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Not Speaking
Not Speaking | Norma Clarke
1 post | 1 read
Families are places of love, care, and fun; also of anger, anxiety, and quarrels. Not Speaking tells the story of a Greek matriarch, Rena, and her English children in post-war London and the present. It begins with Renas move out of a flat in St Johns Wood owned by her son Nicky Clarke, and the family disagreement that erupted. Moving through the London slums of Blackfriars, Greece under Nazi occupation, the Old Kent Road, Elephant and Castle, and the world of Mayfair hairdressing, this is a tale of enrichment and fame, infidelity and its consequences. And in the end, it has a message: every family is unique and all families are the same. * 'Wonderfully evocative funny, illuminating and moving.' Jenny Uglow
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VanessaCW
Not Speaking | Norma Clarke
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A beautifully written book and a fascinating insight into a celebrity hairdressing family. Nicky Clarke‘s Greek mother, is very much the backbone. My opinion of her changed a few times but I think by the end I actually liked and admired her. I found the historical aspect about Greece interesting, but the parts concerning classical literature did lose me a little. “All families are the same and each family is unique” - I think that says it all!