European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 20 the stars and stripes thursday september 22, 1977 Modem living by Angela Taylor new York times t has been said of Charles Dickens that his life reads like a novel. One May get the same feeling when meeting his great granddaughter the writer Monica Dickens at the Samaritans a Sui cide prevention Center in Boston where she is a Volunteer. By an almost eerie coincidence a scene from one of her books was reenacted during the inter View. Her 1970 novel the end of the line is set in a similar Center in the rectory of a London Church. The Boston Center is in the basement of the Arlington Street Church in the Book a character named Billie makes daily Telephone Calls for Comfort to Victoria a Volunteer. Dickens a tall Rangy woman with a Cap of blonde hair now wearing a Calico print dress and sat at a desk with the Telephone at her Elbow. Almost on Cue As she was saying that Charles Dickens wrote about characters he knew and situations he had been in the Telephone rang. Lilly How Are you Honey yes it s Monica she an swered the caller. There followed a Long monologue on the other end punctuated with sympathetic encourage ment from Dickens. Read Monica for Victoria and Lilly for Billie and it is a precise reproduction of a scene in the novel. Dickens Hung up and laughed at the bewilderment of the eaves Dropper. Yes the Call was real and to a great degree so was the Book. The author worked in the London Center to get material for the novel. She became so personally involved that she helped found the Center in Boston and commutes from her Home on Cape cod to do her share of Manning the Telephone. Charles Dickens life is currently unfolding in a 10-part television series in the . Miss Dickens saw two of the episodes when they were shown in Britain and liked them very much the facts Are and if they seem very much like the fictional David Copperfield it s because Copperfield was much like Dickens it s almost All biographical she said. So Are Many of the 31 books written by his great grand daughter who is one of Britain s Best Selling writers. Her first one one pair of hands related her experience As a Cook and maid. She worked in a Hospital during world War ii and told about that in one pair of feet. She readily admits that bearing the name of one of England s Foremost novelist helped when she was starting out. But she did make it on her own. One pair of hands still Sells at the rate of 30,000 copies a year in great Britain Monica Dickens is the granddaughter of one of Charles six sons Henry Fielding Dickens. Dickens liked to name his sons for British writers Alfred Tenny son Dickens Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens Henry Dickens possibly because he was one of the youngest May have escaped the overwhelming personal Ity of his father he became a Success As a respected judge. His son Henry Charles Dickens Monica s father was a barrister and an Alderman. Monica was born in 1915 to a not Rich but Comfort Able family in London. She was sent to a Good girls school but was expelled when she was 17 because she would t Wear the school uniform. She then went to be finished in Paris the sort of thing one did in those Days living with a French family and learning the language. Her Mother wanted her to be a Debutante and she was presented at the court of King George v. Shortly there after she truly rebelled a hated that life. So i left Home and moved into other people s basements As a Char and a Cook. I d had a few cooking lessons in Paris but mainly i Learned As i went in her two years in the basement kitchens she had about 20 jobs. But you can stand anything if you know it snot at a dance in London she met a publisher to whom she related some of her below stairs experiences. He was impressed by her name and amused with her life and thought she had a Book in it. When she went to his office he had a contract ready but suggested that if she could t write the Book herself someone else might. Although miss Dickens Felt and still does that she did not inherit any of her ancestor s writing Talent the Chal Lenge was irresistible. One pair of hands became a Best seller. Some Mem Bers of her family were not Happy about it. They did t want anybody to Challenge Charles. Mine was a Bourgeois family where people were successful but not but they re getting More ambitious she said. One of her cousins and a Niece Are writers. However for All of us who write what Talent we have does not come from Charles Dickens but the other sides of our families. Dickens work is extraordinary stuff. It s a Freak condition. I Don t think Genius is she ranks his writing with Shakespeare s and Tolstoy s. After the Bible his work is the most read in England miss Dickens went on writing doing it in Between her chores As a nurse and a Job in an aircraft Plant overhaul ing spitfire engines. I got a novel about in 1951, she boarded a plane going from Glasgow to London armed with the sunday papers so she would t have to talk to anybody. But the american naval officer in the next seat persisted. Roy Stratton was then based at the admiralty in London. After they were married he was transferred to Washington. And of course she wrote a Book about being a Navy officer s wife. And of course the other wives hated it. She did not like Washington. Being British and Insu Lar i thought everything there was wrong she said adding that her husband had made it bearable. How impossible life would be if you were married to a Man who was t fun to be she is now an american citizen. In 1953, Stratton retired from the Navy and they went to live in Cape cod. He is also a writer has done a series of detective novels and is currently working on a Book about the . Navy in China. The Stratton have two daughters Pam 25, who lives on the Cape and prudence 23, who lives in London. My daughter and her English husband took a Job As a maid and Butler to get a visa to come Here she said with a laugh. Miss Dickens is writing her own biography which undoubtedly will include her experiences with the Samari tans. She is very touched by the despair of would be suicides who she said Are mainly College aged. Drugs Are one reason. Also the feeling that there s no where to go fear that there will be no jobs for them when they get out. People say that parents Don t talk to their children. But they never did. I think they re better at it looking Back on her own life she says i think it s been Lovely. I be had a wonderful life. There Are still things i want to do to write a very Good Book that would live up to one s expectations of life. Dickens was t Satis fied Raviv t gift iihv3/ Del i. Monica Dickens great granddaughter of Charles Dickens is a popular author in her own right
