THIS BOY by Alan Johnson ( 9780593069646 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

THIS BOY

By:

Format:

Hardback

List price:	£16.99
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ISBN 10:

0593069641

ISBN 13:

9780593069646

Publisher:

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS LTD

Pub. date:

9 May, 2013

Pages:

304

Description:

Alan Johnson's childhood was not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary. This book tells the story of Alan's mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, and domestic violence; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility at a very young age .

Synopsis:

Alan Johnson's childhood was not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary. Not in respect of the poverty, which was shared with many of those living in the slums of post-war Britain, but in its transition from two-parent family to single mother and then to no parents at all...This is essentially the story of two incredible women: Alan's mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, domestic violence and loneliness to try to ensure a better life for her children; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility at a very young age and who fought to keep the family together and out of care when she herself was still only a child. Played out against the background of a vanishing community living in condemned housing, the story moves from post-war austerity in pre-gentrified Notting Hill, through the race riots, school on the Kings Road, Chelsea in the Swinging 60s, to the rock-and-roll years, making a record in Denmark Street and becoming a husband and father whilst still in his teens.This Boy is one man's story, but it is also a story of England and the West London slums which are so hard to imagine in the capital today. No matter how harsh the details, Alan Johnson writes with a spirit of generous acceptance, of humour and openness which makes his book anything but a grim catalogue of miseries.

Illustrations:

8pp photographs

Publication:

Imprint:

Bantam Press

Prizes:

Winner of Ondaatje Prize 2014. Winner of Orwell Prize 2014.

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

APOSTOLIC FUNCTION : IN 21ST CENTURY MI (PB)

BULLYING: MANAGING FEAR IN YOUNG CHILDREN (PB)