Take Courage

by Phyllis Bentley

A note from the "All the characters in this novel are real people, revived from the pages of Yorkshire history to enact again their significant drama of love and strife, human strength and human weakness. If I have sometimes deepened the lines, and supplied the gaps, of this story of England's Civil War, from my own invention, that is the novelist's to create a symbolic unity from scattered hints and dispersed incidents." In this novel of the English Civil War, Phyllis Bentley brings her lightness of touch, and real human compassion, to one of the darkest periods of English History. Phyllis Bentley, 1894—1977 Bentley published her first work in 1918, a collection of short stories entitled The World's Bane , after which she published several poor-selling novels. The publication in March 1932 of her best-known work, Inheritance , set against the background of the development of the textile industry in the West Riding, received widespread critical acclaim and ran through twenty-three impressions by 1946, making her the first successful English regional novelist since Thomas Hardy and his Wessex. In 1949 she was awarded an honorary DLitt from Leeds University; in 1958 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature; and in 1970 was awarded an OBE.

495 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2011

About the author

PHYLLIS ELEANOR BENTLEY, the Yorkshire author, was born in November 1894. Her father was a junior partner in a manufacturing concern located at Dunkirk Mills, Halifax. She was educated at Halifax High School for Girls and Cheltenham Ladies College. A munitions worker in London during the First World War, she returned to Halifax where she taught English and Latin at Heath Grammar School.From an early age her ambition was to be a novelist. After several rejections from publishers, in 1928 she started her long association with the Gollancz publishing house, who agreed to publish her novel ‘The Partnership’. Her masterpiece, ‘Inheritance’ was published in 1932. Telling the story of the Oldroyd family, set against the background of the development of the textile industry, the book received widespread critical acclaim. Two further novels continued the saga of the Oldroyd family, ‘The Rise of Henry Morcar’ and ‘A Man of His Time’. In 1967 Granada Television began the serialisation of the trilogy. The ten-part series featured John Thaw and James Bolam in leading roles.

Phyllis Bentley’s main works were: Environment (1922); Cat in the Manger (1923); The Spinner of the Years ( March 1928); The Partnership (1928); Carr (1929); Trio (August 29 1930); Inheritance (1932); A Modern Tragedy (1934); The Whole of the Story (1935); Freedom Farewell (1936); The Rise of Henry Morcar (1946); Life Story (1948); Quorum; Panarama (1952); The House of Moreys (1953); Noble in Reason (1955); Crescendo (1958); Kith and Kin; O Dreams O Destinations (autobiography, 1962); Tales of the West Riding (1965); A Man Of His Time (1966); Gold Pieces (children's novel, 1968). Many of these novels deal with West Yorkshire and its history.

In recognition of her talent, she received several awards. In 1949 she was awarded a honorary Doctor of Literature ( DLitt) from Leeds University. In 1958 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1970 was awarded an OBE.

She died in late June 1977 at Ing Royde Home.

Reviews

[Tilly Midgley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this makes me wonder why Phyllis Bentley is not more famous. Bentley weaves a fantastic tale, rich in historical detail and peopled by well rounded and completely believable characters.

Unfortunately, this book is now out of print. You may, however, be able to source it in electronic format (I downloaded my copy from the Kobo store.

[Misty Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has sat on my bookshelves for a very long time - I inherited it (with many others) from my much missed aunt. My copy is somewhat 'tired' - it was written the best part of a century ago and I do not normally read historical fiction [with a very few notable exceptions they seldom stand up to the actual history and often contain huge anachronisms].
During a very necessary culling of my books earlier this year I decided to read this before chucking it out. It is a keeper!!
Only once did I find something I thought was possibly an anachronism but, given the immaculate quality of the rest of the book I suspect it is me that is wrong.
The story is set from pre-British civil wars [1641-1649], through the Restoration [1661] of the monarchy and beyond - a period that I know a vast amount about. The book is narrated by the daughter and wife of men involved in the cloth trade in Bradford and involves a mix of real and imaginary characters. Again, I tend to dislike the use of real people in historical fiction but in this case it is very well done and fits well with my knowledge of them. The author obviously had done a huge amount of research into locations, contemporary living conditions and the cloth trade as well as the civil wars, battles and governance across this period
This is very highly recommended for anyone interested in the period - even I learned something!