A memoir of a life and an institution

Rory Cellan-Jones has written his memoir Ruskin Park as a tribute to his mother and as a way to understand her difficult life as a single parent after WW2 at a time when this was particularly hard. The Ruskin Park of the title is the council tower block in London where he lived with his mother and his half-brother as he grew up. The author’s mother Sylvia was a romantic and also rather secretive so Rory never totally understood the truth about his childhood and the choices that Sylvia made until after her death when he inherited papers, letters and diaries.

Both of Rory’s parents worked for the BBC – his father as a director and his mother as a secretary. It is obvious, however, that Sylvia was on a path to a greater role within the organisation but having a child, at that time and in that place, immediately stalled her progress while having no effect at all on that of his father. In fact, Sylvia, who had had ambitions and dreams, had to spend most of her time managing the logistics of working and having children as well as the difficult financial situation.

This is a touching memoir in which the author realises that he never fully understood the difficulties that his mother had when bringing him up and what she had to sacrifice. It is also a tribute to her fighting spirit and her love for her sons. In his twenties Rory finally met his father and they had a relationship but they never discussed what had happened. There is a feeling of regret and things unsaid all the way through the book.

After university Rory also came to work at the BBC and part of this book is also the history of that institution over the past fifty years or so. The narrative touches on class and the educational opportunities which Rory was able to access free of charge which are no longer available to children from London council housing. The book is a social history as well as a memoir, it’s also gentle and filled with love and respect. I found it absolutely gripping as it’s beautifully told.