Love for Lydia is a semi-autobiographical novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 H. E. Bates

H. E. Bates

Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE , better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer and author. His best-known works include Love for Lydia, The Darling Buds of May, and My Uncle Silas.-Early life:...

, first published in 1952.

Plot

Lydia Aspen, a seemingly shy girl from a wealthy but isolated background, is encouraged by her aunts, her new carers, to discover the delights of growing up. They entrust her education to Mr Richardson, the young apprentice for Evensford's local newspaper, who is sent to their house to "get a story" about the recent death of Lydia's father.

Richardson's access to the Aspens is unusual, as they are rarely seen by anyone from the town and hide behind their stone walls and perimeter of trees; introducing Lydia to the town's inhabitants gives Richardson a great sense of pride. Visiting the Aspen estate also allows Richardson the chance to escape from the great engulfing vacuum of Evensford, with its endless stretch of factory roofs and back alleys.

As Lydia and Richardson spend more time together, he realises that his initial concept of Lydia was wrong, that she is far from being shy, and is often impetuous and demanding and enjoys captivating the young men who become her companions. Richardson soon discovers that his promise to love her, no matter what she does to him, is going to push him beyond the pain and feelings he thinks he is capable of experiencing.

TV adaptations

Love for Lydia was made into a 13-part serial by London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

, first shown in 1977. It featured several actors in performances which were early in their television careers, including Christopher Blake

Christopher Blake

Christopher Blake was an English actor and screenwriter who is best remembered for starring in the British sitcom That's My Boy alongside Mollie Sugden.- Early life:...

, Mel Martin

Mel Martin

Mel Martin is an English actor. She has appeared in such British television programmes and films as The Pallisers, Love for Lydia, Bergerac, Cover Her Face, Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, Cadfael, When the Boat Comes In, Midsomer Murders and "A Touch of Frost".She starred as Fiona Samson, the double...

, Christopher Hancock

Christopher Hancock

Christopher Hancock was a British television and theatre actor. He was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. His brother is actor Stephen Hancock. He and his brother trained at the Old Vic theatre school...

, Peter Davison

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...

, Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...

, Ralph Arliss

Ralph Arliss

Ralph Arliss is a British actor.His television credits include: Doctor Who , Z Cars, The Sweeney, Survivors, Return of the Saint, Secret Army, Love for Lydia, Shoestring, Airline, The Jewel in the Crown, Dempsey & Makepeace, Call Me Mister, Boon, Prime Suspect, Casualty and The...

 and Sherrie Hewson

Sherrie Hewson

Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson is an English actor, broadcaster and novelist.-Early life:Born in Nottinghamshire, Hewson was brought up in a showbusiness family; her father was a singer and her mother a model. She began performing at the age of six, touring the UK's theatres in revues with her own...

. It also featured Rachel Kempson

Rachel Kempson

Rachel, Lady Redgrave , known primarily by her birth name as Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty.-Career:...

, Beatrix Lehmann

Beatrix Lehmann

Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...

 and Michael Aldridge

Michael Aldridge

Michael William ffolliott Aldridge was an English actor. While it was his role as Seymour in the television series Last of the Summer Wine which made him widely recognised, his long career as a successful character actor on stage and screen dated back to the 1930s.-Early life:The son of Dr...

 as Lydia's eccentric relations. Other stars were David Ryall

David Ryall

David Ryall is an English actor who has appeared on British television since the 1970s. He has had leading roles in Lytton's Diary and Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as memorable roles in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective and Andrew Davies's adaptation of To Play the King and The Final Cut, the...

, Sam Kydd

Sam Kydd

Sam Kydd was an Ulster-born English actor. An army officer's son, he was born in Belfast, but moved to London, England when he was a child. He was educated at Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England....

, Georgine Anderson, Paula Kent, Donald Bisset, Antony Brown, Jonathan Darwill, Holly de Jong, Fiona Duncan and Carol Frazer .

DVD release

Love for Lydia is available on DVD in the UK (issued by Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....

) and the US.

Influence

Welsh-born singer/songwriter Donna Lewis

Donna Lewis

Donna Lewis is a Welsh singer-songwriter and record producer, best known for the 1996 pop hit single "I Love You Always Forever", and the adult contemporary chart-topper "At the Beginning" with Richard Marx. After releasing her second LP Blue Planet, Lewis left Atlantic Records and independently...

 credits Love for Lydia as the inspiration for her song "I Love You Always Forever

I Love You Always Forever

"I Love You Always Forever" is a single released in 1996 by Welsh singer Donna Lewis, from her debut album, Now in a Minute. Inspired by the H. E. Bates novel Love for Lydia, it was successful, reaching number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and staying there for nine weeks during the summer of...

," which was a huge international hit in 1996. The song also contains a refrain from Bates' text.