Finding Peggy: A Glasgow Childhood

by Meg Henderson

A true and shocking account of growing up in a Glasgow slum in the 1950s amid religious sectarianism and gang warfare, yet also warmth, laughter and remarkable spirit. It is also a portrait of the author’s mother and aunt, idealistic and emotional women both.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

320 pages, Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

*note - Born in 1948 however the date/month on my part is unknown and unable to find*

Journalist and author Meg Henderson was born in Townhead, Glasgow. The youngest of three children (2 brothers). Her parents an Irish Catholic father and her mother an Irish/Scottish Protestant.

Meg Henderson lived in several parts of the city including Blackhill, Drumchapel, and Maryhill. After the death of her beloved aunt Peggy; Meg Henderson left her convent secondary school at the age of sixteen to care for her family, an alcoholic father and a mother who was unable to cope with the loss of her sister. On which her first novel 'Finding Peggy' was born out of research into her family history.

First working within the NHS and then travelling to India with the Voluntary Service Overseas. On her return to Scotland she married and went to live on a Scottish island and became an adoptive and foster parent while writing the occasional newspaper article. When Meg Henderson gave up fostering she decided to write full-time.

Henderson now lives with her husband on the East Coast of Scotland works as both a journalist and an author, writting for newspapers, magazines, and television documentaries for the BBC and C4.

Henderson's novels are generally set in pre-war and wartime Glasgow.

Reviews

[Julie Chettle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit shattered by this book. I have Scottish heritage and I am actually glad my ancestor was sent to Tasmania as a convict. The level of discrimination against the poor, the tricks used to keep them poor and the attitude to women. The religious divide even within families and the lengths they went to for self preservation, not walking past a Catholic School if you were a Proddy for fear of a bashing and vice versa. The acceptance of sexual abuse and the ignorance of the condition of epilepsy. On the upside, I understood the language and it bought back some funny family memories.

[Carole Anne Coventry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Family life in Glasgow, a thoughtful insight into life back then.

I chose this book because I was brought up in several districts in Glasgow and could relate to the setting of the book.
The author describes her life and relationships very well and her love of her aunt and the special bond between them.
An easy read! But respectful ending!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book - and i knew some of the people she wrote about!
Sister Aquinas - ooohhhh!!!! Glad someone had those memories as well!
And Betty McGettigan - just as Meg wrote - a lovely woman who gave me a love of reading when i was 10 that hasn't left me years later

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating autobiography of a child growing up in the Glasgow slums in the 1950s. A tough read, but very insightful. Bought this in a museum store in Glasgow as I enjoy reading books from areas I visit.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book, I did this as part of my higher English and have now read several books by Meg Henderson.

[Theweebarrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking forward to reading this as i enjoy reading books about Glasgow, but i couldn't get into it at all as it kept jumping from one thing to another so after 2 days i gave up

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read from historical aspect.

[Elizabeth Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard going with dialect and tedious relatives but good recent history and following of life in post war Glasgow

[Sam Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very honest account of growing up in the slums as I know first hand as my first memory was visiting my great gran in the tenement blocks and from what my own mother has told me as she grow up there in the same era. However one thing that really struck me throughout the book is how much the author seemed to detest her family and blame them for her early start. Really sad and in reality they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation where social classes were extremely obvious before a time of proper social housing and financial help. It’s a very raw account, sad but has an element of comedy moments. One of those books you can’t help thinking about what you have read.

[K.C. Murdarasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first DNF of the 2022 (and I don't often fail to finish books). I found it pretty dull and the author seemed to have little self-awareness. It's the first autobiography I've read with an "unreliable narrator"! I gave up at the part when she was still a young child so maybe it's more clear-sighted later, but I can't be bothered. By the point I gave up, she had already told the anecdote at least three times about her mother and aunt laugh-crying about a subject they had forgotten, and it wasn't that enthralling to start with.

[Megan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic

Fantastic book about life I’m 1950s-60s Glasgow. Had me both laughing and crying throughout as it described navigating love and loss in a working class Glaswegian family.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have grown up in Glasgow and live here still, not far from the gas works described in the book. I enjoyed the sneak peek into Glasgow back then with a gripping and realistic story of Glasgow in the 50/60’s

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful, difficult, memorable.

[Deb Hudon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I felt like my Mum was here with me, and we were taking a walk down the streets of Drumchapel. Moved me to tears.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tragic story of a much loved sister and aunt who died in childbirth through medical negligence. It is an intesnely personal story by the author who pours out her soul in it. The disclosures include a cynical and perceptive view of authorities and religion. Her strong sense of justice shines through.

I would have liked the author to have recorded how she eventually married her husband, Rab, - I felt that bit was missing and I was waiting for that happy story to unfold, but it never did.

This is another book revealing that it's the women and children (particularly girls) who come off worse in these social conditions.

While I could understand the author's taunts and jibes against religion (particularly in view of the ridiculous bigotry which I found astonishing) my spiritual side longed for something which was absent in both sides of the family - but then that was how it was, so it's not the author's fault. At the end of the book the author implies Peggy's fate was sealed and determined by her social status: but I think that was not entirely true. Peggy made choices. Her social status did not totally negate her free will. All the family made choices. They could have made different choices. Yes, being in a poverty trap stacks the odds against you, but poor people are not totally without choice.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is reminiscent of Angela's Ashes. Meg Henderson, like Frank McCourt had a gloomy poverty-stricken childhood in a poor city in the British Isles. She had an alcoholic father and a long-suffering mother. She didn't realize until later in life just how bad her life had been. The memoir is straightforward and episodic.
The title of this book suggests that the focus will be about the search for Peggy, Meg's much loved aunt who died in childbirth when Meg was a young girl. There is a search, but much of the story is disjointed and the episodic format tells more about Meg than Peggy. Peggy is part of the book for Meg's early girlhood,about halfway through the book she dies, then the book goes on. In the last few chapters Peggy reappears as Meg researches the details of Peggy's sad and unnecessary death.
I liked these peoples, and I felt sorry for them, but I didn't love them in the way that Frank McCourt made me love his mother and his brothers.I didn't want to keep thinking about Angela's Ashes, which I haven't read since it first came out, but I couldn't help myself. It was just too reminiscent.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a mix of emotions reading this book. Happy, laughing, crying, angry... It's all there. Such a rough life, but they had each other and were happy with so little. Then tragedy strikes and the extended family is torn asunder with grief. At the age of 13, Meg's happy carefree life is forever changed.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a love story for Glasgow - really enjoyed it. There were some parts of the story that the author skipped that I'd liked to have read more about, but perhaps they were missed out to keep focus/reduce length. Regardless though, really enjoyed it.

[Anna Clementson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good true story but not amazing. But I did like the message within this story and the way the author writes and describes family and characters.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written - thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it. Will remember it always.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the warm family feel of life in Glasgow and the social history displayed

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

still excellent all these years later