The Amazingly Astonishing Story

The Amazingly Astonishing Story
Lucy Gannon
RRP:
NZ$ 43.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 37.39
Hardback
h208 x 135mm - 272pg
26 Oct 2020 UK
9781781725986
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
' The Amazingly Astonishing Story' is Lucy Gannon' s memoir of her first seventeen years. The daughter of a soldier, she lived a peripatetic early life but settled in the north west. Here, a young child, she suffered the death of her mother and was cared for by an aunt. Escape beckoned when her father remarried and the family moved south, but Lucy and her two elder brothers soon find out that they have swapped one difficult situation for another. The boys flee by joining the armed forces and Lucy is left to deal with a stepmother who mostly ignores her in an attempt to live her own life with Lucy' s father. Lucy' s escape is school, where her abysmal grasp of maths is mitigated by a flair for writing. Despite her talent, and her love of school, she leaves at sixteen for the Women' s Royal Army Corps, unable to escape the low expectations of her family. Vividly told, ' The Amazingly Astonishing Story' is a classic story of a working-class girl growing up in the fifties and early sixties, where what might be possible and what actually is seem incompatible. A strict Catholic upbringing, sexual abuse, a father torn between his daughter and his new wife, a precocious and imaginative young girl, mean that Lucy Gannon really does have an amazing story (including a chance meeting with the young Beatles in the school grounds) as she breaks boundaries and strives for the freedom to be herself. Reminiscent of Jeanette Winterson' s ' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit' Gannon' s memoir is an assured story of her childhood and of a slice of Britain in the 50s and 60s.
After leaving the army Gannon became a social worker and then a nurse before turning to writing. She is the author of 8 plays and 18 tv dramas or series, including ' The Best of Men' , ' Soldier Soldier' , ' Peak Practice' , ' Bramwell' , and ' Dad' . She won the Richard Burton Award for New Playwrights and has been writer in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Gannon is currently developing scripts and mentoring writers for BBC Wales and contemplating two further volumes of memoir. She lives on the coast, in the far west of Ceredigion.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781781725986
Published: 26 Oct 2020
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Seren
Publisher: Poetry Wales Press
Format: Hardback
Height: 208mm
Width: 135mm
Spine: 19mm
Pages: 272

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information

Details of the product above will be automatically included with your enquiry.