The 'Ivanhoe' Spotbrough Library Readers' Group



Germinal and Us

Or:

Readers at the Coal Face 

You could always tell when Eric had been on holiday; he invariably managed to link the subject of the book we had to read with the destination of his break. The Siege by Helen Dunmore had added highlights after Eric's holiday in St Pertersburg.  He even made his Mediterranean cruise sound in parts uncannily like The life of Pi. As we sat down to discuss Germinal by Emile Zola, we wondered how he was going to manage linking this with his latest escape.

Not this time, however.

This time , the connection was completely different.  In fact, as we would find, Germinal would have great significance for all of us. First, there was the French Connection.  The suggestion to read the book had come from Marylise, the French member of our group.  After the impetus of The Big Read we were inspired to incorporate more classics into our repertoire and were spurred on by Marylise's suggestion, although at the time, we hadn't realised just how relevant it was to be to the rest of us.  There was just one immediate problem.  There were not sufficient copies of the book in the library;  it came as no surprise to anyone that Doncaster's one and only excuse for a bookshop had none.  So, undeterred, we searched further afield and eventually came up with a variety of publications and translations.

Now, down to the reading. 

Germinal just blew us away!

So much of the story of the struggle of the coal-miners of 19th century France was relevant to our own experiences in the heart of what was once the coal mining area of South Yorkshire.  Their background was our background and their struggle 120 years ago was echoed in our own environment 100 years later; the miners' strike and consequent demise of the coal industry 20 years ago.

The feedback was intense.

There is always a good atmosphere in group discussions where opinions are valued and members feel comfortable in having their say.  Some prefer to listen quietly whilst others are more talkative, with many unmissable nuggets from Eric.  However, this time, the gloves were off.  Germinal had hit the spot, recalling memories of a South Yorkshire past.  Everyone had a contribution to make.

 The bitterness went very deep, from 120 and 20 years ago.  Memories are still raw. It was not apparent until our discussion that our thoughts and experiences would transcend the immediacy of the story.

This is just a sample of the comments of that meeting:

'My husband was in the police force but my brother was a miner.  It was so difficult to know how to support both.'

'There were threats to local people who were called in for vital maintenance and they are still vilified to this day.' 

A teacher's experience:

'There were undernourished children: free school dinners were provided during the holidays for wives and children.  The children were pale and underweight.  These were children who were well nourished prior to the strike, unlike the children and adults in Germinal who were starving well before the food ran out.'

'As in Germinal, strike breakers were brought in.'

'The women in Germinal were strong and single minded, as were the miners' wives 20 years ago.'

'Community spirit was most important in mining villages.  Everyone knew and helped everyone else, and in adversity, this became paramount.  Since the mines went, so did much of the trust and comradeship which began underground.'

'When I first came to live in England from France, I stayed in Bentley just a year before the strike.' 

'I worked for the coal board as an electrical engineer.' 

However, there is hope, as there was for Etienne in his change of direction. In Doncaster, slagheaps are germinating with the planting of grass, trees, and the development of the 'Earth Centre'. Work opportunities develop above ground and new skills being learned.  Ex-miners are teachers, physiotherapists, youth and community workers and call centre employees.

Unbelievably, a ski slope (with real snow) has provided much needed work in nearby Castleford where an ex-miner is now a ski instructor. Therefore, as Etienne went off into the 'clean' world, he would probably have shared our hope for the re-generation of Doncaster, and maybe,

just maybe,

that regeneration will fulfil our hopes and dreams for 

A REAL BOOKSHOP.