The House In South Road

By Joyce Storey

In this new edition of Joyce Storey's autobiography, the previous three editions are amalgamated and the complete story of her life is told. Born near Bristol in 1917, Joyce began her autobiography at age 66. THE HOUSE IN SOUTH ROAD follows her pre-war life in Bristol, an era of corset and chocolate factories, of 'service' and glamorous silent movies. With a brilliant eye for the comic in the tragic Joyce unfolds her experiences at school, her first job, her first love and a mismatched marriage. During the war Joyce is a mother of two and her RAF husband is rarely on leave. She fights on the home front; air raids, in-laws, machine work and poverty. After the war Joyce begins to enjoy the luxury of a prefab house, first holidays, the growing independence of her four children, but suffers a breakdown in her marriage and her husband's final illness. With humour and intelligence Joyce Storey charts a good deal of the 20th Century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844080463
• ISBN13: 9781844080465
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Virago Press (UK)
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

A striking and important read.

I enjoyed this book immensley, it tells the story of a working class woman's life from Bristol, England; from her childhood to retirement and beyond. It is the author's own story and it is both richly illustrated and candid. Most striking is it's social representation of both working class British life, the role of Women and the huge changes they faced during the course of the 20th century. Joyce, the main character, is spirited and unable to find her true purpose. Her life follows a standard expected pattern and she beautifully tells of the both the joys and agonies of her limited choices. A spirited woman is centre stage throughout, having brushes with independence, politics, career development and the calling for which she had the greatest gift, writing. Joyce Storey joined a writing group in her retirement and the novels (for this an amalgum of three books) came from her work in the group. The Author is now deceased which for me adds poignancy and hope to the novel, while Joyce comes late to her calling; at least it comes!