Sheila Alice Kettle is the rarely antagonist from the Jacqueline Wilson book Queenie. She is the mother of Elsie, and the daughter of Violet and Mr Kettle. Elsie's father doted on her, even sending her to dancing lessons when she was small. She had a one-night stand at a party in Fulham with a man named Frankie. Elsie was born shortly after. Sheila cared for her daughter when she was very little, but after she went out and left her, Elsie was put into a children's home, until Nan came and got her. Nan then cared for Elsie. Sheila went away from home, often staying out there a long time (often with a boyfriend). When she came home, she often brought her boyfriend home with her, displeasing Nan. She is extremely self-centered and is mostly unsympathetic, even to her mother and Elsie. Her shallowness is shown in the facts that she puts her boyfriends or 'uncles' and her jobs above Elsie nearly all the time, and also because she only furthermore chooses her boyfriends for their good looks or their money. When Nan caught TB, she came home to care for Elsie, until Elsie caught it as well and went into a childrens' hospital. Sheila came to visit Elsie on some weekends, occasionally visiting Nan as well in the sanatorium (albeit grudgingly).
On the day Elsie had gone into hospital, Sheila had secured a new job (losing her old one up north because she had to stay and look after Elsie until she caught TB), this time as a secretary. Sheila blames her mother for supposedly contracting her TB onto Elsie, but this was proved not to be possible, as Nan had pulmonary tuberculosis (TB of the lungs) and Elsie had bovine tuberculosis in the knee (caught by drinking infected milk from cows). Sheila, despite Nurse Gabriel explaining that Elsie caught TB from drinking infected milk and not from Nan, remains scornful of Nan. Her visits stop when she and Mr Perkins (who is now her new boyfriend) move the business of Perkins' Pens to Canada. She comes back home eventually, to Elsie's and Nan's new flat, as she had let the last one go, when Mr Perkins leaves her for a young Canadian lady, leaving her to find her own way home. She goes back into show business at The Saucebox Follies, and visits Elsie and Nan occasionally.
She has had quite a few jobs, including one at Butlins, as a showgirl, and as a secretary for Mr Perkins.
Family[]
- Elsie Kettle - Sheila's daughter. She is very uncaring to Elsie. Elsie and Sheila hate each other like Ella and Jack. Sheila blames Nan for giving Elsie her TB when Elsie catches it.
- Nan - Sheila's mother and Elsie's granddaughter.