Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale Book Review

Welcome to my review of Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale.

I bought this book for my mother-in-law for her birthday as I know she is a big fan of Patrick Gale, and then I saw it again when I was looking for my reads for Pride Month. Having never read any of his books, I thought I would give it a try. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but I really enjoyed it.

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

Laura, an impoverished Cornish girl, meets her husband when they are both in service in Teignmouth in 1916. They have a baby, Charles, but Laura’s husband returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave her a widow. In a small, class-obsessed town she raises her boy alone, working as a laundress, and gradually becomes aware that he is some kind of genius.

As an intensely private young man, Charles signs up for the navy with the new rank of coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to the colour and violence of war sees him blossom as he experiences not only the possibility of death, but the constant danger of a love that is as clandestine as his work.

MOTHER’S BOY is the story of a man who is among, yet apart from his fellows, in thrall to, yet at a distance from his own mother; a man being shaped for a long, remarkable and revered life spent hiding in plain sight. But it is equally the story of the dauntless mother who will continue to shield him long after the dangers of war are past.

About The Author

Patrick Gale is a keen cellist, gardener and artistic director of the North Cornwall Book Festival. He lives with his husband, the farmer and sculptor, Aidan Hicks (www.aidanhicks.com), on their farm at the far west of Cornwall. In addition to his latest, Mother’s Boy, which is published on March 1 2022, his seventeen novels include Take Nothing With You (2018), which was his fourth Sunday Times bestseller, Rough Music (2000), Notes From an Exhibition (2007), A Perfectly Good Man (2012) and A Place Called Winter (2015). In 2017 his two part drama Man in an Orange Shirt was screened by BBC2 as part of the Gay Britannia season. Continuing to be broadcast regularly around the world, this won the International Emmy for best miniseries and is now in development as a musical. He is currently working on a television adaptation of A Place Called Winter and a stage version of Take Nothing With You. Extracts from the BBC documentary All Families Have Secrets – the Narrative Art of Patrick Gale can be seen on his website www.galewarning.org.

My Review

All Laura Bartlett wants from life is to be a mother; despite the times, she isn’t bothered about having a husband. She meets Charlie Causley just before the start of the first world war when she returns home to Launceston, and they are soon married. Charlie is called up to fight, and they make the most of his brief visits home. Before long, Laura’s perfect son, Charles Stanley Causley, is born. Named after his father, Charles spends a lot of time with him when he is sent home from the war with TB. Though this is only ever whispered, people stay away, and together they enjoy some beautiful times though they are very short-lived.

Laura, like her mother, is a laundress, taking in others’ laundry and working incredibly hard to maintain her independence and ability to support herself and her son. Fiercely working class, she has high hopes for Charles, who attends a local grammar school and then works two office jobs before enlisting in the Navy to serve in the second world war. However, Laura knows he will ”never be like everyone else, never be normal” though she supports his every want and need, especially through his early love of words and music.

“The poem was a piece of code, he realised. It didn’t expose him directly, as writing a story or essay might, not like writing anything in the first person singular, but it locked his thoughts and feelings safely in a place where only those granted the key would ever access them.”

Patrick Gale

Their relationship can be complicated at times, but her love never wanes. Despite being busy with the evacuees and her work, she is always delighted to have Charles home for every opportunity he gets. He finally learns to appreciate what he has, but life in the Navy as a coder is brutal with his terrible seasickness.

This is a fictionalised account of the life of the poet Charles Causley and his mother. While I found this to be a slower-paced book, I loved learning about Laura and Charles and their lives. There are some brilliant quotes, one of my favourites: “… those who felt they had been stroked by the black wingtip but spared the talons.” Laura expresses her hopes for Charles and his return from the war.

Charles has some homosexual relationships with others while away, which are always tastefully described (no smut here!). Mother’s Boy mainly focuses on their lives during the second world war and when Charles returns to live with his mother after the war, as he develops his career as a poet. The writing is outstanding.

The characters are particularly well-drawn. They are so well-formed you feel, almost immediately, like they are lifetime friends. The care Patrick Gale has taken shows how hard-working Laura and Patrick are; their values and determination are beautiful yet seem so simply done. Both characters have such love and depth, particularly Laura, who, at times, I can see could be a little overbearing for a teenage boy. Charles can be stroppy and ungrateful but generally seems more loving and appreciative after his war experiences.

I loved this book and will be reading more of Patrick Gale’sGale’s work in the future. It was an excellent read for all ages, as my mother-in-law, who recently turned 80, loved it just as much as I did.

Rated