What the Grown-ups Were Doing What the Grown-ups Were Doing

What the Grown-ups Were Doing

An odyssey through 1950s suburbia

    • $13.99
    • $13.99

Publisher Description

Michele Hanson grew up an 'oddball tomboy disappointment' in a Jewish family in Ruislip in the 1950s - a suburban, Metroland idyll of neat lawns, bridge parties and Martini socials. Yet this shopfront of respectability masked a multitude of anxieties and suspected salacious goings-on. Was Shirley's mother really having an affair with the man from the carpet shop? Did chatterbox Dora Colborne harbour unspeakable desires for Michele's sulky dad? Whose Battenburg cake was the best? An atmosphere of intense rivalry prevails, with Michele's mum very suspicious of her non-Jewish neighbour's domestic and personal habits, and Michele very wary of children's games like 'Doctors and Nurses' that might bring bottoms into the equation. And with glamorous, scheming Auntie Celia swanning around in silk dresses demanding attention, Michele has a lot to contend with. Only the annual holidays to the south of France relieve the tension.

This hilarious and wonderfully evocative memoir charts Michele's childhood and coming of age in a Britain that was emerging from post-war austerity into the days of 'you've never had it so good'. It is a characterful and affectionate look at a way of British life long since disappeared but one for which we continue to hold huge affection.

GENRE
Biographies & Memoirs
RELEASED
2012
2 February
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
368
Pages
PUBLISHER
Simon & Schuster UK
SELLER
Simon and Schuster Australia Pty Ltd.
SIZE
2.5
MB

More Books Like This

Unpolished Gem Unpolished Gem
2006
This Is Not About Me This Is Not About Me
2010
She Left Me the Gun She Left Me the Gun
2013
Growing Up Growing Up
2011
With or Without You With or Without You
2013
To Throw Away Unopened To Throw Away Unopened
2018

More Books by Michele Hanson

What Treasure Did Next What Treasure Did Next
2015
Treasure Treasure
2015
Absolutely Barking Absolutely Barking
2013
Age Of Dissent Age Of Dissent
2011