A Delight In Discovery
Early this morning after a reasonable nights sleep, I tuned into BBC Sounds in search of a good book programme to help me into the dawn of a new day. I found a ‘Book At Bedtime’ from June 2010, telling the story ‘A Rector’s Daughter’ by F.M. Mayor, under the BBC’s ‘Neglected Classic’ series. I had never heard of either the book or the author, but the setting was a 19th century backwater in Norfolk, and as I love that county, I was immediately hooked and plugged my headphones into the Kindle and settled back down.
So far I’ve listened to four episodes and it’s an absolute joy to hear this beautiful text, written in 1925. Born in 1872, F.M Mayor read history at Newham College, Cambridge, UK. A magnificent achievement for a woman at the time. She wrote four novels and a collection of short stories, The Rector’s daughter being the best known and most popular. Most of her life was a struggle with ill health and she died in 1932 at the age of 60. Finding this gem, has spurred me on to find out more about this very talented, but mostly forgotten author.