| Crowds gathered at the Upper
Puckering Community Library on Tuesday night to celebrate the
fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Helena O’Rall’s
bestseller Last Taxi to Kensington. The library, in conjunction
with the South Downs Writers’ Guild, hosted a gala evening. This included a lecture by noted literary critic Eugenia Dowley, a
dramatic reading from the text by librarian Katherine Crowder-Switts
as Loretta and Guild member Ian Sonderleigh as Arthur, and a fine
reception.
Miss Dowley traced the history of the
book’s success, noting that whilst originally dismissed by critics
as "just another romance novelist," O’Rall has come to
be recognized as a pioneer in feminist literature. Her heroine, the
young heiress Loretta Princeton, denied her heart’s wish, Sussex
farmer Arthur Kingsley, to answer the call of God and country as an
RAF nurse. "Through her young lovers, O’Rall profoundly
influenced a generation’s understanding of the complexity of
women’s experience during that troubled but triumphant period of
our nation’s history," concluded Dowley. "Loretta
Princeton became a guiding light for later feminist authors."
After a half century, the identity of the
author who adopted the pen name of Helena O’Rall remains a
mystery. Her most famous novel, set in wartime Britain, reveals the
author’s deep understanding of the West Sussex way of life.
Indeed, much of the story unfolds during Loretta’s fortnight with
her aunt in Puckering, and features local shops and businesses, as
well as scenes set at the Upper Puckering Parish Church and in the
surrounding countryside. Following the success of Taxi,
O’Rall authored three additional novels, the last published in
1963.
"Based on the overwhelming success of
our program tonight, we’d like to host other events honouring
authors who write about local themes," said Miss Crowder-Switts.
"We’re in the planning stages for an afternoon program
highlighting Miss Betsy Winches’ Ten Cups a Day: A Tea
Drinker’s Guide to Health, and have begun discussions on an
evening built around Nigel Rockmorton’s Horses, Hounds and
Hedges: Rides through Puckering and the South Downs.—Lumpy
Gaites
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