Smorgasbord Book Promotions – Book Review – #Nostalgia #BabyBoomers The Rat In The Python: Book 1 The Home by Alex Craigie

Delighted to share my review for the latest book by Alex Craigie. A nostalgic trip down memory lane for those born in the post war years. The Rat In The Python: Book 1 The Home

About the book

If you haven’t heard of a liberty bodice, believe that half-a-crown is something to do with impoverished royalty and never had the experience of slapping a television to stop the grainy black and white picture from rolling, then this series might not be for you. Please give it a go, though – I suspect that most of it will still resonate no matter where you were brought up!

The Rat in the Python is about Baby Boomers who, in the stability following the Second World War, formed a statistical bulge in the population python. It is a personal snapshot of a time that is as mystifying to my children as the Jurassic Era – and just as unrecognisable.

My intention is to nudge some long-forgotten memories to the surface, test your own recollections and provide information and statistics to put it all in context.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I’ll begin…

My review for the book June 10th 2023

This was certainly a trip down memory lane for me, and I am sure for anyone born in the post-war years in Britain. It is also an excellent reflection of the social history of the 50s and 60s and how the slow, but impactful introduction of new technology changed the lives of the population, and in particular women.

The descriptions and the anecdotes about life in the home, the household chores and the diet in the 50s illustrate how far we have come in the last 70 years. They used to say ‘A woman’s work is never done’ and that was certainly the case. The author does a great job in bringing the era into sharp focus based on her own experiences and research, along with a touch of humour.

Keeping the house clean, washing by hand, using a mangle to get as much water out as possible, hoping for a dry windy day in winter to dry the laundry or hanging on racks  over the stove. No fridges, freezers to keep food fresh so shopping every day. Outside toilets, tin bath for washing with one batch of hot water used over and over for the whole family. No double glazing or central heating with coal fires still the main form of keeping the house warm during the day, leaving the job to blankets in freezing bedrooms overnight. Not to mention that human fuel, especially in the cities was basic and had to be budgeted for carefully. In fact rationing was still in place of many food items until the early 50s and some to the mid 50s.

The late 1950s also saw the beginnings of the new look in furniture and the introduction of home help in the form of kitchen appliances and the start of social housing, although it is clear from the chapters on this governmental attempt to address the issue of lack of housing, that not all projects were successful or safe.

Televisions not only brought entertainment but also broadcast programmes from the USA which highlighted the stark differences between lifestyle and amenities between the two countries with Britain still repaying war loans.

Reading this book brought back memories of my own childhood and although I was brought up in the country and had access to a different diet it did make me realise how far we have come in my lifetime, and also how dependent we have become of the luxuries of modern life. It have given me a greater respect for the women of that generation who worked so hard to keep their families fed and cared for.

There are many photographs throughout the book and at the end a trivia quiz that underlines some of the key issues of the day. A fascinatingt record of home and life in the 1950s and 1960s and also a very useful reference guide for authors who write in that period in Britain. I can highly recommend and look forward to more in this series.

Head over to buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Also by Alex Craigie

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – Follow Alex: Goodreads – Alex Craigie via: Facebook

About Alex Craigie

Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had three books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. The first two books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes while Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the health service at its heart. Her third book. Means to Deceive, is a psychological thriller.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books… Sally