Thinking About Being Good

Thinking About Being Good

From journeying down the Borelli river
to boarding schools in
Darjeeling and Britain and life beyond.

by Penny Rome

Penny Rome’s light-hearted and humorous memoir reconstructs a child’s perspective as she grows up on a tea plantation in India’s plains of Assam, bringing in an abundance of tales of adventure and, later, life in London.

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Penny Rome’s light-hearted and humorous memoir reconstructs a child’s perspective as she grows up on a tea plantation in India’s plains of Assam, bringing in an abundance of tales of adventure and, later, life in London.

Born in India in the 50s after Independence, the days of the Raj remain evident as the white man is still very much in charge. The author reflects on life within a patriarchal society without the guidance of parents physically and emotionally close, and the impact on forming relationships.

Penny guides us through family generations conveying honest and unique accounts of others’ misgivings, misfortunes, love, motherhood, repression and, finally, fulfilment with life in present-day Sussex.

This charming memoir is sure to remain in mind for a while to come; she pulls us along in a satisfying motion, chatting throughout as a friend would. She will firmly make friends with you, the reader, too…

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I was born just after the days of the Raj. Well, nine years and seven months after, actually, in February 1956. My father was a tea planter and I lived with my parents on a tea plantation. I was a tea planter’s daughter, an only child and you could say I was a third generation Indian because my mother was born in India, as was her mother before her.

Excerpt from Thinking About Being Good

My mother was of a generation where running fingers anywhere on your body wasn’t the done thing. So, what with her hairstyle and tri-weekly visits to the hairdresser for a comb-out, her hair was dead.

Excerpt from Thinking About Being Good

At the age of five I was sent to boarding school 6,500 feet up a mountain in Darjeeling. I think going to school at such a young age was a little too early. I was still wetting the bed – or perhaps I was wetting the bed because I was sent away.

Excerpt from Thinking About Being Good

I found a letter I had written to my mother after she died. “My darling Mummy. I love you so much and I miss you. I wish you could be here because Daddy’s not. Are you helping me? Please can you let me know if you are there?” And the carriage clock that hasn’t worked in forever started ticking.

Excerpt from Thinking About Being Good

I was born just after the days of the Raj. Well, nine years and seven months after, actually, in February 1956. My father was a tea planter and I lived with my parents on a tea plantation. I was a tea planter’s daughter, an only child and you could say I was a third generation Indian because my mother was born in India, as was her mother before her.

Excerpt from Thinking About Being Good

“I so enjoyed reading Penny Rome’s book. Her style is very conversational so the reader is completely engaged from page 1. A sad tale in so many ways but what a marvellously strong character she has become. I’m assuming someone is turning Penny’s book into a screenplay as I type. Wonderful read, Penny … thank you!”

S. Bee