January 13, 2005

11:14 AM

Another partially remembered childhood story question. Does anyone recall a short story with a female narrator that revolves around her using a silver pencil to write and thereby deal with a debilitating illness? I seem to also recall something about "blue roses", but I'm not sure if that's in the story or just mixed in with it in my memories. Thanks.
posted by tommasz to (10 comments total)

No idea--but have you tried "Stump the Bookseller"? http://www.logan.com/loganberry/stump.html
posted by scratch at 11:20 AM on January 13, 2005

Isn't that Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams? "Blue roses" as a mishearing of "pleurosis?"
posted by blueshammer at 11:21 AM on January 13, 2005

That's why I think the "blue roses" is just brain sludge. The silver pencil is definitely in the story.
posted by tommasz at 11:25 AM on January 13, 2005

The book is called _The Silver Pencil_. Written by Alice Dalgliesh. First published in 1944. (seems faintly autobiographical, but I don't have confirmation for that.)

I don't remember any blue roses, but it's been years since I read the book. (The edition I have has blue covers and a thistle on the cover, though.)
posted by jlkr at 11:28 AM on January 13, 2005

None of the synopses of The Silver Pencil that I've been able to see mention anything about an illness, though the idea of a young woman writing is definitely there.

I'm definitely feeling the curse of having read too much as a child.
posted by tommasz at 11:43 AM on January 13, 2005

Well, if you're conflating books, the young woman in Glass Menagerie has a debiitating illness: pleurosis.
posted by blueshammer at 12:00 PM on January 13, 2005

It's there. One of the scenes I remember is when Janet wore a tree costume to a party....forgetting that she wouldn't be able to sit down in the costume.

Lessee... pull book off shelf, open it up, and scan....

Starts off in Trinidad; then Scotland (father's family, iirc); back to Trinidad; then to New York to become a teacher; then gets ill; digs up pencil and begins writing; sells book; graduates from teacher college; does student teaching in NDak; buys house in NovaScotia town where she recuperated from illness. (some sort of joint inflammation.)
posted by jlkr at 12:08 PM on January 13, 2005

That definitely sounds like what I remember. I can only guess that I read either a condensed version or a short story selected from the book that concentrated on the illness and her recovery via writing. Thanks!
posted by tommasz at 12:34 PM on January 13, 2005

The sections are very separate, and it would be easy to take a section out and anthologise it without adding any backstory.

I wonder if it was originally written as a bunch of short stories and then bolted together into a book. Then again, Reader's Digest may have gotten ahold of it....

You're welcome! (although I may need to actually read the book again....)
posted by jlkr at 1:28 PM on January 13, 2005

There's apparently a sequel to The Silver Pencil called Along Janet's Road, and the description I'm reading mentions a nephew coming from Trinidad to have a serious operation in his eyes. It's a long looong shot, but could that be it?
posted by icontemplate at 3:36 PM on January 13, 2005