MARY ALLEN

A true story of a Lancashire Lass, Mary Allen, born in 1911. Mary was born in a small rural village,the middle daughter of three girls. From age 11, Mary wrote a daily diary until her death 69 years later, and these first-hand accounts form the heart of the book.

Mary's mother was a chronic asthmatic and her father was diagnosed with lead poisoning at the early age of 17, undergoing revolutionary treatment over long periods of hospitalisation. The Allen family was one of the very few who had the use of a motor car in the 1920s & 1930s and the book includes a number of vivid descriptions of England in that period.

Mary had three children by three different men, only marrying the last of these when she was 40. The first of her children, William, was fathered by a part-Maori New Zealand Serviceman, based in rural Kent in 1940, who was subsequently killed in action in Montgomery's North Africa campaign.

William left the United Kingdom, by sea, at age 12 to live with his Maori relations in New Zealand. Mary was not to see William again until he contracted TB aged 15 and her first trip to New Zealand was with her two younger children, which was to be the first of many. Her second child, a daughter, was fathered by an eminent surgeon, barrister & author when he was in his early 80s, a brilliant but eccentric man and also a friend of Gandhi. The father of her third child, a son, was diagnosed with syphillis 8 years after their marriage and died 5 years later.

This is a compelling story of one woman's courage & determination to fight a lone battle against prejudice and adversity, from a sheltered early life, through life-long ill-health, working long hours in a variety of jobs to keep body and soul together for herself and her family.