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Good God In Govan

Joseph Sharp

Published as an Electronic Book by
Ebook Publisher, London. 2003
http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/81037-ebook.htm

A review (©, 2003) by the author Joseph Sharp
Original Copyright by Joseph Sharp josephsharp@lycos.co.uk. Used by permission of the author. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission of the author.

Good God In Govan is an autobiography of the author who describes it in the first person.

"The story begins in the year 1922, when my Irish Catholic grand-parents, Frank and Charlotte Hillis, flee Belfast, fearful of the danger to the lives of their young family. The family home had been attacked and set alight, and there had been many injuries in their community. Frank decided to take his family to Scotland, hoping to give his children a better future, and a brighter outlook on life.

"On arrival at the Broomielaw, on the river Clyde in Glasgow, they would have been very excited, and the story tells of my imaginings of what Glasgow must have been like, when they arrived.

"The busy river Clyde, with famous shipbuilding yards on both banks of the river. The deafening noise of the riveters at their work, and the mournful blaring of ships' foghorns. The sight and smell of the coal burning steam locomotives, and the ferries ferrying passengers across stream. Horse ferries carrying horse drawn carts and wagons across the oily river. Large merchant ships loading and unloading cargo of all description, at every quay on both sides of the river

"The river itself, from its source in the hills above Crawford, wending it's way down through the beautiful Clyde valley, passing through the peaceful and historical village of New Lanark, and other little hamlets, each with their own little tales of folklore to tell.

"My mother Annie Hillis, was one of the older children of the family, there were six kids altogether.

"The story goes on to tell of her meeting my dad, Alex, a Glasgow man, a Protestant. Marrying dad and going on to have a large and happy family. It tells of the family's early upbringing in the tenements of Glasgow, and Govan in particular, up until the outbreak of the war, and of the evacuation of Glasgow families during the war.

"My family were sent to a farm in Dumfriesshire, for the five years of the war, and I recall our experiences there during those years, working in the fields during harvest time, learning all about the animals, and especially the Clydesdale horses, those lovely big strong docile animals. It was a marvellous education for a wee boy from Govan. Those of us who were of school age, attended the local primary school in the nearby village.

"There were sad times too, of course. Our eldest brother, Alex junior, was sadly killed in a road accident near to the farm.

"On returning from Dumfries, after the five years of the war, the family then had to readjust to a life we had left behind and had almost forgotten. We had to continue with our schooling, make new friends, and pick up the threads of our lives the disruption of the war and evacuation had broken.

"My autobiography continues on to tell, in a light-hearted manner, the story of the love within the family, the relationships between dad and mum, father and sons, mother and daughters, and brothers and sisters.

"Employment was difficult to obtain, especially in the west of Scotland, where Catholics were discriminated against.

"Mum and dad went on to have nine children. I am one of those children and although I am neither famous nor infamous. Nevertheless, I have attempted in this book, to give the interested reader, an insight into the mind, the attitude, and the humour in the life of an ordinary working class Glaswegian."

ISBN. 1-904498-01-9
File Size: 256KB
Price: $12.47.
Order securely on-line.

[Capital Scot advisory: The author assures that this novel is safe for kids of all ages, and meets the UK safe surfing standard for all ages.]

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