Alison Ripley Cubitt

Castles in the air is a book of two halves. It tells us the life story of Alison’s mother Molly; the first half mainly using Molly’s own letters to a dear older friend, Steve and the second half a combination of Alison’s memories and her mother’s diaries.
I chose this book because I wanted to read about Molly’s experiences before and during the war as a teenager living in Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon and Mombasa and also her life as an expat in Malaya during the Emergency. I especially enjoyed Molly’s father’s log of their trip out to Hong Kong through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal as it reminded me of my 6-week voyage to Singapore when I was 15.
Despite periods of boredom and hard times, keeping ahead of the Japanese invasion with very little money, the early period of Molly’s life is full of interest, but her married life is not so easy and despite or maybe because of sheer hard work both Molly and her husband endure considerable unhappiness.
In this memoir, Alison is frank and honest, exposing the rifts and suffering in her family life while also showing clearly how much her mother loved her and did her best for all three children. There are so many “if onlys” in Molly’s life which could have made it so much better or so much worse. An interesting read.
… (mais)

More 3.5 than 3 stars

Castles in the Air is a very personal memoir that opens with the author's mother's childhood and teenage years told largely through her diaries and letters. We then follow her into early adult hood and marriage and pick up in more detail her later years as both she and her husband struggle with depression.

It is a fascinating story as we follow Molly as she leaves England, with her parents, to take up residence in various colonial outposts due to their work as code breakers connected to Bletchley Park. From Hong Kong, to Singapore, Malaysia and Kenya, it traces a story of unrest, war and danger from an ex pat perspective. This is not a tale of aristocratic 'Happy Valley' style hedonism and decadence, but a portrayal of middle class, civil servants, whose life in the UK would have been far more humdrum.

As Molly grows we start to hear more about the mysterious, avuncular figure who will feature throughout her life. As we only see Molly's letters it's hard to know exactly what the relationship was, especially as she is by now a teenager and her letters display a bravado and selfishness that I suspect we might all have been guilty of at a similar age. What does transpire is that whatever the relationship, it wasn't one sided and it continued to exert a hold over Molly for the rest of her life.
As Molly returns to the UK to train as a nurse, her letters and diary entries become more infrequent and less introspective so we rely more on the author to fill in the story of Molly's marriage and life in Malaya with her husband during the Emergency. As she becomes a mother we get to know about the children and the wider family dynamics. As the author is increasingly able to speak for herself and tell the families story, we rely less on Molly's memoirs and pick up more of the authors own, memories, especially when the family leave Malaya for New Zealand and yet another phase of their life.

For the most part I really enjoyed reading this, at times Molly's letters could get repetitive and in her later years there was a similar sense of repetition. However I suspect this was not an easy thing to write, not only because of the emotions it must have inevitably invoked, but also in how to deal with the material at hand. I think it needs to be stated at this point with regard to editing and content this book clearly states that it is a memoir. While a memoir is often seen as being autobiographical there is a subtle difference. A memoir tells only about a certain period of time, or incidents in a person’s life, as they saw it. It is not chronological, or necessarily filled with historical fact and background, it purely reflects memories and feelings. In that regard that is what this book does. The author has chosen for the most part to largely let the letters and diary entries speak for themselves, without sanitising or editing the material. The reality is if Molly was pre-occupied, and repetitive and somewhat superficial, then that is what we are getting. There are authorial interjections to provide some historical context and background which Molly omits and I found helpful without being intrusive, but others may disagree.

I was particularly interested in Molly's life in the Far East. I enjoy reading about colonial life and more so for countries I've been fortunate enough to visit. Having been to Kenya, Singapore, and Malaya, I could visualise the places and the cultural references. As my own father was in the Royal Navy and based in Singapore and my father in law was in the Army and deployed in Malaya during the Emergency. the politics and history of the region, with its changing colonial dynamics had an added pertinence for me.

As we reach Molly’s later years and her struggles with work, her husband and depression it is clear that none if this was really understand by the family at the time. It must have been a shock to discover the extent to which a much loved mother had been dissembling to maintain the façade that everything was alright. The fact that in this case, the author is also her daughter makes the discovery and the writing about it more poignant.

This memoir serves as a very real reminder to us all, that our parents are so much more than just parents. They have had their own lives and histories, however normal or different and it is often when they are gone, that we discover the individuals they really were.

I was alerted to this book by the author after I’d reviewed a fictional story set during the Emergency, so thank you for the opportunity to experience some first-hand memories. I received a review copy via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
… (mais)