Books About Life in Britain

[Anika]

Narratives about life in 20th-century England or Scotland?

 

Okay, I'm sure this is going to sound like a dumb request, but please bear with me.

 

I love reading about England & Scotland, and would like to know more about what it's like growing up there. When I search the internet, they assume I mean Travel Guides. I've tried to find narratives, but I'm probably not wording my request properly, because unrelated titles come up. (....sometimes, very unrelated!)

 

The closest thing I've found lately is 'Larkrise to Candleford' by Flora Thompson, but it's a bit old, and they were very impoverished too, so it was a little depressing. Still, really close to what I have in mind!

 

I ordered two of Mary Mackie's books recently and was very dissapointed. The idea was good; caretakers of a National Trust property, but her writing style?-- in a word: atrocious!

 

Memoirs of gardeners/household-staff of stately homes would be ideal! Not the 'tell-all' sort, I mean--just about funny experiences, etc. Those of you living over there probably see these kind of books all the time, and wonder, 'who would want to read that?!' Now, you know.

 

for any suggestions you can give me!!

[Kate]

You could try some George Orwell, he writes about 20th century England. Something like The Road To Wigan Pier.

[Echo]

Most of the books like that that I read are non-fiction. Maybe a search through the memoirs section of Amazon would turn something up. This sounds interesting to me, too, so I might just do that and see what I find.

 

EDIT: I found these two memoirs, which look promising:

 

Nella Last's War by Nella Last

Bad Blood: A Memoir by Lorna Sage

Edited November 23, 2009 by Echo

[~Andrea~]

How about some autobiographies by Brits? There is an autobiog thread somewhere that might help.

[Janet]

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson is good.

 

Also Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee. It's set in the 1930s so is a bit... quaint, but I enjoyed it.

[FaustoMerckx]

'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee definitely. His book 'As I walked out one midsummer morning' is half about his teen years before he went to Spain for a while. Some of Dylan Thomas' stories are about him growing up in Wales. James Joyce wrote a lot about life in Ireland

[JudyB]

The rather appropriately titled Once Upon a Time in England by Helen Walsh is about growing up in Warrington in the 70's/80's.

[pontesusie]

If you're looking for history try david Kynaston's series on Britain since 1945. He mingles politics, economics and social history - including extracts from mass observation diaries. Secret - I skip the boring political and economic bits where they go on for too long

[vodkafan]

Hey Anika PM me . I will send you that Last Post book I just read. It was full of all those kind of things you want to read.

[bethany725]

Anika,

 

Fairly certain I'm going down the wrong path here, but wanted to offer what I know anyway, in case it's helpful to you or anyone else.

 

Both of the books that came to my mind are set in the 19th century..

 

"The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton tells a story from the perspective of a lady's maid living with a wealthy English family. However, it's definitely not funny.. it's a modern Gothic mystery. That, combined with the time it was set, just before WWI, makes me think it may not be at all what you're looking for, but maybe it will help someone else.

 

The same goes for "A Dangerous Fortune" by Ken Follet, although it is set in the LATTER part of the 19th century... still pretty early for what you're looking for, it seems. Again a mystery, it's a story driven by a tragedy that surrounds a wealthy family with servants and a prominent family name in Victorian England, and the cover-ups they employ to try to keep their family name intact.

 

Afraid I'm not TOO much help so far, but I'll keep thinking..

[BigWords]

For the Scottish day-to-day experience you will probably be best looking at the various books on coal mining, fishing, football, jam (Dundonians have something of a reputation there, along with the manufacture of jute), textiles (again, Scots were sent to India to assist in setting up and working the looms)... It really depends if you want books where you follow the life of an individual, or if you are interested in the larger social picture, as plenty of titles have been published which go into considerable detail on specific aspects of Scottish life. The museum nearest to me has some books of local interest, so asking a librarian (or someone in a museum bookshop) to find these kinds of titles should throw up a considerable list of appropriate books.

[Lumo]

Perhaps a bit late, but how about:

 

"Whose Turn for the Stairs?" by Robert Douglas

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whose-Turn-Stairs-Robert-Douglas/dp/0755318927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274973661&sr=1-1

 

Life in a Glasgow tenement in the 1950s