Romany and Tom: A Memoir
by Ben Watt
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Description
Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2014Ben Watt's father was a working-class Glaswegian jazz musician-a politicized left-wing bandleader and composer-whose heyday in the late 1950s took him into the glittering heart of London's West End. His mother, Romany, the daughter of a Methodist parson, was a Shakespearean actress who had triplets in her first marriage before becoming a leading showbiz feature writer and columnist in the '60s and '70s. They were both divorced and show more from very different backgrounds, and they came together at a fateful New Year's Day party in 1957 like colliding trains.
Romany and Tom is Ben Watt's honest, sometimes painful, and often funny portrait of his parents' exceptional lives and marriage, depicted in a personal journey from his own wide-eyed London childhood, through years as an adult with children and a career of his own, to that inevitable point when we must assume responsibility for our own parents in their old age. Spanning several decades-and drawing on a rich seam of family letters, souvenirs, photographs, public archives, and personal memories-it is a vivid story of the postwar years, ambition and stardom, family roots and secrets, big band jazz, depression and drink, life in clubs and nursing homes. It is also about who we are, where we come from, and how we love and live with each other for the long term. show less
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Author Information
7+ Works 196 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2014
- Dedication
- For Jennie
- First words
- We only ever see the second half of our parents' lives - the downhill part.
There he was. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I tucked in the label that was sticking out from the collar of her cardigan, and took her hand, and we sat a little longer.
- Blurbers
- Boyd, William
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Music, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 941.085092 — History & geography History of Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor 1945-1999 History, geographic treatment, biography Biography
- LCC
- ML417 .W38 — Music Literature on music Literature on music History and criticism Biography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 31
- Popularity
- 899,447
- Rating
- (3.92)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
