Marian Partington (born 21 February 1948) is an English writer, and the sister of
Lucy Partington, who was abducted by
Fred
Fred or FRED may refer to:
People
* Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Mononym
* Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French
* Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...
and
Rosemary West
Rosemary Pauline West (née Letts; born 29 November 1953) is an English serial killer who collaborated with her husband, Fred West, in the torture and murder of ten young women between 1973 and 1987; on 27 December 1973 and murdered by them in the final days of 1973 or the first days of 1974.
In May 2012, she wrote about the impact of Lucy’s life, disappearance and death in her memoir, ''If You Sit Very Still''. The book builds on ''Salvaging the Sacred'', an essay written by Marian and published in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' Weekend in May 1996. The essay inspired
a play, by
Bryony Lavery
Bryony Lavery (born 1947) is a British dramatist, known for her successful and award-winning 1998 play '' Frozen''. In addition to her work in theatre, she has also written for television and radio. She has written books including the biography ...
and
a feature film, directed by Juliet McKoen, both entitled ''Frozen''.
In April 2012, prior to the publication of her memoir, Marian was interviewed in the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' magazine.
In November 2012 the former
archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
,
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...
, cited ''If You Sit Very Still'' by Marian Partington as one of his books of the year in the ''
Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
''.
In 2004, Partington’s story was featured in ''The F Word'' exhibition;
The Forgiveness Project
The Forgiveness Project is a UK-based charity that uses real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime and violence to help people explore ideas around forgiveness and alternatives to revenge. With no political or religious affiliations, The F ...
's exhibition which explores forgiveness in the face of atrocity.
She works as a storyteller, in schools and prisons, for The Forgiveness Project,
a charitable organisation which explores forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution through real-life human experience. Partington has forgiven one of her sister's killers, Rosemary West, but she did not reply and got the
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...
where she is serving a life sentence to tell Partington she doesn't want her to write again.
In contrast though, Partington exchanges Christmas cards with one of Fred West's daughters, and West's younger brother, Douglas, got in touch with Partington when she wrote to him, saying he hoped something good could come out of all this evil.
Marian is a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
and a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
''If You Sit Very Still'', by Marian PartingtonThe Forgiveness ProjectVala Publishing CooperativeReview of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in The Guardian, 04/05/2012Marian Partington speaking on the BBC World Service 21/05/2012 Theodore Dalrymple
Anthony Malcolm Daniels (born 11 October 1949), also known by the pen name Theodore Dalrymple (), is a conservative English cultural critic, prison physician and psychiatrist. He worked in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries as well as in ...
,
City Journal
''City Journal'' is a public policy magazine and website, published by the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, that covers a range of topics on urban affairs, such as policing, education, housing, and other issues. ...
, 2012/22/4
Article on BBC Gloucester News, 14/05/2012Marian Partington speaking on BBC Radio 4's Midweek, 16/04/2013Review of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in the Sunday Express, 03/06/2012Review of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in the Oxford Times, 19/06/2012
Interview on BBC Radio Scotland, 01/07/2012Marian Partington speaking on BBC Radio UlsterRowan Williams cites ''If You Sit Very Still'' by Marian Partington as one of his books of the year in the Times Literary Supplement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partington, Marian
1948 births
Living people
English writers
English women memoirists
British storytellers
Women storytellers