Pride Of Walworth

Adams Family Saga #7

by Mary Jane Staples

There was a new family in Browning Street, Walworth - the Harrisons. Respectable and well-behaved, the only thing unusual about them was that Mr Harrison was never there. He was a sailor, said Ma Harrison, away fighting pirates in the China Seas. Actually, 'Knocker' Harrison was in Marsham Gaol - he had unfortunately burgled a lady's suite when she happened to be there. Pa wasn't really a very good burglar. When young Nick Harrison, eldest son and heir of Ma and Knocker, met Annabelle Somers he found himself in a very difficult situation. For seventeen-year-old Annabelle was a peach of a girl, was related to the highly respectable Adams family, and was really quite keen on Nick, very interested in him and in his family. What with keeping Annabelle at arm's length in case she found out about Pa, and with the problems of running the Browning Street Rovers football team (the ball was owned by Chrissie Evans who laid down her own rules about the team) Nick sometimes wondered if his life would ever be sorted out.

Genres: Family Saga

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Mary Jane Staples is a pseudonym used by British author Reginald Thomas Staples (1911-2005). He is also published under the name Robert Tyler Stevens, R.T. Stevens, and James Sinclair.

Reviews

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)]

Okay little eveningtime comfort read, if you don't want to think very hard and just want the banter. Sadly, banter can't carry a novel. Not much happens and it happens very slowly. The cover says it's a "vibrant new saga of Cockney life" but it is anything but vibrant. And do/did Cockneys go around telling each other in conversation how "we cockneys" are like this and that? I doubt many people of the family's class knew the word "resilient". I got tired of the "jokes" about Chrissie/Dumpling being fat, and about her well-filled jumper. Staples is actually a man and sadly in this instalment he whacks in all the sexist humour he can. All the boys in the book spend their time salivating over Chrissie's curves and her boyfriend basically intends to marry her so he can get some. Which may have been the basis for more than one marriage at the time the book is set (1938 or so) but that doesn't mean I enjoyed reading so many repetitions of the same thing. All the parents seem to be willing to let the guys have their way with the girls so they can marry them off. Ugh. The "mystery" angle is no mystery and its resolution is not believable.

I wonder why "Mary Jane Staples" (Reginald Thomas Staples) felt he should write under a woman's name. It might have worked for the other instalments but not this one.

If you enjoyed the old, bland episodes of The Archers, you might like this. Undemanding, and has nothing in it to keep you awake. It put me to sleep several times at bedtime which for me is a good thing.

[Clare O'Beara]

This is a standalone add-on to a Cockney series. It's written for humour, set between the wars. A small family moves from their area to better explain the father's absence; he's in the Navy, fighting Chinese pirates. Of course, he's really in jail. The football-mad young folks get serious about a team; every street has its team at this time. There are a bunch of girl supporters, who keep turning up to the weekly committee meetings, and one of them gets to play in goal when the team is short. The lads are generally keen on the girls, who think cuddling is soppy and are just there for the sport.
Meanwhile, the oldest lad is working as a clerk, hoping to keep a respectable job for the family. If his Pa starts up thieving again when he comes out, the kids and Ma will have his hide. But in the meantime, nobody can start a relationship with all the lies in the air.

[Pauline Dowdall]

Boring

I thought this book was a bit stupid at times,especially when the committee meetings got talking about what they got up to on a foggy night in the parlour, at times it boring and couldn’t wait to finish it. I read the six books and thought they were more interesting than this one, hope the next book ,8 is better .

[Rhona Connor]

Another book down. Adams family 7.

I do love these books a lot,but in this one wd hardly get to see the Adams family. It's all the Harrison family, Cassie, Freddy, Browning Street Rovers Football team, with much humour. Annabelle Somers, eldest daughter of Lizzy and Ned. Boots & Rosie are in it, but not the others so much. Sammy and Tommy are mentioned but hardly come into it, which is a pity as they are what I like best about the series. The family.
The book mentions Queen Elizabeth ( who was Queen of the UK etc alongside her husband George VI from Dec 1936 until Feb 1952) but the book is set in 1933/1934. So at that time the Queen was Queen Mary wife of King George V. Until Jan 1936.
Apart from that highly recommended.

[Jennsie]

This book is a continuation of the series about a cockney family. The book introduced brand new characters and focused more on a child of one of the early characters in the series and had very little story involving the old characters. I didn’t really connect with the new characters and found this story the least enjoyable so far. It introduced the characters Nick (and family) and Dumpling and a football team. Cassie and Freddy returned but didn’t have a storyline, and a teenager Annabell (one child from the previous characters) featured as one central storyline. This lacked a story/plot.

[Kaylah P]

I really do love this series. As an American, I find the Cockney way of life so fascinating! Even more so in the years, this series takes place. I did want to recommend switching books 7 & 8 around. It was very confusing when listening to them in the recommended order. So if I were to listen again, I would go book #8 Pride of Walworth, then book #7 Echoes of Yesterday!

[Lynn Smith]

Newer characters the Harrisons and Somers whose lives become intertwined with the incorrigable Adams Family. An enjoyable read at the time.