Book Review of Almost a Catastrophe! A Welsh Family’s Adventures in Malta by Janet Corke
View of Valletta from Birgu/Vittoriosa, near where the author rented a home, though this photo is from our 2019 visit
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173 pages, published in 2021
YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:
Travelogues * Books set in Malta * Memoirs
TRAVEL INSPIRATION:
As we found during our own travels to Malta, the country is at a fascinating geographic crossroads, with its unique culture and history, influenced by Italy and broader Europe to its north and Africa to the south. And all the while, surrounded by the sunny, blue Mediterranean. This memoir is the story of a Welsh expat who spent three years living among the Maltese and paints colorful depictions of the country as it was in the early to mid 1960s, a jump in history to an interesting time and place. In the early 60s, Malta was less than two decades past its role as a strategic stronghold for the Allies during World War II, a designation that led to significant deprivations and bombing of the small island nation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janet corke
Almost a Catastrophe! is Janet Corke’s second memoir, following A Hidden Home in the Gwydyr Forest (2019), which is about her time in Snowdonia, in her native land of Wales. Corke is a retired lawyer who resides in Liverpool.
REVIEW OF almost a catastrophe! a welsh family’s adventures in malta BY janet corke
From the start of Corke’s memoir, it is clear that she is a great storyteller, approaches life with a healthy openness to new experiences, and has a sense of humor. All of these facets and her descriptive writing make for a highly engaging read. I read the book in just a few days, staying up too late one night but keen on reading what happened next!
In 1963, the author, her husband, and their toddler relocated from Wales to Malta to begin a 2-year (that became a 3-year) stint in the country after a sudden shift in her husband, Charlie’s, work assignment. From the start, the story has a compelling angle: young couple with a toddler, enmeshed in the cool climate of Wales, is given a 4-week notice that their lives are about to change entirely. The author was searching for a job to start her career as a lawyer and had to put everything on hold for the adventures that awaited them.
One of my favorite parts of Corke’s writing was how it naturally exposed the world as it was in the 1960s in general and in the country of Malta specifically - the fact that many people were not used to flying or hadn’t flown at all, that some refrigerators in Malta were parafin refrigerators, that children ran freely away from watchful parents, that phone calls back home to the UK were pricy, scheduled in advance and might be three minute long conversations on special days. Of course the world was as it was sixty years ago, but Corke’s writing really brings that world to life in a way that is mesmerizing, to imagine a family uprooted and adapting without the use of technologies that would make a similar experience today both different and easier.
Most of the expats in Malta at that time were part of the military and had their own social clubs and activities that were completely separate from the local Maltese populations. As a family there on civilian business, the Corke family straddled both worlds with friends in each. These social dynamics are explored throughout the memoir and provide an interesting social commentary on that era. Towards the latter part of the book, Corke explains some of the interesting local characters who became their friends and who were part of some of the political movements in Malta, which were in a rocky state in that era: World War II was fading into the background and the idea of an independent Malta was on the horizon. The country became independent from Great Britain in 1974 after 150 years of their rule during the peak years of colonization.
Almost a Catastrophe! follows the Corkes as they arrive in Malta and experience a near miss (from whence the title) that I won’t give away here to their early days staying in temporary housing. It follows their search for a more permanent home and their (mis)adventures there, the return home to the UK for the author to have her second child given the lack of health coverage in Malta, their friendships and holidays abroad in a world so far from their home in Snowdonia, their experiencing of the old cities of Mdina and Vittoriosa (Birgu), and the author’s husband’s hand-built canoe to keep him company on long nights alone while the author was having their child countries away. And it was that canoe that led to them finally renting a second smaller apartment before returning to the UK at the end of their time in Malta in order to have a place to both vacation and provide storage for the canoe. And finally, their return drive (via roads and ferries) from the UK to Malta in the early 70s to collect said canoe and take it back home. And all of that - the arc of the story - is brought to life with fascinating details and memories that brings the author, her husband, and children to life.
I was riveted by Corke’s memoir and plan on reading her prior book, which may very well compel me to plan a trip to Wales!
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