Origins of The Camomile Lawn

Mary Wesley came late to literary success. After thirty five years of writing all she had to show for it were a couple of virtually unknown children's books. All this changed in 1983 when her appropriately titled novel ''Jumping the Queue'' was released by Macmillan. With the success of her first novel, Mary decided to embark on a blast from the past. If her first novel had been informed by her later years of loneliness and depression, this new venture would be steeped in the carpe diem atmosphere of World War II era England. The book was also written partially in response to the overly sentimental and whitewashed books concerning the era that had been written by other authors. Mary herself had certainly partied her way through the war years and slept with masses of men so she saw no reason why this lifestyle should be hidden from modern audiences. In fact, it is almost eerie how Mary Wesley incorporated so much of her life into the book. Like Polly, she worked for intelligence during the war, like Calypso she was stuck in an unhappy marriage and had lots of lovers, and like Sophy she was a neglected child shuffled off to boarding schools and expected to raise herself. Some events like Oliver and Calypso's interrupted tryst in the book really happened to her during the war. The mysterious plunge over the cliffs was also taken from real life, although in this case Mary dramatized the reason behind the coast guard's fatal fall. There is an Evelyn Waugh-like fun in figuring out what famous figures are fictionalized. For example, the character of Oliver is based on one of Mary's former lovers, an Olympic gold medalist. In turn, another of Mary's former lovers Paul Ziegler became upset upon reading the book as he believed that Mary had based the womanising violinist Max on him. It was hardly a dignified portrayal of Ziegler who had moved to the Isle of Wight and become a Benedictine monk. But Mary Wesley wanted to tell the World War II era like it was and for contemporary readers The Camomile Lawn certainly succeeds in shattering preconceptions about the 1940s informed by the censored films of the time.