'Socially unacceptable' family tale inspires House of Cards actor Christopher Owen's book
For nine years the mother of House of Cards actor Christopher Owen was in a children's home in Aston, Birmingham, and for the rest of her life she hid the "socially unacceptable" truth about the reason for the family's destitution.
It was only near the end of her life that he found out, from her brother, what had really happened. And now he has drawn on the family tale in fictionalised form in his latest book, called America Awaits Us, My Lovely.
Edgbaston-born Christopher, who is 84, worked as an actor for over 55 years in theatre and television which included House of Cards, Perfect Spy, Men Behaving Badly, Sharpe’s Honour, Morse, and Poirot. Now retired from acting, he continues to write.
His grandmother Clara Withnall, from Birmingham, sailed to America in 1903.
"She went to join my grandfather in the USA where he had gone to try to sell his tin can-making invention. I don’t think he had a patent for this. Tins cans were in great demand in the States and Canada for tinned fruit, peaches, pears and apricots. They were married on the day she arrived in New York," says Christopher.
"In trying to gain interest in his invention, they travelled throughout Ohio, Michigan and Canada. And during that time, they had four children, two boys and two girls. My mother was the eldest.
"Unfortunately, my grandfather deserted the family for another woman. And my grandmother and the four kids returned to Birmingham. They were destitute and my mother and her siblings were separated and placed in children’s homes, two in one home, the other two in another one."
As he understands it, his mother left the home when she was about 16. She became a nurse, married in Edgbaston in 1933, and moved to London when the war broke out. His mother's name was Dorothy Owen, nee Knight.
"Throughout her life my mother maintained her father had died in the States. She believed that for her father to have left her mother for another woman was to be considered socially unacceptable – a social stigma. I found out near the end of her life, from her brother, that he had in fact deserted them.
"My grandmother’s story can be found in fictionalised form in the title story."
"America Awaits Us, My Lovely and other stories" has been published by Troubador and is available through bookshops, online retailers and direct from the publishers.
Christopher added: "My stories have been published in magazines and anthologies and have won prizes. Some of my plays, including a one act comedy A Family Affair, have been performed in the UK, USA, and Australia."
