Book Review: Almost a Catastrophe by Janet Corke

Book Review

Almost a Catastrophe by Janet Corke

Janet Corke qualified as a solicitor in 1960 and three years later flew off to Malta with her civil engineer husband, Charlie Corke, and her young son, Nicholas (Nic). Several people, including me, prevailed upon her to write a sequel to an earlier book, “A Hidden Home in the Gwydyr Forest”, on the assumption that we would learn about her experience of practising law on the George Cross Island.

But Janet was not qualified to practise law in Malta. Over the centuries occupied and dominated by various countries and organisations, including the Knights of St John, Malta had developed its own legal system.

By the early Sixties the UK had emerged from post-war rationing, shortages and compulsory National Service to become the country of the Beatles, short skirts and then even shorter skirts, milk bars, coffee bars and motorways. There were greater opportunities for women, and the British Empire of earlier decades was gradually metamorphosing into the Commonwealth.

In order to bring Malta’s infrastructure up to date Charlie Corke was sent by his UK firm to assist in the construction of a power station to provide electricity and a desalination plant. Deprived of the ability to practise her profession, Janet found her time was fully occupied in adapting to a way of life without the comforts and appliances to which she had become accustomed at home.

Paraffin cookers and fridges, geckos climbing curtains, racing to get the meat imported from Australia every 3 months to her freezer before it defrosted, and the ubiquity of flat bread and tomato paste in the Maltese diet took some getting used to. The discovery that there was no NHS (now firmly established in the UK) took her completely by surprise. Her first consultation with a doctor ended with the instruction to “see my secretary on the way out. She will give you a prescription and my invoice”. Janet soon learned to take money with her when she consulted the medical profession in future. Although she did learn to listen to good old-fashioned folk lore at times. Rum and hot water did the trick when Nic was suffering from a persistent cough.

Fortunately, both Janet and Charlie had the gift of adaptability and Janet the gift of summarising the numerous instances of Maltese kindliness and generosity. Neighbours lent them space in their freezers, children included Nic in their games and on one occasion when she set off to walk several miles home pushing Nic in his pushchair because she had run out of money to pay for a taxi, the taxi driver directed her to the bus stop and paid her fare.

This is an easy-to-read memoir written in an engaging style by someone with a gift for dialogue and acute observation. It can be obtained from Amazon or direct from the publishers, Artel Press www.theartelpress.co.uk/shop/ ■

Elizabeth Cruickshank