Historical
A fictionalised account of the Mass Observation field study in Bolton, 1937–38, asking whether real change can come from passive observation or whether true impact demands action.
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1938.
With Britain in recession and another war looming, living conditions in the industrial heartlands are grim. A group of idealists travel to Lancashire to document working-class life, hoping to spur government action. Treating the locals like a remote tribe from a distant land, they rely on scouts and interpreters to understand the unfamiliar world they observe.
Edward, a Cambridge graduate, falls for Molly, a young cotton weaver. He believes she can give his life meaning; she sees in him a glimpse of escape. But can their love survive as the gulf between their worlds begins to threaten their bond? Worktown is a fictionalised account of the Mass Observation field study in Bolton, 1937–38, asking whether real change can come from passive observation — or whether true impact demands action.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
"..it was an environment that challenged people to live there..." said JB Priestly on a short visit to Bolton. I had heard of, and even studied Mass Observation projects at University, but was unaware of the Worktown Project spearheaded by Tom Harrison in 1937/8. His role is set within a fictional cast of Len, Frank and Molly alongside Edward who arrives from London as an unemployed ex Cambridge graduate. Like chalk and cheese Tom and Edward work amongst the community in Bolton, observing, noting and recording life in all its forms from pubs, people to housing and the traditional industries of spinning and weaving (industries which the author's parents had worked in). Tom's often chaotic methods in Davenport Street and his general untidy lifestyle still manage to bring volunteers to the project. But local suspicion set within the growing political backdrop of the Labour Party/Moseley's British Union of Facists come together months heading toward WWII. What came out of the whole book sadly, was how we are no better in England today. The inequality of people, the crushing poverty, the political ineffectiveness and the populism of blame that frame our society today. The love story with Edward and Molly was tenderly written and we all hoped for a happy ending. The sadness and despair of other women in Bolton set against Tom's real life lover Zita and the wonderful 'holiday' in Blackpool during Wakes Week showed the highs and lows in full force. I didn't really know what to expect from this book from the description but it is so wonderfully rounded in emotion and reality that Bolton's world and its inhabitants come to life. Should be on every politician's bookshelf today!
