I love their braveness, brashness, and intelligence - but I never imagined what they had to endure, to become like that. She formerly supported the Conservatives in her youth and once met Margaret Thatcher at a Scottish Conservative Party Conference in Perth. I have to say in hindsight I was glad I got to shake her hand and get her to sign my copy before I read it because I would've kicked myself for it after reading it if I hadn't.

HANDSTANDS IN THE DARK, by Janey Godley - SoundCloud Stream HANDSTANDS IN THE DARK, by Janey Godley - SoundCloud

But the book makes you laugh too, characters are colourful and Janey never appears as a victim despite all that her life has thrown at her. Born in the tough East End of Glasgow and married into one of the city’s most notorious criminal families, Janey Godley’s young life was far from ordinary. Anyway, Janey is on her farewell tour due to cancer and while she's still here among us, do yourself a favor - read this book. She also helps us to understand how she ended up dating and marrying a local gangster’s son, Sean Storrie and how she loves and hates him at the same time.Such an insight to life in the Gorbals during this time; the challenges and impossibility of it all. She was born in Shettleston in 1961 surrounded by characters and poverty that even Dickens might have thought a bit much.

Handstands in the dark / Janey Godley. | East Lothian Council Handstands in the dark / Janey Godley. | East Lothian Council

However on an empathic level,my heart went out to her and the level of suffering she went through as a child, and having met her, how well she turned out. Her resilience, determination and honesty about herself and others helped her cope with the devastating events in her life , while she took in life's joys when she could. I had never heard of Janey, I purchased the book because I like to read about lives of others that are so different to mine and those who overcome all kinds of hardship.I think this is an example of when an audio book pays off - thought that Janey reading her own story brought it all to life really well (the good and bad). Working in a rough Glasgow pub gave Janey Godley the front to make a success of stand-up comedy - and put dark memories of a troubled childhood behind her, says Gillian Glover". Glad I got to shake the hand of a genuine person,a true survivor and honour graduate of the University of Life. A regular 5-star performer at the Edinburgh Fringe, in 2008 she won the Fringe Report Award as ‘Best Performer’ and two Nivea Funny Women Fringe Awards– as ‘Best Stand-Up’ and, overall, for ‘Best Show’ as “one of the most prolific and extraordinary stand-up comedians working in the UK”. I have to say that I came to this book after finding Janey Godley's parodies of Nicola Sturgeon on twitter and then also a couple of wonderful things on the BBC.

Handstands in the Dark - Godley, Janey 9780091900298: Handstands in the Dark - Godley, Janey

Not being such a vaunted personality of the likes of Nigel Benn,Brian Clough,Mohamed Ali or Tony Adams who all came from similarly impoverished backgrounds to make good in their chosen professions. This evocative, intimate and moving portrayal of a woman forced to fight every day for her family’s future will strike a chord with anyone who has ever struggled against adversity. The fact she got the opportunity to party with Prince, who I love was just the icing on the cake for me.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. So if I met a man with three heads in my local I’d just sip my beer and maybe later ask him where he got his hair cut. How that woman has survived her ghastly upbringing and chaotic childhood - sexual abuse by an uncle from a very young age, alcoholic father, dysfunctional mother who accepted physical abuse from men in her life and was ultimately murdered by a lover - and has come out laughing and fighting is truly remarkable. Ashley, when she is born, is the one thing that binds the family together and even Old George is charmed by her.

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

Born in the tough East End of Glasgow and married into one of the city's most notorious criminal families, Janey Godley's young life was far from ordinary. brands, products in thousands of categories from hundreds of retailers to give you reliable purchasing advice. In December 2020, the Royal Society of Edinburgh commended Godley's voice-overs of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's COVID-19 briefings for helping engage the public with the warnings. From the grim and far-from-swinging 60s, to the discos of the 70s, to the tidal wave of heroin addiction which engulfed Glasgow's East End during the 1980s, Janey was witness to an extraordinary underworld - as well as religious sectarianism, abject poverty and a frightening family of in-laws. I’d love a sequel to follow on her story, so we can see how she got from the end of this book to where she is today….And unfortunately the lives depicted remind me of several I knew as a wee lad in 1960s Gorbals and Bridgeton. I look at Janey with respect and admiration and wish her peace, love and happiness for the rest of her life. In telling her story, she told the story of other family members (and their dirty laundry) but I doubt she would have had their blessing for that as no-one really came off very well from the story.