Springcleaning – Book 13 “Grandmother’s Footsteps” by Imogen Lycett Green

Grandmother’s Footsteps is both a memoir and a travel book in one. The author Imogen Lycett Green is the granddaughter of Lady Penelope Betjeman who was the wife of the famous poet. Her grandmother was a formidable and eccentric woman who had spent some of her early life in India where her father was Commander in Chief of the Indian Army before Independence. In her 60s and 70s, her marriage obviously failing, Lady Penelope spent much of her time in India writing about temples and other landmarks in the Kulu Valley and accompanying groups on tours of places of interest to share her knowledge and enthusiasm. In an attempt to understand her grandmother, and to come to terms with her sudden death, the author travels to India and visits the places and people that Lady Penelope loved.

This book was written in the early 1990s when the trip took place and includes extracts from articles, diaries and letters written by Lady Penelope which show her love of India and her phenomenal knowledge of the country, its culture and its architecture. She had lots of friends, both local people and those from other nationalities living in the country, and they welcomed the author when she made her trip and shared stories about the woman they loved. We get to know Lady Penelope very well in this narrative, we hear her voice clearly, we see what others thought about her and we are given the opportunity to share her enthusiasm for India.

The book bobs around from tales of Lady Penelope’s life to the travels of her granddaughter, and what she learns about her grandmother and India on her trip. I did get a bit bogged down at one point with yet more descriptions of Indian towns, food she ate and bus rides but mostly I was engaged with this book and I could see the love which both these woman have for this country and its people. The author is very good at describing what happened and the people she met without making too many value judgements about them so that the author can make up their own mind about what they feel.

India is not a country that I know much about but I like travel books and memoirs. I enjoyed this book and found it very interesting, although I have to remember that the author’s trip was nearly thirty years ago now and Lady Penelope’s time in the country was even longer ago so things will have changed since the book was written. My copy of the book is a bit battered and I suspect that I picked it up in a cheap second-hand bookshop somewhere, although I can’t remember when or where. I note that it is no longer in print. I have found a place for it with other family memoirs which I own.