I was fascinated to read of the novels of Peter M.
Cooke, author of the Murphy-Arcadelt Chronicles - a series of seven novels spanning the years 1900 to 1963 and
following the fortunes of two families whose lives are intertwined - as I am
unaware of any other novel or series which features the Salvation Army at the
beginning of the 20th century. To my delight, Mr Cooke has kindly written this
guest post, describing the inspiration for and background to his work:
"I've been a member of The Salvation Army all my life -- my parents came
into it in their early childhood. Their own mothers were members, though they
lapsed soon after marriage.
I've always had affection for 'the Army'; I've made a study of its history;
I've contributed to its periodicals. Came the time when I felt a career change
was called for, then I worked for it full-time, discovering talents I never knew
I had. I worked first in its Editorial Department, and then in the Literary
Department, helping to produce its books and periodicals -- assessing
manuscripts; 'marking-up' copy for the printers and 'making-up pages' (in the
days of 'hot metal' -- now long gone, of course); proof reading and so
forth.
One colleague, Norman, and I often had 'coffee-time conferences' when we
talked about the books we'd like to write and books we thought 'the Army' ought
to publish (not always the same thing, of course). As a result of one of these I
was given the task of writing the biography of one of its outstanding composers,
Eric Ball. On another occasion Norman said he'd like, when he retired, to write
a novel about 'the Army', though when I reminded him of this he'd forgotten all
about it. But I'd already had the idea of writing 'an everyday story of "Army
folk"' for The Salvation Army itself which had been turned down.
Some months later I travelled north from London to my home town of
Nottingham to attend the funeral of my father's youngest sister -- Nellie -- the
last survivor of the seven siblings who made up my father's family. There came
into my mind again the idea of a novel about 'the Army', and, like a flash, the
idea of making it an historical novel, with several of my parents' siblings
sketched into it. Thus, the two maids-of-all-work in my book Maggie's Tale are
my two grandmothers, who as girls were house maids, and seeing a Salvation Army
procession go by the window went to find out more; Bridie, in the second one, is
based on my father's eldest sister, Lottie, whose intentions to be a full-time
officer were never fulfilled; Harvey, in several of the books, is basically my
father's brother Harry, who was told by his fiancee that he 'could have either
"the Army" or me, but not both' -- and who made a wrong decision. And later
regretted it.... And so on.
In the first of the seven, Maggie's Tale, we find the two girls, maids of
all work, Maggie Murphy and Lucy Wibberley, linking up with the organisation
when it starts work in their town in 1900; losing their positions because the
salvationists are not considered respectable; applying to become officers; what
happens to Lucy when she's accepted, and to Maggie, when she isn't.... In the
second, Cosmo's Tale, we meet Cosmo Beresford Arcadelt, who gives up a life of
Downton Abbey-like privilege when he joins its ranks, and learn of his marriage
to Lucy; also of the growing-up of Maggie's two daughters, Bridie and 'Little
Lucy'. In the third, Harvey's Tale, we find his elder brother, Wennie (short for
Wenceslas) dealing with a broken romance, and Harvey himself making a disastrous
marriage.... And so on.
Time and space are insufficient to tell of the remaining four, which take
the story of the Murphy and Arcadelt families forward to 1963. Sometimes actual
events in Salvation Army history are woven into them. Each one is of a uniform
length and format - about 76,000 words in nine chapters.
-- Peter M.
Cooke
READERS' OPINIONS IN BRIEF --
... awesome knowledge of the period.... Very impressive. -- J.L.
The ending was masterful and came as a complete surprise. -- F.L.
I look forward to the next. -- A.K.
You described the various characters in such detail that they really came
alive to me. -- M.P.
...writes with the eye of the poet for detail, but produces the fast-moving
story of the novelist.... -- P.D.P.
...succeeds in bringing early SA history to life in his well-researched,
fictional account. ...an interesting way to introduce today’s Christian soldiers
-- whether Salvationist or not -- to the fascinating world of early SA courage
and determination in the land of the Army’s birth and beyond. -- EM (USA)
...a fabulous idea to write an Army-based fiction. ...really enjoyed
following the story against the historical and social background. -- DB
A splendid read. ...awesome research -- KL
It is interesting the way in which propaganda can be used to destroy or to
extol a character, and more interesting, perhaps, that in spite of years of
being bombarded with slanted stories, so many people go on believing everything
they are told by the press. Here is a very small example which struck me as
almost amusing. Having seen the very interesting film, ‘The King’s Speech’ and
having read more about the background and character of King George VI, it is
clear that King George was a courageous man who had to face his own demons –
largely those created during his childhood by his terrible bully of a father –
to take up the role of King. George (or Albert, to be more precise) never wanted
or expected to be saddled with the weight of kingship and his shyness and
stammer made the prospect of having to take on such a responsibility all the
more daunting. So great was his fear and reluctance to accept the throne that he
reportedly sobbed to his mother, Queen Mary, when he realised what the future
held for him on the abdication of his feckless brother. The fact that, in spite
of his shyness, reserve and fear, he accepted the responsibility, is – quite
rightly, in my opinion – generally portrayed as an example of his
self-sacrifice, and the story of his weeping to his mother is used to show the
extent of his courage in that he overcame his fears and did what he knew must be
done. 
The amusing part of this story is the fact that Nicholas II was equally
reluctant to become Tsar and, in the emotionally-charged atmosphere surrounding
the death of his father, he saw the daunting task ahead of him and wept to his
cousin that he felt totally unsuited for such a role. His tears at that time are
often cited as an example of his weakness, and his admission that he felt
unsuited for the role is used to suggest that he was totally inept. Yet
Nicholas, like George (Albert) overcame his own demons to do what he believed to
be right...and even today he is villified for it. 
