The Great Western Beach: A Memoir of a Cornish Childhood Between the Wars - Hardcover

Smith, Emma

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747595917 ISBN 13: 9780747595915

Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd, 2008

Synopsis

The Hallsmiths are a truly remarkable family; or that, at least, is how Elspeth€™s parents would like to be perceived. But Father, a hero of the Great War, convinced his destiny is to become a famous painter, has to suffer with gritted teeth the ignominy of his actual position in society€”that of lowly bank clerk. And although Mother, bereaved of three fiancés during the Great War, is at last a married woman with children, she does have the unfortunate knack of upstaging her husband, being, unlike him, tall, charming, and admired by everybody. As to the twins, fearless defiant Pam and sickly bewildered Jim, existence for them is an unremitting struggle. Elspeth, their younger sister, is Daddy€™s favorite, but rather wishes she wasn€™t. And it seems, at first anyway, as if money always in too short a supply to support those appearances thought so essential to the Hallsmith family dignity. But there is one thing about which Elspeth€™s parents are in harmo

About this title

About the Author

Emma Smith's first book, Maiden’s Trip, was published in 1948 and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. Her second, The Far Cry, was published the following year and was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She is also the author of four children’s books, a number of short stories, and, in 1978, the novel The Opportunity of a Lifetime.

Review

'I've rarely come across a more gripping childhood memoir' Diana Athill 'Such a delicate mixture of understanding and condemnation, and a lot of it funny it's the sort of memoir that will be an antidote to the current misery ones - that rare thing, a "nice" book.' Margaret Forster 'How honest she is, and what a loving memoir this is of an ominous decade.' Jane Gardam 'I identified very closely with her memories, being about the same age, and having spent my childhood in very much the same circumstances. I was filled with admiration for her honesty and her total recall. I am sure the book will do very well for you.' Rosamunde Pilcher

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0747595917
• ISBN 13: 9780747595915
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 384