Publisher’s Description:
The Hendersons opens in 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I and concludes in 1919. It follows the lives of the eponymous Henderson family: William, a Sheffield barber, his wife, Lydia, and his four children, Matthew, Joe, Bob and Amy. William being a fervent churchman, lay preacher and pacifist, opposes the Church’s call to arms and he and the rest of the family find themselves in a different kind of war, one which appears to have no end.
Daphne Glazer told Centenary News that her research for the novel included interviewing the veteran British pacifist, Fenner Brockway, when he was in his 90s. Brockway, co-founder of the No-Conscription Fellowship in 1914, was jailed during the First World War. He went on to become a Labour MP and Peer.
Daphne Glazer said: “My father as a 19- year-old went to prison in WW1. I feel it took a great deal of courage to refuse to fight at this time. Those who came later when conscientious objection had been accepted perhaps had an easier time. Who knows?
“Subsequently I attempted to interest publishers in my novel – I wanted to show that a novel about struggling for peace can be equally as dramatic as those describing the fury and bloodshed caused by war.
“I wrote my novel originally 30 years ago but it is only now that it has come into its own. After so many wars and so much loss of life I think the world sees C.O.s differently.”
Daphne Glazer teaches novel writing and short story writing on the part-time degree course at Hull University in the UK. She is a Quaker Chaplain at Hull Prison and for many years has been involved in penal matters. She has also lectured in several prisons and her short stories have often arisen because of this experience.
Centenary News Review
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