Seminary Boy
John Cornwell
- One
- of
- the
- most
- extraordinary
- memoirs
- of
- recent
- years,
- the
- acclaimed
- writer
- John
- Cornwell
- has
- finally
- written
- his
- own
- story,
- and
- the
- story
- of
- a
- choice
- he
- had
- to
- make
- between
- the
- Church
- and
- a
- life
- lived
- outside
- its
- confines.John
- Cornwell
- decided
- to
- become
- a
- priest
- at
- the
- age
- of
- thirteen,
- a
- strange
- choice
- perhaps
- for
- a
- boy
- who'd
- been
- sent
- to
- a
- 'convalescent
- home'
- for
- having
- whacked
- a
- nun
- about
- the
- head.
- Growing
- up
- in
- a
- chaotic
- household,
- sharing
- two
- rooms
- with
- his
- brothers
- and
- sisters,
- his
- hot-headed
- mother
- and
- –
- when
- he
- was
- around
- –
- absconding
- father,
- John
- spent
- his
- time
- roaming
- the
- war-torn
- streets
- of
- London
- looking
- for
- trouble.
- One
- day,
- at
- his
- mother's
- suggestion,
- he
- responded
- to
- a
- call
- from
- his
- local
- parish
- priest
- for
- altar
- servers.
- The
- 'dance
- of
- the
- rituals',
- the
- murmur
- of
- Latin
- and
- the
- candlelit
- dawn
- took
- hold
- of
- his
- imagination
- and
- provided
- him
- with
- a
- new
- and
- unexpected
- comfort.He
- left
- post-war
- London
- for
- Cotton,
- a
- seminary
- in
- the
- West
- Midlands.
- In
- this
- hidden,
- all-male
- world,
- with
- its
- rhythms
- of
- devotion
- and
- prayer,
- John
- grew
- up
- caught
- between
- his
- religious
- feelings
- and
- the
- rough
- and
- tumble
- of
- his
- life
- back
- in
- London;
- between
- seeking
- the
- face
- of
- God
- in
- the
- wild
- countryside
- around
- him
- and
- experiencing
- his
- first
- kiss;
- between
- monitoring
- his
- soul
- and
- watching
- a
- girl
- from
- a
- moving
- train
- whose
- face
- he
- will
- never
- forget.Cornwell
- tells
- us
- of
- a
- world
- now
- vanished:
- of
- the
- colourful
- community
- of
- priests
- in
- charge;
- of
- the
- boys
- and
- their
- intense
- and
- sometimes
- passionate
- friendships;
- of
- the
- hovering
- threat
- of
- abuse
- in
- this
- cloistered
- environment.
- And
- he
- tells
- us
- of
- his
- struggle
- to
- come
- to
- terms
- with
- a
- shameful
- secret
- from
- his
- London
- childhood
- –
- a
- vicious
- sexual
- attack
- which
- haunts
- his
- time
- at
- Cotton.A
- book
- of
- tremendous
- warmth
- and
- humour,
- ‘Seminary
- Boy’
- is
- about
- an
- adolescent's
- search
- for
- a
- father
- and
- for
- a home.
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