Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Novel tells story of mine strike-breaker
THE miners’ strike and eventual closure of the Kent coalfields had a devastating effect on the local community.
Now writer Theresa Le Flem, who was living in Tilmanstone at the time, has used the setting as the backdrop for her first novel, The Sea Inside His Head.
It tells the story of a miner who is forced to decide whether to become a strike-breaker and earn the benefits of voluntary redundancy but risk losing the woman he loves, who is campaigning to keep the pit open.
Emotions
Theresa was signing copies of her new book at Waterstones in Canterbury at the weekend and admits she is a little anxious about how the story will be perceived in the former mining community, where emotions are still raw.
She said: “During the 1984/85 national coal strike I was living a stone’s throw from Tilmanstone Colliery.
“Although there were no miners in my family, the impact the strike had on the community is something I will never forget.
“Very quickly, feelings of antagonism emerged against those who didn’t support the strike.
“A miner who continued working or who broke the strike was labelled a scab.
“These men became outcasts and there was no mercy shown. This is probably when my feelings came into play.
“I have a tendency to sympathise with the persecuted.”
She added: “I hope that in portraying the central character’s difficulties, some light will be shed on the subject of scabs and the pressure of debt. What forced them to make this difficult decision?
“Do they deserve the total rejection they receive, even now, from the mining communities? Can they, 27 years later, be understood and forgiven?”
The Sea Inside His Head is published in hardback by Robert Hale and costs £19.99