Marian Partington (born 21 February 1948) is an English writer, and the sister of Lucy Partington, who was abducted by

Fred 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), Frederico Ro ...

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 at least nine 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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 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 published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' 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 ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, 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'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 (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

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 a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

References

External links

''If You Sit Very Still'', by Marian Partington

The Forgiveness Project

Vala Publishing Cooperative

Review of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in The Guardian, 04/05/2012

Marian 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 Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, that covers a range of topics on urban affairs, such as policing, education, housing, and other issues. The magazine ...

, 2012/22/4
Article on BBC Gloucester News, 14/05/2012

Marian Partington speaking on BBC Radio 4's Midweek, 16/04/2013

Review of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in the Sunday Express, 03/06/2012

Review of ''If You Sit Very Still'' in the Oxford Times, 19/06/2012

Interview on BBC Radio Scotland, 01/07/2012

Marian Partington speaking on BBC Radio Ulster

Rowan 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 writers British women memoirists British storytellers Women storytellers

References

Further reading

External links