Gwen GrantReseñas

This was recommended as a very funny book. That is not at all what I took away. I guess I can see that it was meant to be humorous. It struck me very much as sad. And it’s partly autobiographical according to the afternotes. There is no affection in this family. Everyone treats Alice as troublesome, especially her mother. Just sad.½

A story about the youngest of six children growing up poor in a mining town.

This book is a family favourite as my mum was the youngest of seven children growing up poor in a mining town. It is told in the first person, and doesn't really have much of a plot, just a series of episodic stories usually involving some subset of people falling out with each other. The snippets include learning to ride bikes, sledding under coal lorries, hating her dance teacher, putting up with her older sibings starting to date, and trips to the seaside.