Things My Mother Never Told Me

By Blake Morrison

Book Overview

In his masterpiece of family literature And When Did you Last See Your Father? Blake Morrison's mother appears as an intriguing but mostly silent figure. This is her startling and touching story - and a son's search to discover the truth about the remarkable Kerry girl who qualified as a doctor in Dublin in 1942 worked in British hospitals throughout the war and then reinvented herself again to adapt to a quieter post-war family life. At the heart of the book there's a passionate wartime love affair seen through the frank funny furious letters his parents wrote during their courtship. It evokes a surprising picture of life and love in WWII. From the obstacles the lovers faced to their moments of hilarity and joy Things My Mother Never Told Me is a revealing and poignant anatomy of family conflict love war and finally marriage. Kim Morrison emerges quietly magically from the shadows a determined heroine for our times.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0099440725
• ISBN13: 9780099440727
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

P.S. I Love You

This is a memoir of the author's mother, told in clear, direct prose, embellished by letters found in a bundle after his mother's death. It is a love story from the Fifties, complete with romantic music, prejudice (against the Irish, Jews, Catholics and just about anybody not English) and social mores now abandoned (women are nurses, not doctors, you wear hat and gloves to church and there is NO premarital sex). That Kim O'Shea breaks with all of these traditions is a testimony to her will power. But the price she pays and the continual battle she wages for independence is heartbreaking. This is a lovely portrayal of a kind, determined woman and the World War II world she lived in. A nice book for feminists, historians and just about everybody.