Publication day
Friday 24 April 2009
So, seven years after I first got interested in Eglantyne the book is due to be published – today!
I am of course extremely excited and rather nervous. My mother has rather sweetly just sent me a card congratulating me on the imminent birth of my fourth child – and in some ways it has felt like a rather long labour and at times painful delivery! In fact, producing the book has often made me think about my own experience as a mother – I promise not to get too far fetched here, but I have not been unaware of the ironies involved in sneaking away from my own childcare time to write the life of a woman who had no kids of her own, but dedicated her life to championing child welfare - from a strategic distance. Eglantyne’s own lack of maternal sentiment is one of the many intriguing things about her. I even ended up calling one early chapter, when she taught in a working class school for a short while, ‘Testing the maternal impulse’.
Meanwhile, I found out I was pregnant with my third daughter the week I got a publishing deal, and nine months later I spent many hours typing away on the last few chapters with my beautiful baby on my lap either sleeping or feeding. I got very good a typing with one hand!
And now here we are on the day of publication – it is not the same as having a child of course, nothing like, but I do feel like I am losing protective control of this long nurtured thing and sending it off out there on its independent shelf-life. Death of an author, birth of a book…
Tags: 90th anniversary, books, delivery, Eglantyne Jebb, labour, publication, writing
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April 24th, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Hi Clare,
My name is Valeria, I work for Save the Children Italy. This morning I’ve ordered your book on line and I can’t wait to receive it. I’ve been a volunteer at Save Uk and during the induction classes about understanding SC I was really touched by the modernity and power of Eglantyne Jebb statements I always thought that her commitment in social issues was a way of reinventing feminity or just a different way to express it in that time. I was very eager to learn more about her so I mean to congratulate and thank you for your job.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:40 PM
Hello Valeria,
What a lovely email to get – thank you! I think she was a visionary and inspirational woman whose story has been sadly lost. It was a real pleasure to find out more about her, and to meet some of the descendents of her family and friends… I do hope you enjoy the book when it arrives.
All best wishes, Clare