Borrowed Body - Softcover

Mason-John, Valerie

4.2

25 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1852428910 ISBN 13: 9781852428914

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2005

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At six weeks I was chucked out into the new year of 1965 which wasn't prepared to welcome an African baby, abandoned on a harsh English winter's day.

So begins Pauline's spirited and moving story of her childhood and teenage years in and out of foster homes and detention units in England. Both realistic and magical, Borrowed Body is a celebration of a child's will to survive. It is the first novel by Valerie Mason-John, who lives in London, England.

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About the Author:

Valerie Mason-John (aka Queenie) was born in Cambridge in 1962. She has worked as an international correspondent, and has contributed to the Guardian, The Voice and the Morning Star. Winner of the Windrush Achievement Award 2000, she also recently won first prize for the Shorelines/Cultureword First Chapter. She lives in South London and works as an anger management therapist.

Review:

?An extraordinary piece of work? Sara Maitland ?Luminous, funny and deeply moving, Borrowed Body is Valerie Mason-John's powerful debut about growing up black, female and in care. 70s and 80s Britain becomes another country, a land of foster homes, squats, and worse, where grace under pressure is the very least of what's needed, and it's all seen through the eyes of a girl they called ?Minstrel?? Bonnie Greer ?A riveting, truthful, touching read that tells us new things about the secret lives of children? Maggie Gee

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