wallah," my first Netflix rental!)
Felicity herself was brought on stage as a baby and toddler to fulfill several of Shakespeare's children's roles. She assayed her first full-fledged role at thirteen, playing Viola in "Twelfth Night."
Her anectdotes involving Maharajahs and beggars alike are fascinating. Her childhood seems to me to have been unique, geographically, historically and in manner. She is also, as far as I can tell, very honest as to the foibles and flaws of herself and those she writes about. I didn't want to put this book down, but I also wanted savour it longer - very frustrating!
Highly, highly recommended.
Ms. Kendal was born in England then taken to India as a child by her parents. They ran a travelling theatre company and traversed the whole of the country in the last days of the British Raj. (Their lives are the basis for the Merchant/Ivory film "Shakespeare Wallah," my first Netflix rental!)
Felicity herself was brought on stage as a baby and toddler to fulfill several of Shakespeare's children's roles. She assayed her first full-fledged role at thirteen, playing Viola in "Twelfth Night."
Her anectdotes involving Maharajahs and beggars alike are fascinating. Her childhood seems to me to have been unique, geographically, historically and in manner. She is also, as far as I can tell, very honest as to the foibles and flaws of herself and those she writes about. I didn't want to put this book down, but I also wanted savour it longer - very frustrating!
Highly, highly recommended.
April 24, 2008
Felicity Kendal is well-known as "Barbara" on the BBC hit "Good Neighbors" seen in America on PBS. Who knew this diminutive actress has such a delightfully delicious autobiography? She was raised on stage as her family performed Shakespeare all over India! Well written, fascinating and full of delightful facts about the British/Indian cultures. Enjoy!
February 5, 2018
The interest in this book for most of the reviewers here, seems to arise from Felicity Kendal, the British television persona. In my case, White Cargo was a hand-me-down by an Australian professor while traveling through the remotest part of east Indonesia. The mentions of Shashi Kapoor & Shakespeare Wallah (a familiar Merchant & Ivory work) were sufficient to pique my interest, having never before heard of the author.
The book follows a back and forth style between the past and the present through (imagined) conversations with the author's bed-ridden father. This, a mostly cinematic device, is quite effective here in invoking the desired emotion. While the first part of the book is frequented with author's experiences of the 50s-60s post independent India, reminding me of VS Naipul's descriptions in India: A Million Mutinies Now, the second half in London, gets repetitious with the drudgery of audition life.
In the end, it comes of as a deeply personal book sprinkled with black/white pictures which I found to be a goldmine. Overall a definite recommendation, especially for nostalgic readers.
The book follows a back and forth style between the past and the present through (imagined) conversations with the author's bed-ridden father. This, a mostly cinematic device, is quite effective here in invoking the desired emotion. While the first part of the book is frequented with author's experiences of the 50s-60s post independent India, reminding me of VS Naipul's descriptions in India: A Million Mutinies Now, the second half in London, gets repetitious with the drudgery of audition life.
In the end, it comes of as a deeply personal book sprinkled with black/white pictures which I found to be a goldmine. Overall a definite recommendation, especially for nostalgic readers.
August 3, 2020
A lovely autobiography of Felicity Kendal's upbringing in India as part of her parents' traveling Shakespeare troupe of actors. She wrote the book as her father was dying. Interspersed with the story of her childhood and moving back to London to try to start a career on her own are conversations (one-sided) with her father.
January 25, 2013
Honestly, this is a bit sappy, but I'm nuts for Felicity Kendal and have been since I was a young lad just discovering he joys of the fairer sex. Suffice to say that, fantasies aside, Ms. Kendal does have an amazing background. She reminisces about her early career in the context of a one-sided conversation with her dying father while she sits at his bedside. It's all a bit maudlin, but set that aside and enjoy the sensuality of her rearing in India, the rough adventure of the family traveling Shakespeare troupe touring India, on through to breakthroughs and break ups. This could well be a guilty pleasure for those of us of a certain age. Now if only Lynda Carter would write something...
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January 2, 2024Celebrity memoir is not a genre I go in for very often, but I love Felicity Kendal and saw that Simon Thomas had recommended it on his blog. Then I watched Merchant-Ivory's wonderful Shakespeare Wallah, a semi-biographical account of Kendal's family, so I was even more eager to read this. And it was super enjoyable!
FK has an incredibly fascinating background. Her parents ran a traveling Shakespeare theater troupe that performed all over India for years and years in the mid twentieth century. And Kendal grew up in that artistic and vagabond life. Her first performance was as an infant changeling in Midsummer Night's Dream.
Kendal does a beautiful job of describing her own unusual coming of age story as well as conveying the changing backdrop of India where her father's theatrical mission was once appreciated yet becomes less successful over the years with the rise of Bollywood and the remnants of the Raj losing their influence.
But her memoir is even more than that. She wrote it at her father's bedside as he was slowly and painfully dying, paralyzed from a stroke. Her descriptions of what an energetic and intrepid person he was in her youth contrasted with the agony of his muteness and immobility at the time of her writing her memoir were moving to read.
A kind, well-meaning person asked me how I could let this farce continue: 'I wouldn't let a dog live in that state!' All very well but you're not a dog, and 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...'
Vivid travel writing, meaningful reflections on loss, and of course, Shakespeare--a great first read for the year for me!
FK has an incredibly fascinating background. Her parents ran a traveling Shakespeare theater troupe that performed all over India for years and years in the mid twentieth century. And Kendal grew up in that artistic and vagabond life. Her first performance was as an infant changeling in Midsummer Night's Dream.
Kendal does a beautiful job of describing her own unusual coming of age story as well as conveying the changing backdrop of India where her father's theatrical mission was once appreciated yet becomes less successful over the years with the rise of Bollywood and the remnants of the Raj losing their influence.
But her memoir is even more than that. She wrote it at her father's bedside as he was slowly and painfully dying, paralyzed from a stroke. Her descriptions of what an energetic and intrepid person he was in her youth contrasted with the agony of his muteness and immobility at the time of her writing her memoir were moving to read.
A kind, well-meaning person asked me how I could let this farce continue: 'I wouldn't let a dog live in that state!' All very well but you're not a dog, and 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...'
Vivid travel writing, meaningful reflections on loss, and of course, Shakespeare--a great first read for the year for me!
June 5, 2008
I mainly know Felicity Kendal, a British actress, through jokes on shows like "The Young Ones". But this book looked interesting, and it was. She grew up in India where her parents had a traveling Shakespeare troupe that performed for schools, maharajahs, and anybody who'd pay them. Her parents went there during the war to perform for the troops and liked it so much they emigrated there. Kendal loved it too and has many memories of the beauty of the place and the kindness and friendliness of the people.
In her late teens she emigrated to England to pursue her acting career and a lot of the book is about her fight to break away from her father, who expected her and her sister to be lifelong members of their theater group. She had been raised rather conservatively and felt like a fish out of water in mid 60s Swinging London.
It's an interesting look at India, a young woman's coming of age, and finding a career as an actress.
In her late teens she emigrated to England to pursue her acting career and a lot of the book is about her fight to break away from her father, who expected her and her sister to be lifelong members of their theater group. She had been raised rather conservatively and felt like a fish out of water in mid 60s Swinging London.
It's an interesting look at India, a young woman's coming of age, and finding a career as an actress.
April 21, 2012
Bought this at the Friends of the Library book sale! I am very excited as Felicity Kendal is one of my all time favorite British actresses! She is famous for the TV series "The Good Life" known as "Good Neighbors" over here & the gardening detective series "Rosemary & Thyme".
It was lovely to listen to Felicity's both soothing & melodious voice. You could tell when she was smiling at a sweet or happy memory. Her descriptions of India through a child's rose tinted view were very charming & it was very moving to hear her read about her father & his final days.
It was lovely to listen to Felicity's both soothing & melodious voice. You could tell when she was smiling at a sweet or happy memory. Her descriptions of India through a child's rose tinted view were very charming & it was very moving to hear her read about her father & his final days.
June 3, 2010
This book was brilliant and ticked so many boxes, if you like travel books, if you like autobiographies, if you like a good read, if you thought you had an idea of a person from TV and then discovered there is a whole lot more to them..the list goes on! This is on of my BF books which he only bought due to a crush on Felicity Kendal and he loved it despite not liking travel books so I defy anyone to read this and not enjoy it!!!
July 10, 2013
A brilliant cameo of Felicity's touring family of actors evoking the India of the 1950's. A book simply gorgeous and rich in its texture but with that seriousness that you knew always lurked behind this face that grows more elegant with each year. Read it and learn but also be prepared for some tears. This is the best kind of biographical material which lifts a small viel on a private person in order to pay tribute to a departed but much loved father.
January 10, 2014
Felicity Kendal has written this superbly. I love the way that she recalls her childhood, and adulthood in the form of a story. It makes for an easy read, with the colours, smells and sounds of India leaping from the page. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
December 5, 2020
Mesmerizing. Ms. Kendal has certainly led an exciting life and I felt I was right there in India and then in England. There was enough adventure to keep me gasping and enough behind the scenes action disclosed as applies to theaters. Good read for sure.
April 5, 2021
As an autobiography it's a bit lacking; she elides much of her personal life as an adult. As a coming of age story, however, it's quite interesting. Despite her appearing (to an American anyway) as very British, her life as a child was anything but normal. She grew up as daughter to an eccentric (and not entirely lovable) actor father and (more lovable) mother, who made their living touring India performing Shakespeare, Shaw, and other western classics, leading very picaresque lives.
The book is structured as a conversation with her father (who can no longer speak due to a series of strokes) and her memories. The result is a touching portrait of her formative years. In some ways, her tale is cinematic, we see lots of events but the person recalling them remains a bit elusive. It doesn't seem that the experiences she recalls created the successful actress she became. Her personality is kept somewhat hidden.
The book is structured as a conversation with her father (who can no longer speak due to a series of strokes) and her memories. The result is a touching portrait of her formative years. In some ways, her tale is cinematic, we see lots of events but the person recalling them remains a bit elusive. It doesn't seem that the experiences she recalls created the successful actress she became. Her personality is kept somewhat hidden.
September 11, 2017
Loved this book. Had no idea about Felicity's past, so this book was a complete surprise. My knowledge of Felicity was pretty much limited to her role as the loving self sufficient wannabe. in The Good Life series. Little did I know she grew up in a traveling Shakespeare production company traveling around India and other countries.
A fascinating book written by Felicity as she watched her good father Geoffrey die of old age. sitting at his bed side in a retirement facility in England.
This book was fun to read and made me laugh and cry, and I trust everyone who reads this will want to have a woman like Felicity in their life, she is gold. Enjoy!
A fascinating book written by Felicity as she watched her good father Geoffrey die of old age. sitting at his bed side in a retirement facility in England.
This book was fun to read and made me laugh and cry, and I trust everyone who reads this will want to have a woman like Felicity in their life, she is gold. Enjoy!
June 30, 2022
Great book. I didn’t know Felicity Kendal but found her story fascinating.
She is a great narrator weaving together her past and her current thoughts/monologue with her dying father. She relates her childhood and life in India and England in a very vivid manner. Her writing is personal, emotional and well-crafted.
Her biography reads like a novel, and I really enjoyed her using friends and family letters, as well as extracts of her parents diary to paint a ‘realistic’ picture of her relationships.
I very much enjoyed this book and was touched by her story and writing style.
She is a great narrator weaving together her past and her current thoughts/monologue with her dying father. She relates her childhood and life in India and England in a very vivid manner. Her writing is personal, emotional and well-crafted.
Her biography reads like a novel, and I really enjoyed her using friends and family letters, as well as extracts of her parents diary to paint a ‘realistic’ picture of her relationships.
I very much enjoyed this book and was touched by her story and writing style.
July 9, 2024
Shakespeare-Wallah brought me here. Beautiful movie, and as a lover of everything related to India (Shashi Kapoor is a fan here), I had to read this book. I'm not interested in Jennifer Kendal but I had to read it to have a little access to other times and places. There is something terribly attractive and sad about the old, decadent world, in this case post-colonial India and the old ways.
The most interesting part of the book is certainly everything related to Jennifer's childhood in India, and how strange her existence was, as a remnant of an old culture traveling in the last of it.
The most interesting part of the book is certainly everything related to Jennifer's childhood in India, and how strange her existence was, as a remnant of an old culture traveling in the last of it.
May 2, 2024
An autobiography by actress Felicity Kendal on her bohemian upbringing, with her parents who ran a theatre company which travelled through India. They lived from week to week, through good times and bad times....sometimes with pleasant accommodations and other times very meagre. She and her sister both grew up becoming part of the theatre, but only Felicity continued to further it as a serious career and fame, once she left her family and returned to live in England.
June 14, 2021
I enjoyed this autobiography of FK or Foo’s early life in India and her introduction to acting. Her parents sound amazing in a very difficult way! You are glad they aren’t your parents but they obviously gave her a good start in survival in difficult circumstances!
I love the descriptions of how they traveled- getting more and more bags as the company and the girls grew. Having to sort out the props- particularly swords and seats in every new place. A film was made of their life “Shakespeare Wallah” which Foo hoped would bring openings when she tried her luck in the UK. However her start there was slow and the part in the Good life was probably because she had shown herself by her determination and hard work. The book also parallels the Indian life with her Dad in a nursing home- strangely providing a suitable place for the book to be written.
I love the descriptions of how they traveled- getting more and more bags as the company and the girls grew. Having to sort out the props- particularly swords and seats in every new place. A film was made of their life “Shakespeare Wallah” which Foo hoped would bring openings when she tried her luck in the UK. However her start there was slow and the part in the Good life was probably because she had shown herself by her determination and hard work. The book also parallels the Indian life with her Dad in a nursing home- strangely providing a suitable place for the book to be written.
April 11, 2018
Easy to read, interesting to learn her and her family’s history.
July 22, 2020
Very entertaining, and at times moving, memoir.
November 16, 2010
I bought this book from a church stall because I have been a fan of Felicity Kendal since the TV show 'The Good Life', which I loved. Her book tells of her childhood in post-war India, travelling with her parents' theatre troupe, 'Shakespeareana', and her later career in England.
Intertwined with her story are her musings to her father who lies incapacitated in a London nursing home after a stroke. She unpicks her relationship with him, which became very difficult after she 'deserted him' (his words) in deciding to pursue a solo acting career in England.
It is an interesting, and at times very moving, story of a much-loved actress.
Intertwined with her story are her musings to her father who lies incapacitated in a London nursing home after a stroke. She unpicks her relationship with him, which became very difficult after she 'deserted him' (his words) in deciding to pursue a solo acting career in England.
It is an interesting, and at times very moving, story of a much-loved actress.
April 5, 2021
The biography follows the many stages of Felicity’s life and incorporates loss & pain. She writes with honesty & integrity.
I felt sad when I reached the end of this auto-biography which closes with the death of her Father and the scattering of his remains in India which he loved. Felicity’s mother & sister had died before. She is the last remaining member of her family.
The autobiography encompasses birth, marriage, birtth of another generation & passing away.
I found it compelling & wanted to finish reading it but feel the sad wrench when I finish a well loved book.
I felt sad when I reached the end of this auto-biography which closes with the death of her Father and the scattering of his remains in India which he loved. Felicity’s mother & sister had died before. She is the last remaining member of her family.
The autobiography encompasses birth, marriage, birtth of another generation & passing away.
I found it compelling & wanted to finish reading it but feel the sad wrench when I finish a well loved book.
January 21, 2012
The majority of this is about Felicity Kendal's early life travelling India in her parents' theatre company. It's vivid, fascinating and absorbing. The remainder - her early acting life in London, letters from her family - is just as well-written, but the parts written to her dying father are truly heartbreaking, and, I won't lie, I skimmed through them as I couldn't keep the tears away at every such passage. The biographical parts, though, are unique and brilliant.
November 10, 2012
I have started an attempt to read biographies. This one had a very interesting setting: an English family traveling through India performing theatre. The writer let you in a very intimate life of this traveling group but she is mum about some aspects of her personal life and goes back and forth on her tales in a way that some times leave you wondering there are some big holes in her narrative.
January 2, 2008
This was read for my book group, I wasnt sure that I would enjoy it but I really loved it. It's Felicity Kendal's memoir, what a fascinating and interesting family she came from. Very novel-like and well worth a read.
March 26, 2011
If you grew up with The Good Life it is interesting to find out about Felicity Kendal's life story. A very enjoyable read and refelection on relationships that can be more than tricky, however exotic your life.
December 1, 2016
I found this book a trial because it was too british in it's view and writing. Also at the point she became a famous actress it skipped just along leaving out swathes of story. I think if she had focused on her father then the book would have had better form.
January 3, 2008
Not as innocent as she looks!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews