My Mother Said...
A Liverpool-Irish Memoir
June Hill
|
Our Price: AUD$25.95 (USD$)*
|
|
Synopsis
Viewed through the eyes of a naive child of the 1930s' great depression, My Mother Said... follows
author June Hill as she scrapes through the traumas and dramas of life in working-class Liverpool.
Torn between her mother's often-quoted warnings and the desire to become one of the local gang, this Gemini develops a useful split personality as she journeys into
adulthood.
Her marriage takes her across the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland, where she spends thirteen years in total culture shock before embarking on an even greater
journey...
About The Author
June Hill earned a B.A. at Monash University in 1987, graduating in English Literature and Anthropology.
She now lives in Western Victoria after migrating to Australia in 1965 with her husband, John and eight children.
In her eightieth year at the time of publishing, June writes poetry, is an avid reader and cares for her husband who is a victim of Alzheimer's disease.
From The Book
"Bye, baby Bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting," croons the skinny child squatting on her haunches by the dusty
kerb side, blissfully unaware of any privation.
With the intense single-minded pleasure of childhood, she pokes the filmy membrane of erupting tar bubbles on the nearby road surface. Thick black oozy liquid coats her
stubby fingers and she sniffs loudly with pleasure as the tangy creosote smell wafts up her tiny snub-nose. Lovely yummy smell and it looks just like treacle toffee.
These thoughts pass through her childlike mind as without another thought, her fingers go straight into her mouth and she sucks hard and swallows. Burning and choking,
her high-pitched screams soon bring out the neighbours, thinking that it might be their own offspring in serious trouble.
"Dear Jesus! The silly child has been eating tar! Get some castor oil into her before she's poisoned," yells Mrs Kelly, the first to reach her.
|
