Ugly - Constance Briscoe

Over the last few years there has been a growing trend for 'misery-lit' titles - books which are memoirs of abuse, betrayal, real life misery and generally less than fortunate upbringing. They are extremely upsetting to read but they hold a strange kind of curiosity and fascination. I personally find that these books help me to put a lot of things into perspective, making me realise just how lucky I have been throughout my life so far and how much I appreciate everything I have got - particularly my family. One such book is 'Ugly' by Constance Briscoe who is a barrister and part-time judge. Successful and currently living in a £1 million London home, she ...  Read the complete review

Introduction ========== My Manager had bought this book and had leant it to her sister (who also works with me) and once she had finished it the Manager could not be bothered to walk home with it so leant it to me. I only decided to read the book because I had read other people's review on the book sometime ago and thought it would be in an interesting read. The Story ======== This story is an autobiography about a young girl called Clare who has a very hard childhood due to her mother. Her mother abuses her both mentally and physically. Clare is not an only child though she has a number of brothers and sisters, ...  Read the complete review

The oxford dictionary defines the word UGLY as unpleasant to look at-unattractive, so I guess at some point in all our lives we have all been guilty of calling something or somebody ugly. For all the mothers out there who may read this, could you or would you ever call your child ugly? No? somehow i didn't think you would This review is about a book i have just read and it moved me so much i actually cried whilst reading it. The title of the book is "UGLY" and is written by a truly remarkable lady called Constance Briscoe and it is the true story about her loveless childhood at the hands of her mother Carmen Briscoe, who in my ...  Read the complete review

I picked this book up from the book clubs that go round workplaces. I hadn’t heard of the book but it looked interesting – this was purely from the front cover, and as usual, there are always special offers available. I thought to myself, if it isn’t a good read it hasn’t cost me a lot of money. How wrong could I be? A good read? This was an amazing read and well worth any amount of money. The blurb on the back cover didn’t upset me, it just make me interested in finding out more about the mother of Constance Briscoe (or Clare as she was known throughout the novel). Without trying to sound harsh, you know what to expect when you pick up a book of this ...  Read the complete review

Brilliant book Constance ... you have my remosre and I praise your bravery at sharing your childhood with us....may we all learn how precious children's little lives are. May our society never overlookd the need to help those children who may suffer systematical abusive homes.....They do Exsist!!!!! Wonderful girl and this book is a must for all to read.... if we have some unwanted skeletons in our past this book will show you how to turn them into and living ...  Read the complete review