by Nanny Pat (2012)
Nanny Pat has always been the heart of her family, and her children and grandchildren regularly pitch up at her house for a cup of tea, a slice of her famous sausage plait and some wise advice. Now, with her trademark warmth and humour, she evokes the colourful East End world of her childhood.
Doris Gawrys
"Doris Gawrys has such fond memories of her childhood home that she dedicates this memoir to the house 'Pengelly' in Rayleigh, Essex. With its white roses by the door, working well and dragonfly ponds, Pengelly was a playground for Doris, her cousin Mollie and brother Bobby, who was born in the house . Though still very young when the family moved again, she has never forgotten those days."--Publisher description.
edited and introduced by Paul Auster
In 1999, Paul Auster and National Public Radio's Weekend All Things Considered programme asked listeners to send in true stories, to be read on-air as part of the National Story Project. The response was overwhelming : everyone, it seemed, had a story to tell. *True Tales of American Life* gathers 180 of these stories in one extraordinary volume.
Adrian Bristow
"It was while we lived in Herbert Road that I acquired my toy box ... It was quite large enough for me to climb into and it became by turns a boat, a cave or a house, according to which story or character was exercising my imagination at the time."Suburban Boy is the charming story of a bygone era, of a boy who grew up in south-east London in the 1930s. Adrian Bristow came from that great unsung mass - the lower middle-class. He grew up in the years before the war, a time of rising standards of living, burgeoning home ownership and social mobility. It was a time when there was respect for authority and a strong consciousness of nation and empire.
Lauren St John
In 1978, in the final, bloodiest phase of the Rhodesian civil war, 11-year-old Lauren St John moves with her family to Rainbow's End, a wild, beautiful farm and game reserve set on the banks of a slowflowing river. The house has been the scene of a horrific attack by guerrillas, and when Lauren's family settles there, a chain of events is set in motion that will change her life irrevocably. This memoir captures the beauty and danger of life in the African bush. At the height of the war, Lauren rides through the wilderness on her horse, Morning Star, encountering lions, crocodiles, snakes, vicious ostriches, and mad cows. The constant threat of ruthless guerrillas prowling the land underscores everything, making each day more dangerous, vivid, and prized than the last.--From publisher description.