Gilda O'Neill (1951–2010)
Author of My East End: Memories of Life in Cockney London
About the Author
Gilda O'Neill is a founder member of Material Girls, a network of women writers across the whole spectrum of the industry.
Series
Works by Gilda O'Neill
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1951-05-25
- Date of death
- 2010-09-24
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- novelist
social historian
oral historian - Short biography
- Gilda Griffiths was raised in the East End of London, where her family experienced the terrors of the Blitz in World War II and the upheaval of the slum clearances after the war. After leaving school at 15, she took a variety of office and bar jobs. In 1971, she married John O'Neill, who became an actuary in the City, and had a son and a daughter. After her children were born, Gilda O'Neill went back to finish her education and began writing. Her first book was the oral history Pull No More Bines – Hop Picking: Memories of a Vanished Way of Life (1990), based in part on her childhood. Her first novel was The Cockney Girl (1992). Over 20 years, she published 15 more novels and five social histories. Her obituary in The Guardian said: "Underneath that cockney persona, she figured out how to use story-telling, lived experience and memory to draw political parallels. . . Like Studs Terkel, she used real experiences to show, as in A Night Out With the Girls (1993), how history is made in the asides on phone-in shows, through the snatched dialogues and shared raucous laughter. She cherished the vernacular, while painstakingly checking historical fact."
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- London, England, UK
Members
Reviews
The author has combined her own memories with those of other people who lived in the same area of London in the 1950s. I loved that the memories told in the book are about lives of ordinary people, and it really made me think about how much things have changed, and what we take for granted these days.
The book was really interesting and fun to read, also because the book is less than 100 pages long, I read it in one sitting. Reading this book reminded me of listening to my grandparents show more telling me stories of their youth. It has that nostalgic feel to it.
The only thing that did grate on me a bit is the way the author would write her own memories and then say something like "here is what a man said about that" followed by a quote. It just seemed a bit odd and I think she could have integrated the other people's stories a bit better. show less
The book was really interesting and fun to read, also because the book is less than 100 pages long, I read it in one sitting. Reading this book reminded me of listening to my grandparents show more telling me stories of their youth. It has that nostalgic feel to it.
The only thing that did grate on me a bit is the way the author would write her own memories and then say something like "here is what a man said about that" followed by a quote. It just seemed a bit odd and I think she could have integrated the other people's stories a bit better. show less
Fascinating story of the East End, primarily from 1900-1960ish as told by the voices of many people who lived there, the vast majority the poorer working class. Some other people have said there's too much romanticism and I think there definitely is quite a bit but the author tries to be balanced and is at least talking about the loss of actual things (sense of community and just human contact, the general feeling of disconnection as you grow older, feeling of neglect by most of the show more political class etc) and doesn't pin it on ridiculous sources (she avoids even the more covert racism and generally I quite liked what political comment she made, which was a change).
The real treat here is just the very evocative descriptions from actual people of how they lived - the games they played, the houses they lived in, the people they talked to, how they got by, what the war was like. You can't point to any one thing and say "this is special" but taken together it creates an amazing portrait of a world that's now mostly gone. If you're interested in that sort of history of average people - not in the class sense, but just how average people lived - then you'll definitely enjoy this. show less
The real treat here is just the very evocative descriptions from actual people of how they lived - the games they played, the houses they lived in, the people they talked to, how they got by, what the war was like. You can't point to any one thing and say "this is special" but taken together it creates an amazing portrait of a world that's now mostly gone. If you're interested in that sort of history of average people - not in the class sense, but just how average people lived - then you'll definitely enjoy this. show less
The East End of London is a nearly mythological neighborhood. From Jack the Ripper to jellied eels, from the 'mockney' of Hollywood to the true Cockneys, dock workers and mothers and criminals (think the Kray brothers), from the street markets to the neighborhood pubs, nearly everyone has an image of what the East End is like.
O'Neill, who was raised there, has done an admirable job of bringing it all together in an affectionate and nostalgic portrayal. It may err slightly on the side of show more romanticism, but on the other hand works heard to do away with many of the cliches.
The book is a combination of traditional memoir, historical/anthropological writing and oral history. Her research and breadth is impressive, although the combination of mediums isn't entirely successful. While her own writing is clear, concise, focused and engaging, the same can't be said for the oral histories and no matter how intriguing some of the details were, some of it is repetitious. It feels at times as though it's part of a student thesis, which detracts from it's considerable charm. Still, for anyone interested in the area, the history or the people, it's a good read, a fascinating glimpse of a lost way of life and an inspiring portrait of resilience and community.
Some of the most powerful passages were those in which the author explored the truly horrific conditions that resulted from not having any social net-- no welfare, no national health medicine. The suffering, disease and deaths that resulted should provide a brutal wake-up to anyone who supports a free-market capitalist solution to social problems. Want to see what North American society would look like (and in some cases already does) without social programs? Think Dickens. Think Victorian-era East End London. For that reason alone the book is more than worthwhile. show less
O'Neill, who was raised there, has done an admirable job of bringing it all together in an affectionate and nostalgic portrayal. It may err slightly on the side of show more romanticism, but on the other hand works heard to do away with many of the cliches.
The book is a combination of traditional memoir, historical/anthropological writing and oral history. Her research and breadth is impressive, although the combination of mediums isn't entirely successful. While her own writing is clear, concise, focused and engaging, the same can't be said for the oral histories and no matter how intriguing some of the details were, some of it is repetitious. It feels at times as though it's part of a student thesis, which detracts from it's considerable charm. Still, for anyone interested in the area, the history or the people, it's a good read, a fascinating glimpse of a lost way of life and an inspiring portrait of resilience and community.
Some of the most powerful passages were those in which the author explored the truly horrific conditions that resulted from not having any social net-- no welfare, no national health medicine. The suffering, disease and deaths that resulted should provide a brutal wake-up to anyone who supports a free-market capitalist solution to social problems. Want to see what North American society would look like (and in some cases already does) without social programs? Think Dickens. Think Victorian-era East End London. For that reason alone the book is more than worthwhile. show less
Accounts of hop-pickers who travelled from London to Kent in their thousands between about 1920 to the late 1960s. Interesting, though a bit repetitive and sometimes hard to read due to literal transcriptions of colloquial English.
A good insight into the lives of ordinary women in the recent past, however, and particularly interesting introduction and conclusion, discussing the nature of oral history.
A good insight into the lives of ordinary women in the recent past, however, and particularly interesting introduction and conclusion, discussing the nature of oral history.
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Statistics
- Works
- 26
- Members
- 444
- Popularity
- #55,178
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
- 138
- Languages
- 2