Durban - South Africa author and former KZN farm kid Penny Haw is at it again.
Her latest novel The Invincible Miss Cust tells the story of the British Isles’ first woman vet and her struggle in patriarchal Victorian society to reach her dream.
Haw's recent novel, The Wilderness Between Us, was an award-winning finalist in the 2021 American Fiction Awards for women’s fiction. Now Haw has a two-book deal with the US publisher Sourcebooks Landmark in the historic novel genre.
The Invincible Miss Cust describes the title character's difficult relationship with her family, who were not only horrified at the thought of her castrating beasts, but also firmly believed an aristocratic woman’s place in “polite society” was indoors, having babies and doing needlework.
Cust also fought a life-long uphill battle against the conservative Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
Haw, almost 60, like Cust, grew up on a farm, loves animals and also had childhood fantasies about one day becoming “Penny the vet”. However, life took her in the direction of writing.
Set in Ireland’s County Tipperary, where Cust was born, Haw opens her tale with her main character winning a pony race against her brothers, influenced by Haw’s memories of racing against her brothers “Farmer Glen” of Sani2C fame and Laurence.
The home farm also slips in with one of the many horses in the book being named Pebbles, the name of Laurence’s horse.
Apart from “an element” of childhood memories, the book is essentially drawn from the fruits of Haw’s tireless research, at times assisted by a vet friend Richard Lyons she met in Cape Town, where she lived as an adult.
“He helped me to get all the technical stuff right, like checking that when she puts her arm in the cow that she is grabbing the right part of the calf and what kind of equipment and medication were available at the time.”
Lyons is also a member of the RCVS that had provided such an obstacle to Cust, not providing her with a qualification, which led to much litigation.
“Richard had access to their records,” said Haw.
What surprised the writer with roots in Lufafa Road, near Ixopo, the most was that no one in England and Ireland had ever written a historic novel around the first woman vet in that part of the world.
At first, Haw had thought of writing a contemporary novel on such a character.
“I thought what about having a protagonist who is a woman vet, and thinking about her challenges?”
Curious about women vets, Haw ended up “discovering” Aleen Cust after a Google search.
“I discovered that nobody had written historical fiction about her. There was only a short biography by a woman vet, written in 1990. She had researched primarily her legal battle with the RCVS.
“I was gobsmacked. Why had some United Kingdom or Irish author not taken on the story? It’s such an incredible true story.”
Once Haw got on to her keyboard, the story “just wrote itself”, she said.
Feedback she has received has reminded her more about two key topics in her work, said Haw.
“After a book launch in Cape Town last week, an employee at a local vet told me afterwards that although there are now many women vets, in some places there are more men vets and women often still have to prove themselves, especially in rural areas.
“They are often patronised when they arrive at a new place.”
The woman who narrated the audio version of The Invincible Miss Cust, Lucy Rayner, a British-born actress living in Los Angeles, said she found it interesting that her English ancestors had to struggle for the kind of equality Cust had struggled for.
“But now, in the US, we are seeing how it is turning around with regard to abortion. Women don’t have the autonomy over their own bodies,” Haw recalled her saying.
Haw’s next historical novel will be about the life of Bertha Benz, who was the driver behind her husband and business partner, Carl, becoming the father of the automobile. It’s due out in October.
- The Invincible Miss Cust (Sourcebooks Landmark) retails for R325.
The Independent on Saturday