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Arnold Powell |
Sparks fly when two religions collide
At 75 retired doctor Arnold Powell has written a novel examining how families fall out when children marry outside their faith, writes Peter Gruner
In Search of Henry
by Arnold Powell
Published by the Book Guild, £15.99
THE elderly East End Jewish man was quite unequivocal in his warning to his young son: “Marry someone from outside our religion and I shall never talk to you again.”
Almost a century later the event returned to haunt retired Kilburn GP Dr Arnold Powell when he began writing In Search of Henry.
The young man in question was Arnold’s uncle, who despite the pleadings of his family, went on to marry his Protestant sweetheart.
Families divided by religious intolerance is the fascinating theme by first-time writer Arnold.
At 75, he lives near Kenwood, Hampstead, but worked in a busy multi-ethnic practice in Kilburn High Road for 30 years, before retiring in 1996.
The book is set during World War I in Baltimore, USA, and involves the story of two talented young people desperately in love but from social different backgrounds and religions.
Henry is a poor Jewish immigrant, a cigar worker, and Claire, a well-off Catholic girl.
Both characters really existed and book is very much a genealogical detective story constantly returning to the modern day and to a genealogist called Alfred Chiswick who is tracing his own past.
In the book Henry confides his deep love for Claire to his friend Philip. He reveals he is besotted with her and writes her love poetry.
Philip warns Henry that his family will condemn him and Claire will be similarly ostracised by her parents.
Defiant, the couple marry in secret, but while this can be kept from their parents, Claire’s pregnancy cannot.
Henry finally breaks the news to his mother who is furious: “Oh, my godfathers, Henry,” she exclaims. “How could you marry out and do such a thing to me and to your family.”
And Claire’s family are mortified when they discover she is secretly married to a Jew.
“Mr Robins’ (Claire’s father) jaw slackened momentarily, his eyes stared in disbelief,” Arnold writes. “The sherry glass Mrs Robins was holding slipped from her hand, crashing to the ground, shards of glass splintering everywhere, as she overheard the words Henry had just spoken.”
The story cuts to late 20th-century London where Chiswick is researching his family roots. He comes across the mystery of Henry and Claire. But the genealogical record does not match the story told by surviving family members.
Intrigued, Alfred digs deeper, and soon begins to wish he had left his sleeping ancestors alone.
Arnold says about his uncle: “He was a munitions worker in 1916 who married a non-Jewish girl and was regarded as a traitor by his family.
“My grandfather said he would never speak to him again and was true to his word. It was all terribly sad. My grandfather didn’t even meet my uncle’s children, his grandchildren. Fortunately, my grandmother kept in contact with my uncle. Women are far more tolerant.
“Lots of wonderful people marry outside their religion but why should it matter if they love each other?
“When I started my Kilburn medical practice in 1964 my patients were mainly Anglo-Saxon and Irish. When I left there were patients from almost every country in the world. It was a fascinating experience.”
Arnold was born in Old Street and spent a year in Baltimore where much of the book takes place.
He adds: “My hobby has always been genealogy – digging up the past – but I wanted to combine it with a book. The result is a romantic novel based loosely on real events, but I’ve had to change all the names.”
He managed to trace the book’s main character Henry to the US via censuses from the 1920s. “I even found one of Henry’s grand daughters which was a remarkable bit of luck,” he continues.
“She told me how happily married her grandparents had been despite the problems of coming from different religious backgrounds.” Arnold says that when he started delving into genealogy he had to go to cemeteries and look at gravestones.
“Today, with the internet a lot of the work is done for you,” he says.
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