'We Ain't Got No Drink, Pa': A Little Girl's Struggle to Survive in the Slums of 1920s South East London [9781409158400]
'We ain't got no drink, Pa.' I trembled as I spoke. Then somewhere inside me I found the anger, the courage to answer him back. 'We don't have no grog cos you drank it all!' I knew he was going for me tonight, so I reckoned I might as well go down fighting after all. Growing up in the slums of 1920s and 30s Bermondsey, Hilda Kemp's childhood was one of chaos and fear. Every day was battleground, a fight to survive and a fight to be safe. For Hilda knew what it was to grow up in desperate poverty: to have to scratch around for a penny to buy bread; to feel the seeping cold of a foggy docklands night with only a thin blanket to cover her; to share her filthy mattress with her brothers and sisters, fighting for space while huddling to keep warm. She knew what it was to feel hunger - not the impatient growl of a tummy that has missed a meal; proper hunger, the type that aches in your soul as much as your belly. The eldest of five children, Hilda was the daughter of a hard drinker and hard hitter as well. A casual dockworker by day, a bare-knuckle fighter by night and a lousy drunk to boot, her pa honed his fists down the Old Kent Road and Blackfriars, and it was Hilda or her ma who bore the brunt of them at home. This is the powerful and moving memoir of Hilda's childhood growing up in dark, filthy, crime-ridden Bermondsey; a place where you knew your neighbours, where you kept your eyes down and your ears shut as defence against the gangs at war in the streets. It's a time when days were spent running wild down the docklands, jumping onto barges and stealing coal, racing through the dank back-streets of east London like water rats, dodging the milk cart or the rag-and-bone man. And out of this bleak landscape emerges a brave, resilient young girl whose life is a testament to the power of love and good humour. Moving, dazzling and sombre by turns, once opened this brilliant, seductive book will not let you rest.
more
less
Free UK Delivery
rrp: £7.99
£7.51
(You save
£0.48
)
Availability:
Not currently available.
SKU:
9781409158400
ISBN13:
9781409158400
Availability:
Not currently available.
Author:
Hilda Kemp
Publisher:
Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Our image of workhouses has often been coloured by the writings of authors such as Charles Dickens. But what was the reality? Where exactly were all t…
Paul Rainey, an ad salesman, perceives dimly through a fog of psychoactive substances his dissatisfaction with his life- professional, sexual, weekend…
The inspirational true story of one man overcoming enormous odds - including sexual abuse from his alcoholic mother - to choose his own path in life a…
The railway lines of London and the South East include tracks from all four of the constituent companies that made up British Railways and subsequentl…
The royal family is the original Coronation Street - a long-running soap opera with the occasional real coronation thrown in. Its members have become …
Author Megean Weldon, aka The Zero Waste Nerd, gently guides you on an attainable, inspirational, mindful, and completely realistic journey to a susta…
The tattoo is an art form, a practice . . . for some, a ritual. Its history is long and colorful, dating back to the Neolithic, when our ancestors mar…
Both a food-centred travelogue and recipe book, 0451 Mornings are for Mont Hin Gar explores regional Burmese cuisine, taking the reader on a journey t…
As an American living in England, a conscious Jew who utilized Christian symbols, a skillful modeler who introduced direct carving into England, and a…
`Yours Ever, Charlie' is the fascinating account of Charles Crowther, one of many British men who volunteered to fight for king and country in the Fir…