Opposite the Cross Keys: An East Anglian childhood

by S.T. Haymon

The first of S. T. Haymon’s glorious childhood memoirs about growing up in and around Norwich in the 1920s.

When well-to-do-little Sylvia finds herself at her housemaid’s family home in rural Norfolk she is at once shocked: The filth, the stench and the poverty are overwhelming. But she encounters a cast of such extraordinary characters and a life so alien to her own that she quickly falls in love, demanding to be allowed to stay permanently.

Sylvia Haymon’s enchanting memoir is a snapshot of its time and people. Here is a bucolic vision of a bygone England, with the truth of social division and the gruelling life of the poor writ large.

With a new introduction by Esther Freud, the joy, wit and keen observations of Haymon’s writing are celebrated here for a whole new audience.

Genres: Memoir, Autobiography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Biography

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

"One of the purest lyric voices in the mystery field" New York Times Book Review

Sylvia Theresa Haymon was born in Norwich, and is best known for her eight crime fiction novels featuring the character Inspector Ben Jurnet. Haymon also wrote two non-fiction books for children, as well as two memoirs of her childhood in East Anglia.

The Ben Jurnet series enjoyed success in both the UK and the US during Haymon’s lifetime: Ritual Murder (1982) won the prestigious CWA Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association. Stately Homicide (1984), a skilful variation on the country house mystery, was praised by the New York Times as a 'brilliantly crafted novel of detection...stylish serious fiction', and favourably compared to the work of Dorothy L. Sayers.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the imagery in this book. The author was so descriptive that I felt as if I were right alongside her as she lived her two lives, one with her upperclass family and the other with her poor nanny. The ending felt abrupt to me and left me wishing she has told more of her story.

[James Kinsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly charming, skillfully written, very funny, eye-opening in its portrayal of 1920s rural poverty and, yes, sometimes also in its portrayal of 1920s attitudes. Nevertheless, a delightful insight into the past that, if there were any justice, would be a beloved classic.

[Ruth Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book, as I live in Horsham St Faith. The village name was different in the book but other places and landmarks are the same. A literary snapshot of life in rural Norfolk in the twenties. I am rereading it already in case I missed any of it!

[Ann Woodbury Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a journal entry, April 14, 1989: "The book I've been reading is a fascinating one. I picked it off the new book shelf ... It's about [Haymon's] childhood experiences in England in the 1920s when, a prim & proper upper-middle-class child, she had a 'second life,' so to speak, with the poor, dirty, uneducated family of her nursemaid, with whom she spent Sundays & school holidays. Haymon writes extremely well & her account is very engrossing. I want to find out what's going to happen next! ... I checked out 2 of her fictional books--mysteries--Friday to see if they're as interesting & well-done."

[Gwen Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🚲

[Emmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

precocious little girl inhabits two worlds -- her somewhat indulgent middle class family with strong minded nanny, and the nannys extremely poor family that lives a few miles away.
Funny and touching.