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INTRODUCED BY LISSA EVANS
'Humorous, moving and fascinating' CLARE MACKINTOSH
Deciding to try her hand at journalism, Poppy takes a job at a local newspaper. What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in ambition, notebook always at the ready in the hope of a good scoop. But there's hardly enough going on to fill all sixteen pages of the
Downingham Post, and innovation, she comes to learn, isn't an asset valued by her editor. Neither is her writing, which is greeted with the chastisement that 'journalism is not literature' and stripped of any individual style. As a junior reporter, and the only woman, Poppy is frustratingly relegated to covering weddings and school plays - and making endless cups of tea. Meanwhile, at her boarding-house, Poppy must contend with her tyrannical landlady and the comings and goings of the many tenants of 5 Bury Road.
Drawn from Monica Dickens's own experiences,
My Turn to Make the Tea is a witty, keenly observed account of the daily scramble of newspaper life, and a fascinating social history of the post-war years.
'Monica's naked curiosity and general bolshiness are easy to identify with, and as a narrator, she always tells us what we're longing to know - it's like listening to a friend's anecdote, and egging them on' LISSA EVANS
About the author
Monica Dickens MBE (1915-1992) was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Expelled from St Paul's Girls' School, she was then sent to a finishing school in France, before returning home to life as a debutante.
She then spent two years as a cook and general servant, which she wrote about in her first book, One Pair of Hands (1939). The book published when she was twenty-four, was a bestseller and established her reputation as a writer. During the Second World War, Dickens trained as a nurse and again successfully recounted her experiences in One Pair of Feet (1942).
In her career she wrote over fifty books for both adults and children, including the Follyfoot series. For twenty years, Dickens also wrote a much-loved column for Woman's Own. She was involved with the NSPCC, the RSPCA and the Samaritans.
Summary
A winning comic novel from a beloved author - the triumphs and tribulations of a young female reporter in the early 1950s.
Foreword
A winning comic novel from a beloved author - the triumphs and tribulations of a young female reporter in the early 1950s.
Additional text
Wherever her eye falls, it finds the exact, significant detail, and her ear for dialogue is unerring
