Handstands in the Dark A True Story of Growing Up and Survival

by Godley, Janey

• ISBN13: 9780091908775
• ISBN10: 0091908779
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Ebury Press

Summary

The author's unique and moving life story of squalor, gangland violence, her mother's murder and a frightening family of in-laws contains many extraordinary characters within an enclosed and seldom-revealed Glasgow of the 1960s to the 80s.

Author Biography

Janey Godley is a stand-up comedienne, actress, and playwright whose shows, Good Godley! and Janey Godley Is Innocent, have gone from the Edinburgh Fringe to London's West End. She appeared in her own one-woman play The Point of Yes to critical acclaim in the West End and has performed her shows to long-term prisoners in Scottish jails. She writes an award-winning online blog, has written for a number of print publications and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. For more information on Janey, please visit her website: www.janeygodley.co.uk.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
The world upside-down	p. 1
The girl who came to school	p. 13
Everybody dies	p. 26
The gangs, the Gadgies and a gun	p. 41
The family	p. 50
A new boyfriend	p. 77
The big night	p. 93
Training	p. 108
Homes and jobs	p. 114
Death, heroin and hookers	p. 125
Down those streets	p. 138
Each leaf and piece of debris	p. 147
Redecorated	p. 156
A biblical prophecy	p. 166
Sweet dreams are made of this	p. 176
Que sera sera	p. 209
Glasgow smiles	p. 226
'Janey, shut the door, eh?'	p. 248
Trains and floats and pains	p. 251
Ashley's education	p. 262
Diamonds and pearls and death	p. 267
A scary fairground ride	p. 296
Cleaver and Polis and pills	p. 300
Running out of time	p. 330
Toad Hall, London and Ocho Rio	p. 355
The handstand	p. 373
Welcome to the Hotel California	p. 399
Epilogue	p. 405
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