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| Rowena Farre, or Lois Parr(e) but actually Daphne Lois Macready |
The British Library lists three books under the name Rowena Farre with the interesting note
Rowena FARRE pseud. [i.e. Daphne Lois Macready.]They are:
* A time from the world. London: Hutchinson, 1962
* The beckoning land. London : Gollancz, 1969.
and of course
* Seal morning
In the mid-1990s I found this entry on Abebooks and couldn't afford to buy the collection:
Rowena Farr ie Lois Parre: …7 typed letters signed, 1 autograph letter signed, from 15 December 1954 to 29 April 1959 relating to the development and publication of her first book Seal Morning (1957, decorations by Raymond Sheppard). Also related correspondence (typed letters) from various editors at Hutchinson and Co., her publishers, including those to the author and those to the editor of the Daily Mail in relation to a controversy surrounding the authenticity of details in this proclaimed "true story". This chronology of correspondence provides an interesting insight into the development of a book, in this case, from the publisher's initial interest in an article by Farre to the publication of her book that was selected by the Secondary Education Board as one ….Boy, do I wish I'd bought them! If you do know who's got them, I'd love to make contact - email me at
Fortunately someone very dedicated, has created a Wikipeida entry which has superb references which can be followed, telling the fascinating story of Rowena, Daphne or Lois! I won't bother repeating it here, except to say that in Mark Andresen and Colin Wilson's Field of Vision: The Broadcast Life of Kenneth Allsop
It appears that we really don't know much about the woman, let alone whether Seal Morning is true. As one article has said this could be seen as 'autobiographical fiction' rather than autobiography. As most agree the story reads beautifully and is a brilliant observation of nature and the seasons and I remember reading to my family during a Welsh holiday and it worked as a read-aloud book
The only instance of "Lois Parr(e)" I can find is in The Countryman (Vol 50 No 2 Winter 1954) where Lois writes about a musical seal!
In 1986 David Cobham directed the story for a children's TV series (by London Weekend Television) where the action was moved from the wilds of Scotland to the flat landscape of Norfolk - which was a it more logical as the East coast has breeding colonies of seal!
NEXT TIME: Comments on Seal Morning artwork
