The place where I have been known frequently to turn up, and occasionally to work, is split up into lots of departments. Mine is one of the smallest which has its disadvantages (fewer people to cover shifts, harder to get time off exactly when you want it) along with quite a few advantages (fewer people to share all the chocolate with being an important one). The most major advantage, however, is having a manger who know you inside out, especially when you’ve been there for years. Lovely Helen presents us all with gifts at Christmas, and this year, following numerous conversations at work about books, books, and more books (Helen being the only other member of ...  Read the complete review

A stupid freak accident robbed Andrea of a loving father at the age of five. Her mother, widowed at just twenty-five years old, was distraught, not least because she was left alone to raise Andrea and her younger sister Lauren. By the time Andrea was six, she had a new 'father'... At first, Andrea's mother considered herself very, very lucky. Not every man would be prepared to take on a ready-made family but Peter seemed only too willing. Soon a third sister, Sarah, was born. Yet this is not a story in which they all lived happily ever after. This is Andrea's story. The story of a young girl growing up in a working class home in northern England ...  Read the complete review

Recently I’ve been on one of my reading sprees. Friends that know me well can testify to this gourmet diet of books alone. I might disappear for weeks at a time while I immerse myself in torrents of books…unfortunately I have yet to coin a phrase for a reading frenzy. These incidents tend to coincide with events such as Mother’s Day, birthdays and Christmas. For those not in the “know”, my daughter and son-in-law share my reading frenzy and are happy to pass on their own personal gems to me. Luckily my two-year-old grandson is still at the stage of Noddy and Thomas the Tank Engine, but give him time! Yes, I am getting to the point…give me a chance. With a ...  Read the complete review

I would love to open with a quote from this book, but for fear of infringing copyright will refrain!, because this is probably the most beautifully written book I have picked up in a very long time. From the opening paragraph to the concluding sentance I was absolutely engrossed which, suffice to say, doesn't happen to me very often! Once in a House on Fire is an autobiography and opens with the death of the authors father. It is a tale of strength against the odds, of poverty and survival, brutality and hope. Set in Manchester in the 1970's it revels in memories that are pertinant to anyone who grew up during that period. Awash with musical references ...  Read the complete review

The story is a biography seen through the eyes of the author, from when she was a young child up until adolesence. Andrea has two younger sisters, Laurie and Sarah and they are brought up by their mother, Lorraine, on a working class council estate in Manchester in the 70's and 80's. Andrea's biological father died of a drowning accident when she was only 5 years old. It wasn't that long before she met her second husband, Peter Hawkins. With him she had her third child Sarah. This soon develpoed into a very abusive time for the children and Lorraine- at the hands of Hawkins. The family somehow stuck together and emigrated to Canada, but the abuse didn't ...  Read the complete review