Once Upon A Time In England

by Helen Walsh | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9781847671233 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingcanongatebookswing on 5/15/2009
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingcanongatebookswing on Friday, May 15, 2009
On the coldest night of 1975, a young man with shock-red hair tears though the snowbound streets of Warrington's toughest housing estate. He is Robbie Fitzgerald, and he is running for his life - and that of his young family. In his heart, Robbie knows the odds are stacked against them. In this unbending Northern town, he has married the beautiful brown nurse who once stitched up his wounds. Susheela is his Tamil Princess, but in the real world, the Fitzgeralds have to face up to prejudice, poverty and sheer naked hatred from their neighbours. Now Robbie has seen a way out, and he's sprinting to his date with destiny... Over thirteen years of struggle, aspiration, achievement, misunderstandings, near-misses and shattered dreams, Helen Walsh plunges us into the lives and loves of the young, doomed Fitzgerald family. She shows herself to be a brilliant chronicler of our people and our times. And in the Fitzgeralds, she has created a family who will stay in your heart, long after the final page. Once Upon A Time In England offers an unforgettable portrait of the world in which we live, and confirms Helen Walsh as a writer of searing power.

This book is part of a Canongate Books giveaway and readalong.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/6/6283816/114

Journal Entry 2 by turnpages from Faversham, Kent United Kingdom on Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thank you for this book!!
I am so lucky to have won in this competition and I am looking forward to the read-along...

Journal Entry 3 by turnpages from Faversham, Kent United Kingdom on Monday, June 15, 2009
I have finished with this book and I must say the second half of the book was brilliant. However, if I hadn't had joined the canongatebooks readalong, I wouldn't have got to the end! What made me pick up this book (or rather apply for a free copy) was that I wanted to read the book for its storyline. The mixed-cultural marriage and the fact that parents want the best for their children really struck a chord with me.

Spoiler! So, please roll over if you'd like to read it...

I hated Robbie and found some of the other characters a bit over the top at times. The fact that suddenly all of them (Ellie, Vincent and Sheila) seem to be having some kind of flirtation with their own sex, was way too much and made the story unbelievable in places. As for Vincent's suicide, I actually expected it quite early on in the book and was therefore not so taken aback towards the end. I did, however, like Robbie's rendering of "Starry, starry night" at the funeral. I just felt it a shame that Robbie was so tremendously unlikable throughout though....



Journal Entry 4 by turnpages from Faversham, Kent United Kingdom on Thursday, June 18, 2009
And this shall now travel as a RAY!!

1. ReetPetite (UK; Intl.)
2. auweia (Germany; Intl.)
3. PussInBooks (UK; Intl.)
4. karen07814 (UK; Intl.)
5. allthesepieces (USA; US preferred)

Journal Entry 5 by turnpages at on Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (6/24/2009 UTC) at

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Travelling to the first reader in the RAY.... ENJOY!

Journal Entry 6 by wingReetPetitewing from Beeston, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Friday, June 26, 2009
Thnaks turnpages. Nice looking book. Next on my TBR.

Journal Entry 7 by wingReetPetitewing from Beeston, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Monday, July 6, 2009
This is not the type of book I usually read but I was gripped by the story of this unlucky family. They kept secrets which stopped them from understanding each other. Good read.
Thanks turnpages.
I've PMed auweia for their address.

Journal Entry 8 by wingauweiawing from Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Germany on Tuesday, July 14, 2009
oh nice looking book:-) I´ve just finished my currently lecture,so I can already start with this one
thanks to ReetPetite for sending it

Journal Entry 9 by wingauweiawing from Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Germany on Sunday, July 19, 2009
oh,sometimes it was difficult for me to understand the sense because of the slanguage...
but a good experience, without bookcrossing I think, I hadn´t even read the book yet :-)
asking for new adress

Journal Entry 10 by wingauweiawing at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Monday, July 27, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (7/27/2009 UTC) at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

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on it´s way to PussInBooKs, hope you enjoy it !

Journal Entry 11 by PussInBooks from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire United Kingdom on Friday, July 31, 2009
received today, with thanks. Hope to read very soon.

Journal Entry 12 by PussInBooks from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I got 100 pages into this and gave up, it just wasn't interesting me at all. I found the characters one-dimensional and just didn't care what happened to them. The initial events of the story are shocking but then nothing seems to happen for a long time....I think the book relies on the cross-cultural theme to make it interesting, and to my mind it just wasn't! Hope the next person enjoys it more.

Journal Entry 13 by karen07814 from Colchester, Essex United Kingdom on Monday, August 10, 2009
Just goes to show different people different tastes.
I got totally into this one. I found it explained the feel of racism to me far better than others have. It's very gritty, raw and worth a read.
Have times changed so much?
This is circa 20 years ago just as AIDS hit the headlines and raves were a trendy place to be able to find your way to.
If you didn't know where one was or at the very leasy know someone who did you very quickly achieved boff status.
Vincent goes from boff to ubercool, while his sister travels a disastrous, different path of her own.
Can their mother be so naive? My feeling is yes, most mothers could achieve this one as far as their children are concerned.
And their father? not necessarily at fault for their problems but a tad useless.
Finally, this one has a good book seal of approval on it which I didn't notice until nearly finished.
Does it have "Richard & Judy" on it? No
Does it have "Costa" on it? No
Tesco Book club then? No
OK Galaxy? No
Oooh, must be Booker? No
Back cover this one, subtle sign of a good book, Canongate

Journal Entry 14 by karen07814 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, August 17, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (8/17/2009 UTC) at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania USA

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over to you

Journal Entry 15 by snarkhunting from Quincy, Massachusetts USA on Friday, August 21, 2009
Thanks for including me in this ray. I received the book this morning. I've got a few books ahead of this one, but I should be able to get started soon. I'll post again when I start to read it.

Journal Entry 16 by snarkhunting from Quincy, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, October 11, 2009
I wanted to like this book at least a little bit, but as it turns out, it just made me uncomfortable.

When I read books like this one, I can’t help but imagine the sad picture of a marginally gifted writer with nothing of terrible importance to write about. The idea seems to be to conjure up a few characters of varying likableness, put them all together in a hopeless situation, sprinkle the creation with a bit of tragedy, and serve it up to an audience eager for melodrama. It’s a recipe for disaster that’s sure to come out half-baked.

As I mentioned earlier, the book made me uncomfortable. I don’t feel like I was given an adequate introduction to any of the characters before “bad things” started happening to them. That is to say I didn’t care when this one got raped or when that one eventually ended up disfigured. Realizing that made me feel ill; I can be cold, but I’m not quite that heartless.

I was also upset to later find myself drifting off and comparing my own experiences with the characters’, scorning them for being so unexceptional while simultaneously feeling ashamed of myself for having been so helpless in similar situations. The odd thing is, I don’t feel like I can call that relating to the characters. Their entire existence felt too contrived...somehow borrowed...wrong. I tried to imagine that their experiences might be meant as a reflection of the authors’ experiences, but I have a too-hard time believing that someone who actually lived through those things could go on to write about them in such a disgustingly negligent fashion.

In another circumstance, I could have used those feelings to catalyze a learning experience, but the story just wasn’t powerful enough to mean anything to me.

Yep, it was a recipe for disaster...flavorless, plastic disaster. I had a feeling before I started digesting this one that it wasn’t going to turn out well. Now that I’m finished, all I’m left with is this dull ache in the pit of my stomach and a strong desire to go burn off some empty calories.

I know that seems harsh, but I really did have a hard time swallowing this book. I am, however, still grateful for the chance I had to read it. Regardless of how it turned out, I got to try something a little different, and I can appreciate that.

I don't yet have a release planned for this book, but I do hope whoever gets it next will enjoy it more than I did.

Thanks again, and Happy Bookcrossing!

I'm afraid I lost a small box of books during a recent move, and unfortunately, I think this (along with a few other Bookcrossing books) was part of that box! I'm making release notes for those that might be out there somewhere. I hope whoever finds them will enjoy them, and I look forward to hearing your stories.

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