If you’ve never read an H. E. Bates novel,
you’ve missed some of the best novel writing ever.
Born 16th May 1905, Bates loved writing but life got in the way, until a young girl in a red lined cloak getting out of a carriage at a station inspired the writing of Love for Lydia: a truly sweet story. After many rejections from publishers, he finally cracked it with The Two Sisters, The Seekers, and many more novels alongside his wartime writing: Flying Officer X Stories.
The latter reflected his time in the RAF.
He’s probably best known to all of us for The Darling Buds of May (TV series), and Fair Stood the Wind for France. But, I urge you to read books such as The Purple Plain and The Jacaranda Tree: both made into movies, and a reflection of his time as a pilot in war torn Burma. His prose, sense of time, place, and emotions of characters are second to none. He was a master wordsmith! His writing career initially proved the path to rank of published author just as rocky back then as we have all found to our cost now, but good luck befell him. His post-war writing received a setback too, and ever the brave he took control of his own destiny. His biography page is here.
Never, never give up on your writing if you believe in your work as worthy of publication!
