I'm a big fan of Laurie Lee's books, I even recently visited Slad in the Cotswolds and visited the pub he'd frequent.
I read recently that someone in the area came out as being the titular Rosie in 'Cider with Rosie', she claimed to not remember giving Lee any Cider under the cart, as described in the story.
I'm wondering how much of his biographical work is exaggerated or falsified in order to create a compelling novel. Sort of like how 'Down and out in Paris and London' by George Orwell is said to be a fairly truthful account, but not arranged in strict chronological order, and with multiple real people he'd met being combined into one character in the book.
I don't have the book to hard right now, so I might be wrong, but I mention 'A Moment of War' because Lee describes how a military doctor sends him home due to his poor physical condition after a battle. Meanwhile, I read somewhere else that he was actually sent home due to his epilepsy hurting his health.
I don't really recall Lee mentioning his epilepsy or that he was quite frail in his adult life in any of his main novels, it's only in 'I Can't Stay Long' where he's described himself as frail for the first time, while describing his trip to Warsaw sometimes around 1945-1950ish.
To what extent did Lee's epilepsy hinder him? Did he really sleep rough in England and Spain as described in Midsommar Morning? Did he really participate in a battle and kill a Francoist soldier? Some people have claimed that Lee's account of the Spanish Civil War doesn't match historical records or other personal accounts, but I don't know enough to have an opinion.
Interested to know if anyone has information
by Walht