JPT Interview

Talking to an author whose works you have loved for years is something of a strange experience. The first time I talked to Josephine Pullein-Thompson, I was involved in the start up of Fidra Books, and was trying to trace the copyright of Joanna Cannan’s children’s books. I had written to Cavalier Books, run by Christine Pullein-Thompson’s daughter, Charlotte, and was waiting for a reply. One evening shortly afterwards, the telephone went; I answered it, and heard “Josephine Pullein-Thompson here!” There was a moment (I hope not too long) when I gasped for breath and groped for some sensible words. When you have read, and re-read books , so much so that they are a huge part of your inner life, it is a shock when your imaginary life suddenly comes face to face with someone who helped create it. I think I just about kept a grip on what I was saying, but did manage to say how very much I liked her books as well as talk about the details of the prospective contract for Joanna Cannan’s books. Immediately I put the phone down, I rang Vanessa of Fidra, and then my sister, owner of the other half of the family pony book collection, and had some very school-girly and excited conversations.

I didn’t actually meet Josephine until December 2007, when I asked her if she’d mind being interviewed for my website. She suggested I come for lunch, which, as you can imagine, I was quite pleased about. I was asked by a friend if I thought I’d manage to ask her anything or whether I’d be tongue-tied. JPT isn’t the sort of person who would render you speechless: she was physically much smaller than I thought she’d be (but how very handy for sorting out bolshy ponies); friendly, and very interested in what you do. She must be an excellent Aunt to have. I did ask if any of the family were likely to follow in the Pullein-Thompson footsteps: there is no one at the moment. Several of the family write, but non-fiction. She does however have hopes of the younger generation!

Josephine had asked me before I went if there was anything I didn’t like to eat: alarmingly little, but I failed to mention boiled eggs, which we had (stuffed) to start with, and which I made a pretty feeble attempt at. Josephine commented on this, and said she’d only ever met two other people who didn’t like them. I asked who they were: one was apparently a very boring Lord. She is however not the sort of person to make you feel uneasy because you don’t like boiled eggs, or judged: you don’t feel you have to come up to her standards conversationally, and she is very approachable. After lunch I ended up balancing on a ladder getting books down from a tall cupboard for her, carrying on the conversation about her books as I did so! (The books I got down are the signed copies that I am selling for her: they are on the website here).

Pony books were a different beast for Josephine than they were for later generations. Until her mother [Joanna Cannan] introduced pony books written from the point of view of the child with A Pony for Jean in 1936, pony books were mainly tales told by the pony. “I read Black Beauty eight times; I read Moorland Mousie and I liked Nibs [by Ethel Nokes], and Mottistone’s My Horse Warrior. I loved Victorian books with deathbed scenes. The twins liked pirates. I used to like Nat Gould, who was a very lowbrow racing novelist. I used to buy his cheap paperbacks from the local newsagent. At sixteen I was passionate about the novels of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope and then I discovered Social History, which is still one of my interests.”

Pony books became increasingly popular from the 1930s, as did riding. I asked Josephine why she thought this was. “I think Princess Elizabeth had much to do with this. She helped to change the type of person who wanted to ride. And children who didn’t ride at all still loved ponies, and had them in their imaginations. Girls have to love seomthing and at that age loving a pony is better than loving a pop star. We found that some of our girl pupils had no particular ambition to be good riders: they really preferred looking after ponies, but the boys all had to ride well quickly or they gave up.”

Josephine was awarded the Golden Pen by PEN the night before I visited her, and was quietly proud. She had 90% of the vote, and now has a Golden Pen, which is awarded for a Lifetime’s Distinguished Service to Literature. To put this in context, previous winners include Doris Lessing, Iris Murdoch and last year, Michael Holroyd. Josephine has been involved with PEN for many years, and was its President between 1994-1997. PEN was started in 1921 by Amy Dawson Scott, initially to promote literature as a means of greater understanding between cultures. It now campaigns on behalf of persecuted writers, tries to “build bridges between authors and people” and campaigns to raise awareness of freedom of expression.

We met in Josephine’s terraced house in London, where she has been for a good 30 years now. Her sitting room is calm, green and lined with books - an excellent way in which to arrange a room - and there we sat and talked about her books.