MY AMAZING LIFE: A NOVELIST AT 80
While most of us were burning banana bread or pulling a muscle to Bodycoach burpees by the sofa, one Yorkshire great-grandmother spent lockdown writing her fifth book. At the age of 80, Edna Hunneysett, who lives in Middlesbrough with her husband Ray, a retired teacher, has racked up many achievements in a well-lived life.
While the first half was devoted to family, Edna has carved out a second career as a mental health expert and as an author of good old-fashioned stories, which the lockdowns have given her time to write.
“Not seeing family and friends is so hard, so I try to write 500 words a day,” says Edna. “My book is the one good thing to come out of lockdown.”
After marrying aged 20 and going on to have eight children, it wasn’t until she turned 50 that Edna began studying for a degree in divinity, followed by an MA – doing a total of eight years of distance learning before passing with honours.
Her studies opened the doors to a writing career, and after producing three academic books, she dusted off an old manuscript about her poor but happy childhood on an isolated farm on the North Yorkshire moors.
After several false starts, her first novel, Greener Beyond The Hill, was published in
2017. A heartwarming, semi-autobiographical tale of her heroine Emma Holmes’ childhood, her latest instalment is Greener Pastures and Brown Blazers, which tells the story of Emma growing up in the 50s.
Edna explains: “I’d actually started writing the first book in my 40s so I could tell my youngest daughter about my late dad, who died of cancer at 63, just before she was born. But it was only in 1997, that my daughter helped me revamp it into a more fictional work.”
With tales of smoking Woodbines, farmyard escapades and family trials set against a backdrop of poverty, hardship and life without electricity, Edna’s books are enjoyed by readers who often hark back to a better time.
But she says: “No, I like to live in the present. It was very hard work back then but we didn’t realise that – we just thought it was living.” Edna, who celebrates her 60th wedding anniversary with Ray this April, is now working on the next book of Emma’s story. “I’ve got 20,000 words written already!” she reveals.
It’s this zest for life and belief in herself which keeps Edna going – not to mention her 21 grandchildren and three great-grandkids.
She says: “You have to make the most of life – it’s not a dress rehearsal. If I can quote one thing from the bible, it’s John 10.10. ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’.”
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Dear Coleen
My partner and I have been together for three years and we have two children together and are very happy. Some time ago, I told him I loved him and he just looked sad, so I asked what was wrong and he said he doesn’t know if he loves me any more.
It’s been about six months since this happened and he says he still doesn’t know. He says he wants to be with me, and that he plans to be with me for the rest of his life, and that he’s happy, he just doesn’t know if he loves me.
My head is spinning because I love him and want to marry him and we have two beautiful sons, but I feel like I deserve to be loved and I don’t know what to do.
We tried counselling, but it really didn’t work for us, so I’m at a loss.
Coleen says
I don’t think you’re “very happy” or you wouldn’t be writing to me and I can feel your sadness in this letter. Yes, you do deserve to be loved back and for your partner to tell you he’s not in love with you is crushing.
You have to think about what this situation is doing to your self-esteem and what your future will look like, staying with a man who doesn’t love you. You can’t carry on ignoring it – you have to talk about it, whether he likes it or not. Ask him why he wants to stay with you when he’s told you he doesn’t love you – is it convenience, is it laziness, is it for the children? None of those reasons are good enough and you deserve better.
It seems like he’s calling all the shots – he’s with you because it suits him for now and he’s keeping you dangling. I think it’s important that you decide what you want and start to feel more in control of your life.
It’s a shame counselling didn’t help, but it could be worth trying a different counsellor. I know it’s harder to make tough decisions about your relationship when you have children – I’ve been in that situation – but your kids will be OK and will benefit from their mother feeling secure and loved.