Rich Desserts & Captain's Thin

by Margaret Forster

Rich Desserts And Captains A Family and Their Times, 1831-1931 [Hardcover] Forster, Margaret

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published December 2, 1997

About the author

Margaret Forster was educated at the Carlisle and County High School for Girls. From here she won an Open Scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford where in 1960 she was awarded an honours degree in History.

From 1963 Margaret Forster worked as a novelist, biographer and freelance literary critic, contributing regularly to book programmes on television, to Radio 4 and various newpapers and magazines.

Forster was married to the writer, journalist and broadcaster Hunter Davies. They lived in London. and in the Lake District. They had three children, Caitlin, Jake and Flora.

Reviews

[Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved two fiction books by Forster - "The Memory Box" and "Over" and I thought "Diary of an ordinary woman" was non-fiction till I researched a bit further. So I have bought some more of Forster's works and this is the first I picked from the pile. The story of the founding of Carr's of Carlisle. I still remember their 'table water' biscuits.
This 280 page portrait of a family, a company and a town reads as if I've discovered a memoir and started from start to finish but that's the artifice of Margaret Forster. She does tons of research (and the section on this is fascinating to me, an ex-librarian). She has molded a tale of three generations (and more) and lays out the quirks of human beings brilliantly. A Quaker solely in charge and with the energy to create, grow and run such a new enterprise is setting himself up for trouble when there is no single like-minded son available. It took the next generation to produce that son.
This social history outlines the change of a small northern market town to a bustling crossroads - canal and railway meeting here. It talks of how a man with Quaker morals runs a company trying not to make profit for its own sake but to better his fellow man.
The photographs and maps and family tree are perfect - not too many to lose interest but not too few to frustrate. An easy read on the history of an 19th century company that moves into the 20th Century

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd but interesting little book about the history of the Carr's biscuit company. They were Quakers and sought to run their company on Christian principles, offering their employees fair wages and benefits like bath facilities (in a time when most homes didn't have indoor plumbing) and meals. They were forward thinking in business, too, adding many technological advances to the factory. Sadly, the business was finally absorbed into a larger baking company in the 70s.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

About the Carr's biscuit family

Wonderful, fascinating history lesson

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you get a really competent writer like Margaret Forster they can make even a biscuit manufacturer's life interesting, particularly if they have something to work with

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting account of the Carr family and their social background. Margaret Forster remains one of my favourite authors.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and fascinating account of the development of Carr's biscuit factory in Carlisle in the 1830s. I must admit to skipping the relationships within the large family but it didn't matter.