Barbara Tate - West End Girls

REVIEW BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC ON SHOW 16th Sept.
THIS BOOK WAS REVIEWED IN MY NEWSPAPER RECENTLY AND I FANCIED IT IMMEDIATELY!!
WHY? WELL TWO REASONS REALLY, ONE IT WAS SET IN THE 1950'S AND TWO IT WAS SET IN SOHO. BOTH ERAS AND PLACES I AM INTERESTED IN.
THE FIRST WAS MY GROWING UP PERIOD AND THE SECOND ALL THE JAZZ CLUBS I FAVOURED THEN WERE SET IN THE 1950'S THE MARQUEE, THE FLAMINGO, THE LOCARN, THE TROPICANA AND THE TAHITI AND SO ON.
AS I LIVED IN HEMEL HEMPSTEAD AND HAD TO CATCH THE LAST TRAIN BACK AT 11.30, NOTHING HALF AS EXCITING AS BARBARA TATE'S LIFE EVER EVOLVED!!!
SHE TELLS OF A SAD CHILDHOOD WHERE HER PARENTS CONSTANTLY AT WAR, USED HER IN THEIR BATTLES. ONE DAY HER FATHER ENRAGED AT SOMETHING, TOOK HER TO UPSTAIRS WINDOW, STRUNG A LITTLE NOOSE ABOUT HER NECK AND ATTACHED THE OTHER END TO THE TOP OF THE CASEMENT. SHE HAD TO STAND ON TIP TOE BECAUSE IF SHE DIDN'T THE NOOSE TIGHTENED ROUND HER THROAT AND BEGAN TO CHOKE HER.
NIGHT HAD FALLEN BEFORE HER MOTHER FOUND AND RESCUED HER. SHE WAS JUST 3 YRS old at the time.
SOON AFTER HOWEVER HER MOTHER AND FATHER SEPARATED AND SHE WAS LEFT IN THE CARE OF HER grandmother, a loveless upbringing that she DECIDED TO LEAVE AND MAKE HER OWN WAY IN LIFE.
SHE IS BOTH INTELLIGENT AND GIFTED, BOTH IN THE ART WORLD AND LATER IN HER WRITING BUT FOR THE TIME BEING SHE GETS A ONE ROOM IN SOHO AND WORKS IN A FAIRLY MENIAL WAY UNTIL SHE BECOMES A MAID TO ONE OF THE WORKING GIRLS IN SOHO. AS NAIVE AS SHE IS SHE HAS TO HAVE EXPLAINED TO HER EXACTLY WHAT THEIR WORK IS!!
A MAID HAS TO BE THERE FOR HER EMPLOYER, LOOK AFTER THE MONEY, KEEP THE FLAT CLEAN, HANDLE APPOINTMENTS AND SO ON AND THIS, BARBARA, DOES IN AN EXEMPLARY FASHION UNTIL AFTER A FEW YEARS SHE AND HER BOSS PART MAINLY BECAUSE MAE HAD BECOME INFATUATED WITH A MAN WHO FORCED HER TO WORK AND TOOK ALL HER MONEY AND ENSURED SHE GOT RID OF BARBARA, WHO COULD SEE HOW EVIL HER WAS.
THE BOOK IS VERY FUNNY IN LOTS OF PLACES AND BARBARA NEVER SUCCUMBS TO THE IDEA OF EARNING MONEY IN THE SAME WAY AS HER BOSS MAE. SHE NEVER ALLOWS HER UNHAPPY CHILDHOOD TO ENCROACH ON HER NEW LIFE NOR PARTICULARLY BLAMES ANY OF HER FAMILY FOR HER TREATMENT.
IT WAS ONLY TOWARDS THE END I BEGAN TO FEEL SOME DISTASTE FOR THE LIFE THEY WERE LEADING AND THE SAD FACT THAT NEARLY ALL OF THE LADIES OF THE NIGHT ENDED DEAD BEFORE THEIR TIME BY SUICIDE, BY THEIR PIMPS HAND OR SIMPLY BEING IN THE WRONG COMPANY. DRUGS ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THIS ERA BUT DRINK FEATURES STRONGLY.
BARBARA TATE COMES OVER VERY STRONGLY AS AN INDEPENDENT AND TALENTED WOMAN. SHE MAKES A GOOD LIVING AS AN ARTIST AND MARRIES AND HAS A FAMILY OF HER OWN.
HER DESCRIPTION OF 1940/50's LONDON IN PARTICULAR SOHO, IS VERY VIVID AND OF ALL THE STRANGE AND VIBRANT CHARACTERS THAT FEATURE IN HER LIFE.
I LOVED IT ALL.
review by Mags