Miss Purdy's Class, A Novel, By Annie Murray
It is 1936 and Gwen Purdy leaves her comfortable home, family and
fiance, to take up a short-term contract as a schoolteacher, in a
poor area of Birmingham, against everyone's wishes.
Her first few days are a shocking eye-opener; as she faces a large class of some of the poorest children, from Birmingham's slum areas.
The head master clearly believes in corporal punishment, which he uses to full effect, at every opportunity; sometimes too willingly for Gwen's liking!!
One of the more senior teachers becomes an inspiration to Gwen, as she struggles to understand the appalling hardships endured by her class.
Slowly she is drawn into their lives, particularly Joey Phillips, whose Father has left him, his siblings and their dying Mother, to fend for themselves. He hides all this from Gwen, but when his Mother dies and his siblings are taken off to Barnardos, he runs away.
Meanwhile Gwen has been introduced to Daniel, one of her pupils older brother. He is a union activist from a Welsh mining background and against all odds, Gwen finds herself falling in love with him.
She realises that marriage to the local minister back home, is no longer what she wants, but in ending the relationship, she estranges herself from her family and has to come to terms with the fact that there is no going back.
Daniel finds Joey, whilst he is away from the area on union work and reunites him with Gwen, who together with her landlady and by now friend Ariadne, decide to take him in and care for him.
Gwen decides to stay on at the school, where she nows feels at home, but Daniel is always on her mind, even when she finds out that he has a shocking secret!
As the International Brigade is mobilized to fight in the Spanish Civil War, Daniel prepares to leave. Gwen has to face the fact that they may never be together, despite her love for him, but realises that she can face things on her own and make her own decisions.
Like her childhood heroine Amy Johnson, she is learning how to fly!!
Read about the author at www.anniemurray.co.uk
Her first few days are a shocking eye-opener; as she faces a large class of some of the poorest children, from Birmingham's slum areas.
The head master clearly believes in corporal punishment, which he uses to full effect, at every opportunity; sometimes too willingly for Gwen's liking!!
One of the more senior teachers becomes an inspiration to Gwen, as she struggles to understand the appalling hardships endured by her class.
Slowly she is drawn into their lives, particularly Joey Phillips, whose Father has left him, his siblings and their dying Mother, to fend for themselves. He hides all this from Gwen, but when his Mother dies and his siblings are taken off to Barnardos, he runs away.
Meanwhile Gwen has been introduced to Daniel, one of her pupils older brother. He is a union activist from a Welsh mining background and against all odds, Gwen finds herself falling in love with him.
She realises that marriage to the local minister back home, is no longer what she wants, but in ending the relationship, she estranges herself from her family and has to come to terms with the fact that there is no going back.
Daniel finds Joey, whilst he is away from the area on union work and reunites him with Gwen, who together with her landlady and by now friend Ariadne, decide to take him in and care for him.
Gwen decides to stay on at the school, where she nows feels at home, but Daniel is always on her mind, even when she finds out that he has a shocking secret!
As the International Brigade is mobilized to fight in the Spanish Civil War, Daniel prepares to leave. Gwen has to face the fact that they may never be together, despite her love for him, but realises that she can face things on her own and make her own decisions.
Like her childhood heroine Amy Johnson, she is learning how to fly!!
Read about the author at www.anniemurray.co.uk
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