The premise of “A Corner of My Heart” is a tale about a
young Jewish girl, Ruth, who, following her surviving the death camp at Auschwitz
Birkenau and arriving in England, becomes pregnant where her child, Rebecca,
after being born in a home for unmarried mothers, is forcefully removed from Ruth
and placed up for adoption. Rebecca, renamed Mary by her adoptive parents,
grows up rarely questioning her adoption until, as an adult and mother herself,
she is asked by her own daughter about her real Grandmother, thus triggering
Rebecca’s search for both Ruth and the detail of what happened so many years
earlier to necessitate the two of them being separated in such a traumatic way.
The story continues to unfold as we learn more about Ruth and Rebecca’s
individual life journeys and of their efforts to rediscover each other.
I was moved to write “A Corner of My Heart” after watching a
TV programme regarding forced adoption in Britain during the early part of the
20th Century up to the late 1960’s, where young girls who became
pregnant, often through no failure or fault of their own, found themselves seeking
support and shelter in the grim and austere surroundings of a home for young
unmarried mothers. These were traditionally funded and run by either factions
of the Church or the less than caring local authorities, both of whom offered
little, if anything, in the way of comfort and solace to the sorry and
desperate individuals entering their doors. The girls were expected to work
long hours to pay for their keep, such as it was, and as penance for their apparent
shameful disregard for both their bodies and their moral failing. Their babies
would be offered for adoption within a few weeks of being born without n either
the mother’s approval or consent and, once placed in a suitable home, the child
and birth mother would have no further redress or legal right to any form of contact.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the law was officially changed to allow both
parties any legal right to seek access to each other’s whereabouts and, in so
doing, gain the necessary approval to then meet and develop a recognised relationship.
Before writing “A Corner of My Heart” I spent some time
in reading and researching the accounts and detail of a number of women who had
either been adopted themselves at an early age, or were unfortunate enough to
have found themselves, as young girls, pregnant and forced to survive in bleak
and equally unforgiving surroundings. There will be many women today who will
identify with both Ruth and Rebecca’s stories.
I also have a keen interest
in both the First and Second World Wars, and especially the holocaust, along
with its place in world history, the effects of which still resonate in modern
society today. It was in studying the atrocities carried out against the Jewish
community during the Second World War that I was inspired to develop the
character of Ruth for my novel and to recount the experience of her surviving
such a brutal existence in Auschwitz Birkenau. Whilst Ruth, as an individual,
is of my imagination the narrative and detail of her experiences in the death
camp along with her time in the home for unmarried mothers are both based on
recorded factual accounts and events.
© Mark Seaman
[HH. Events that should never be
forgotten or brushed aside.]
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More about Mark
Mark Seaman lives in Gloucestershire and focuses on his love of drama, writing and acting. Mark has had a number of his scripts for one act and full length plays published, including two Pantomimes which are performed on a regular basis, and has also gained some acting roles in a variety of productions on stage, TV and in film. Mark’s latest role was as Sir John Tressida in the first series of the BBC production of Poldark. Prior to this, Mark worked in broadcasting for TV and radio for 30+ years, both as a presenter and producer, and to board level in senior management.
I had the pleasure and honour of reviewing this for Discovering Diamonds and was very touched by the story and horrified by the events. The contrast between the aging but quiet Ruth and her almost petulant, daughter making judgements without knowledge was particularly well defined. Thank you Mark (and Helen) for this blog.....
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