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A Victorian Son: an autobiography, 1897-1922
Stuart Cloete who was the author of Turning Wheels, Rags of Glory and How Young They Died, now turns to the story of his own eventful life. His work has been intimately connected with the three ruling influences in his life: his birth and childhood in Paris, his World War One experiences and his growing consciousness of his Boer heritage, stemming from his father's people who came to South Africa with Van Riebeeck.
In this first volume of autobiography, Stuart Cloete describes with loving nostalgia Paris of La Belle Epoque, when women were feminine, fathers were stern and children seen and seldom heard except by their wet-nurses and uniformed nannies.
After attending public school in England, Stuart Cloete went straight into the army, being one of the youngest commissioned officers in the war, in which he served in the Yorkshire Light Infantry, transferring later to the Coldstream Guards. Twice wounded in action, the second time very seriously, readers of How Young They Died will soon realise how much of his own story went into that novel of life in the trenches, with the blood and mud relieved only occasionally by the gaiety of London. This first volume ends in 1922 when Major Stuart Cloete, now married, resumes life in France.
In this first volume of autobiography, Stuart Cloete describes with loving nostalgia Paris of La Belle Epoque, when women were feminine, fathers were stern and children seen and seldom heard except by their wet-nurses and uniformed nannies.
After attending public school in England, Stuart Cloete went straight into the army, being one of the youngest commissioned officers in the war, in which he served in the Yorkshire Light Infantry, transferring later to the Coldstream Guards. Twice wounded in action, the second time very seriously, readers of How Young They Died will soon realise how much of his own story went into that novel of life in the trenches, with the blood and mud relieved only occasionally by the gaiety of London. This first volume ends in 1922 when Major Stuart Cloete, now married, resumes life in France.
319 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
23 people want to read
About the author
Stuart Cloete
69 books9 followersStuart Cloete was born in France in 1897 to a Scottish mother and South African father. (His ancestors had come from Holland with Jan Van Riebeck to establish a settlement for the Dutch East India Company).
He remembered his early years in Paris with nostalgia, but the ideal was shattered when he began his schooling in France and England. He never excelled academically and - in his own words - ‘learnt almost nothing'.
At the age of 17 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (at the beginning of the First World War in 1914) into the Ninth King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, before later transferring to the Coldstream Guards. While nearly all of his early fellow officers and friends died, he survived four years of fighting in France and, for a while, was treated like a living lucky charm by the troops. He was seriously injured twice, and experienced amnesia induced by ‘shell-shock' which was largely left untreated. In a mental hospital in London, he met his first wife, a volunteer nurse, Eileen Horsman, and fell in love, even inducing a second breakdown with aspirin and whisky so he could see her again.
After recuperating in France, Cloete acted on his compulsion to identify with the land of his ancestors. He became a successful farmer in the Transvaal in South Africa. But as soon as he had established himself and achieved his aims he became restless again and began pondering a life as a writer. His eighteen year marriage floundered through growing incompatibility and Cloete's infidelity.
He sold up and left for England to become an author, leaving Eileen behind in South Africa. He recalled the decision to become a writer as the biggest gamble of his life. But, as it turned out, he hit the jackpot with his first novel, Turning Wheels, published in 1937. It sold more than two million copies, although it was banned in South Africa where it scandalized the authorities with its commentary on the Great Trek and a mixed-race relationship. Cloete was a prolific writer and went on to complete 14 novels and at least eight volumes of short stories.
On the way to America to promote Turning Wheels, Cloete met Tiny ( Mildred Elizabeth West) who later became his second wife. It was not love at first sight but eventually he realized he had found a soul mate. Tiny enjoyed the fruits of his success as a highly acclaimed writer and was his faithful companion until his death in Cape Town in 1976.
Cloete lived through a period of unprecedented upheavals and in his autobiography, published in the early 70s, he pondered whether ‘progress' was in fact a misnomer; it had ushered in colorless uniformity and even the threat of nuclear war. He also reflected on the chapters of his vagabond, eventful and, in his view, incredibly lucky life. He left behind no children.
He remembered his early years in Paris with nostalgia, but the ideal was shattered when he began his schooling in France and England. He never excelled academically and - in his own words - ‘learnt almost nothing'.
At the age of 17 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (at the beginning of the First World War in 1914) into the Ninth King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, before later transferring to the Coldstream Guards. While nearly all of his early fellow officers and friends died, he survived four years of fighting in France and, for a while, was treated like a living lucky charm by the troops. He was seriously injured twice, and experienced amnesia induced by ‘shell-shock' which was largely left untreated. In a mental hospital in London, he met his first wife, a volunteer nurse, Eileen Horsman, and fell in love, even inducing a second breakdown with aspirin and whisky so he could see her again.
After recuperating in France, Cloete acted on his compulsion to identify with the land of his ancestors. He became a successful farmer in the Transvaal in South Africa. But as soon as he had established himself and achieved his aims he became restless again and began pondering a life as a writer. His eighteen year marriage floundered through growing incompatibility and Cloete's infidelity.
He sold up and left for England to become an author, leaving Eileen behind in South Africa. He recalled the decision to become a writer as the biggest gamble of his life. But, as it turned out, he hit the jackpot with his first novel, Turning Wheels, published in 1937. It sold more than two million copies, although it was banned in South Africa where it scandalized the authorities with its commentary on the Great Trek and a mixed-race relationship. Cloete was a prolific writer and went on to complete 14 novels and at least eight volumes of short stories.
On the way to America to promote Turning Wheels, Cloete met Tiny ( Mildred Elizabeth West) who later became his second wife. It was not love at first sight but eventually he realized he had found a soul mate. Tiny enjoyed the fruits of his success as a highly acclaimed writer and was his faithful companion until his death in Cape Town in 1976.
Cloete lived through a period of unprecedented upheavals and in his autobiography, published in the early 70s, he pondered whether ‘progress' was in fact a misnomer; it had ushered in colorless uniformity and even the threat of nuclear war. He also reflected on the chapters of his vagabond, eventful and, in his view, incredibly lucky life. He left behind no children.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 4, 2024
Certainly Stuart Cloete served with distinction during World War One, but by his autobiography the man was a snob and a misogynist. He came from a middle class background; and was educated in France. But his views on women and the lower working classes would imagine Cloete was from the aristocracy.
His account of his life was all self important and self-absorbed. In either case his life story was not a particular good read.
His account of his life was all self important and self-absorbed. In either case his life story was not a particular good read.
April 17, 2022
A worthwhile read, despite the old fashioned title. Stuart Cloete writes with the skill of a true writer and the insight of a man who has lived and seen a lot.
Although Stuart Cloete saw himself as a middleclass Englishman, he was born in Paris and grew up in France, spending his childhood in Paris and his teenage years in the small village Condette near Hardelot.
This is what he says about his French upbringing:
He says what he wrote about the war was not to describe the war but to "show the impact on the character of an individual" and his comments on it, although not unique, do provide food for thought. There is no doubt the devastation the war had on his generation. The world was changed afterwards.
A comment that I found interesting was:
This was the time into which I had been born and in whose death-throes I participated.He writes with nostalgia about his childhood. Every now and then he digresses with discussions about society "then" compared to "now”, making comparisons with how it was "then" (early 1900s) compared to "now" (early 1970s) He explains how he thinks experiences shaped him into the man he became.
Although Stuart Cloete saw himself as a middleclass Englishman, he was born in Paris and grew up in France, spending his childhood in Paris and his teenage years in the small village Condette near Hardelot.
This is what he says about his French upbringing:
I consider myself very fortunate in being brought up in France. I spoke French as well as English, but most important of all, I learnt to work. The French people in those days really worked. At Hardelot all the cupboards built in our house were made at night by a carpenter who worked elsewhere all day. Often in the summer when I got up early to take my dog out I found all the washing, including sheets, already drying on the line by five o’clock. These industrious examples developed in me the ability to work hard and fast for long hours.And another recollection of politics in France at the time:
Certainly I remember talk of the Commune and riots on May Day when the cobbles of the streets were torn up and used as missiles, and barricades were flung across some of the boulevards. One thing I remember about these conflicts between the workers and authority, was that neither side was prepared to walk home. And that all hostilities stopped before the last Métro ran. Strikers, communists, police, troops and firemen all bought their tickets and went home on the same train. The French are a very admirable people, logical and civilized.The happy nostalgic descriptions of a pampered childhood and carefree youth in the French countryside are followed by his going into the army at the age of 17 to fight in WWI. He writes candidly about his experience as a WWI officer in which he was wounded twice, the second time very seriously.
He says what he wrote about the war was not to describe the war but to "show the impact on the character of an individual" and his comments on it, although not unique, do provide food for thought. There is no doubt the devastation the war had on his generation. The world was changed afterwards.
A comment that I found interesting was:
“By now (April 1918) the British were very tired, the French were exhausted to the point of mutiny. There is no doubt that the Americans won the war, although it took me twenty years to see it. … Thirty years later I changed my mind again and now think it might have been better if the Americans had not come in and the war had become a stalemate with a negotiated peace which would still have left Germany a great power.”Sometime, I hope to get around to reading: The Gambler: An Autobiography Volume 2, 1920-1939.
October 19, 2014
This guy is a direct descendant of one Jacob Cloete, who came out to South Africa in 1652 with Jan Van Riebeek and the very first settlers. I know this because he was my grandfather's cousin. Reading it made me feel like I wasn't the only black sheep in the family! What a life he lived.
The thing is, he doesn't know any of this until the day before he goes to fight in the trenches in the First World War. He doesn't even know his surname is Cloete. He thinks it's Graham.
But then his dad (my grandfather's uncle) comes to him and says "Listen son. Your name's actually Cloete. I had to change it and move from England to France cos I got into shit with business."
Anyway, off he goes and fights, gets badly injured and spends a long time in hospital where he falls in love with an Irish nurse.
After the war they marry and they spend about 7 or 8 years on a little plot of land in France growing veggies and stuff.
But it slowly eats away at him. Who is he? What is the rest of his family up to down there at the bottom tip of Africa?
So he leaves, and spends the next ten years or so managing farms for family members all over South Africa. At the age of 39, he decides "Fuck this. I'm going to be a writer!"
Now he never even finished school, but he goes back to France and holes himself up somewhere for a year and writes a novel on the Great Trek in South Africa that gets banned here for about 45 years but immediately becomes a number one best seller in America! He gets catapulted into fame and spends a few years shamelessly philandering around while churning out racy novels with a dark twist set in various parts of Africa. I think by the time he died in the early 70s he'd written about 50 books.
What a guy.
I read this book at the age of 39 and decided Fuck that? Why must I be a photographer my whole life? I'm going to become a songwriter. Which is exactly what I did.
The thing is, he doesn't know any of this until the day before he goes to fight in the trenches in the First World War. He doesn't even know his surname is Cloete. He thinks it's Graham.
But then his dad (my grandfather's uncle) comes to him and says "Listen son. Your name's actually Cloete. I had to change it and move from England to France cos I got into shit with business."
Anyway, off he goes and fights, gets badly injured and spends a long time in hospital where he falls in love with an Irish nurse.
After the war they marry and they spend about 7 or 8 years on a little plot of land in France growing veggies and stuff.
But it slowly eats away at him. Who is he? What is the rest of his family up to down there at the bottom tip of Africa?
So he leaves, and spends the next ten years or so managing farms for family members all over South Africa. At the age of 39, he decides "Fuck this. I'm going to be a writer!"
Now he never even finished school, but he goes back to France and holes himself up somewhere for a year and writes a novel on the Great Trek in South Africa that gets banned here for about 45 years but immediately becomes a number one best seller in America! He gets catapulted into fame and spends a few years shamelessly philandering around while churning out racy novels with a dark twist set in various parts of Africa. I think by the time he died in the early 70s he'd written about 50 books.
What a guy.
I read this book at the age of 39 and decided Fuck that? Why must I be a photographer my whole life? I'm going to become a songwriter. Which is exactly what I did.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews