The Sparrow

Description

The theme of The Sparrow is the conflict presented to Ralph Kimberley, a London vicar, by his ardent support of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Although a kind, well-intentioned man, he does not realise the effect his sympathies are having on his parish, nor on those who are close to him.His wife, Myra, feels neglected and unloved and finds herself taking an unhealthy interest in Keith Wilson, a young discharged prisoner whom Ralph has befriended. His orphaned niece, Sarah, too, feels herself alone and unwanted.It takes dramatic events to bring home to Ralph the knowledge that his personal obligations must come before his devotion to the cause. Instead of choosing the role of a martyr, he must perform an act of apparent cowardice to begin a fresh start.

Born in in London in 1921, Mary was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Girls School, Acton. During the Second World War she served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wrens) attached to the Fleet Air Arm Meteorology branch and then briefly with the Signal Section in Plymouth. Writing was in her blood. Juggling her work as a local government officer in Middlesex Education Department with writing, at first short stories for magazines and pieces for The Times Educational Supplement, she then had her first book, The Winter City, published in 1961. The book was a success and enabled Mary to relinquish her full time occupation to devote her time to writing. Even so, when she came to her beloved Lewes in 1961, she still took a part-time appointment, as a secretary, with the East Sussex Educational Psychology department. Long before family sagas had become cult viewing, she had embarked upon the 'Fairley Family' trilogy - Good Daughters, Indifferent Heroes, and Welcome Strangers - books which give her readers a faithful, realistic and uncompromising portrayal of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times, between the years of 1933 and 1946. For many years she was an active member of the 'Monday Lit', a Lewes-based group which brought in current writers and poets to speak about their work. Equally, she was an enthusiastic supporter of Lewes Little Theatre, where she found her role as 'prompter' the most satisfying, and worshipped at the town's St Pancras RC Church.

... she can work a moral theme into a rattling good story ... Miss Hocking's firm, fine, lively talent is shown at its best, combining social with moral realism, toughness with delicacy Sunday Telegraph A precise analysis of a single human dilemma, made with that unflinching honesty by which our best women novelists have distinguished themselves Daily Telegraph