The Mother of Necton
THE MOTHER OF NECTON
Paperback published by The Larks Press September 2009
ISBN 978 1 90-4006 48 0
Price £9.50
Necton has grown somewhat since Eliza Brown married Walter Ong there in 1904. It was then a small farming village where farm labourers earned 10s a week in the hinterland of the market town of Swaffham. The story of this couple and their family takes us through all the hardships of the 20th century, the first World War, the Great Depression, the second World War and the grim years of rationing and austerity after that. It tells us much about Necton, but at the heart of the tale is the author's grandmother, Eliza Ong, the local midwife, loved and trusted by all, who because of the number of babies she helped bring into the world and because everyone went to her with their problems, became known as the Mother of Necton.
'Mary Nichols has written more than thirty historical novels, including some romantic tales for Mills and Boon, but this is her first work of non-fiction and this reviewer is certain it will join the ranks of her popular novels. Why? Because the story of her grandmother, Eliza Ong, the village’s unregulated and uncertificated midwife, is told with a mixture of love, respect and an understanding of the hard life she lived, all in a style of writing which is eminently readable and in its way is a masterpiece.
The way historical facts, village history, our native dialect and human emotions are brought together to record the story of just one lady and a village we take for granted as we drive swiftly past on the busy A47.' Friends of the Norfolk Dialect. www.norfolkdialect.com/reviews
This is an updated reissue of the hardback book published by Breedon Books in 2000 and is available in most Norfolk bookshops, but if you live outside Norfolk it's best to contact the publisher: Larks.Press@btinternet.com.
This is now out of print, although there are a few copies still to be had via the Internet.
ISBN: 1 85983 217 2
'There is an amazing amount of well-researched detail... the book is illustrated throughout with photographs of the family and the village. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in English rural social history.' Country Smallholding.