‘I am what her savage loving has made me’

Samuel Beckett's road trip with his mother

In Ireland, January 6th is Nollaig na mBan, the ‘women’s Christmas’, when traditionally men take over the household chores, and women have the day off to celebrate with friends. To celebrate, today’s post is about a 1935 driving holiday taken by Samuel Beckett and his mother in England when he was still trying and failing to become a published writer. Their shared love of English literature, cathedral towns and travel allowed them, for a few weeks, to set aside difficulties in their relationship — and would lead to Beckett’s first published book.

‘Ever tried, ever failed’ driving up a hill in a cheap rented car?

Leaving Ireland

When Samuel Beckett’s much-loved father Bill died suddenly in 1933, his mother May’s grief alternated with a fierce conviction that her younger son — who had turned down a prestigious teaching post at Trinity College Dublin in order to write — now needed a proper job. Beckett realized that to gain the freedom that he needed to write, and escape his mother’s inf…