A gripping cockney saga of life in 1940s London
A gripping cockney saga of life in 1940s London
Saddler Street is like many of the other little backstreets of Bermondsey, with its row of two-up, two-down terraced houses standing in the shadow of Allen's Wharf. Number 5 is home to the Johnson family, but the atmosphere inside the four walls is not always as happy as the neighbours may think. Lana Johnson - young, intelligent and strikingly attractive - is getting serious with the local small-time villain, Ben Ferris. And everyone except Lana herself is sure that the match will end in tears. Next door to the Johnsons lives Lottie Curtis, a kind-hearted widow they have taken under their wing. For decades Lottie has been foster mother to children from broken homes. Only Jimmy Bailey has ever demonstrated in a practical way the debt he owed to Lottie - until the war intervened and he was called up. But it's 1946 and Lottie is facing her eightieth birthday alone. When Jimmy, now demobbed, teams up with Lana to organise a reunion of all the old lady's children as a birthday treat, there's more than one surprise in store...
Harry was born in 1931 in a back street off the Tower Bridge Road. Only when his own children began to ask questions about the war, did Harry realise how many stories he had to tell. He became known as 'the King of Cockney sagas', and he wrote eighteen bestselling novels of London life. Sadly Harry died in 1999 and the Harry Bowling Prize was set up in 2000 in his memory.
Saddler Street is like many of the other little backstreets of Bermondsey, with its row of two-up, two-down terraced houses standing in the shadow of Allen's Wharf. Number 5 is home to the Johnson family, but the atmosphere inside the four walls is not always as happy as the neighbours may think. Lana Johnson - young, intelligent and strikingly attractive - is getting serious with the local small-time villain, Ben Ferris. And everyone except Lana herself is sure that the match will end in tears. Next door to the Johnsons lives Lottie Curtis, a kind-hearted widow they have taken under their wing. For decades Lottie has been foster mother to children from broken homes. Only Jimmy Bailey has ever demonstrated in a practical way the debt he owed to Lottie - until the war intervened and he was called up. But it's 1946 and Lottie is facing her eightieth birthday alone. When Jimmy, now demobbed, teams up with Lana to organise a reunion of all the old lady's children as a birthday treat, there's more than one surprise in store...
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.