Yesterday's Porridge

Gordon Finn

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Why I wrote this book

I enjoy writing rather than watching mindless TV and feel that although it’s a “bit late in the day”, there is the possibility that I’ve got the “bug”. The basis of another novel is in the back of my mind which originates from my experiences of providing rental accommodation for students. My inspiration for “Yesterday’s Porridge” derives from my experiences as an evacuee in WWII which began as a collection of notes which I used to indicate to my children and others that my childhood days were not exactly what you would call a “bowl of Jell-O”. It is often said that unpleasant memories are left unaired and in this case mine were for some 50 years before I put pen to paper. Perhaps it’s a trait of the elderly? Eventually my notes became a full blown biography of my childhood and now the people I met then have come to life and developed into characters much like the actors in television soaps. I hope that the novel will inspire many others of my age group to draw on their memories and make that all important first step of putting pen to paper rather than being the face staring out of the care home window.

Synopsis

The word 'porridge' has connotations, which associate it with a term of imprisonment which is how I perceived my formative years. The mere thought of yesterday's uneaten porridge conjures up a picture of something cold wet and slimy with a possible dried crust on top. There can be but a handful of people for whom the victual conjures up such images and memories as it does for me. Amongst those, I would include a long-forgotten colleague in the navy whilst on a deep sea voyage to the Far East. He was always keen to extol the virtues of the cereal and had been eating it for breakfast for some eight weeks or more when he happened to be collecting rubbish from the galley one day and came across the empty porridge sack. To his horror, the bottom was full of live weevils, looking very energetic. He was promptly sick. Yesterday's Porridge is a novel based on Gordon Finn's experiences as an evacuee during WW2 but seen through the eyes of Francis Tenby who makes a discovery some thirty five years later which alters the course of his life. It is the saga of the fictional lives and relationships of characters that Gordon created, based on people he knew in a foster home. The book will appeal to readers of historical fiction. Gordon is inspired by many authors, including Charles Dickens, Jeffrey Archer and Catherine Cookson.

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