HER PEOPLE

by Kathleen Dayus

Her People [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1987] Dayus, Kathleen (Rudd, John ) …

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Kathleen Dayus was an English author from the West Midlands. Born in Hockley, Birmingham, 1–2 miles NW of the city centre, Dayus is best known for a series of autobiographical novels based on her childhood experiences. Her collective works were published as a single volume in 2006 called The Girl from Hockley: Growing Up in Working-Class Birmingham.

She won the prestigious J.R. Ackerely Prize for Autobiography in 1982 and was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Birmingham in 1992

Reviews

[Darryl Tomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this when I was about 10 years old, and I think it had a huge influence on me. Dayus vividly describes her childhood in the slums of Birmingham before the Great War. At times you can almost smell the gruel. There are particularly vivid sections on Katie's relationship with her mother, who comes across as hard as steel, as well as the daily struggle of scraping together a few pennies for food, clothes etc in a time when the state was largely unconcerned with the plight of the poor. I'm now a History teacher who loves social history and I revisited this thinking it would seem tawdry and sentimental. Far from it, the book retains its power, and I am thinking I will try to introduce it my students as a brilliant example of what Britain was like not so very long ago.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If anyone tries using that phrase "the good old days" around me again, I will have to clamp my mouth shut quick before I laugh in their face. Perhaps because of her grim family situation, this book is interesting - I won't get into it here, suffice it to say, Kathleen survived! This is a survival story, a whole-life survival story. (Time for me to pull up my socks.) This woman wasn't asking for pity, merely showing how it was. A very important kind of record, in my opinion, because this was normal life back then. I need to look back and see where we came from once in a while, for perspective's sake.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen Dayus provides a wonderful insight of life in the slums of Birmingham in the early 1900's. It is not simply a historical account as that is covered by the introduction, instead it is a personal story of her life and feelings of living in that difficult time. Life was hard and discipline was tough especially from her own mother, so much so that she believed her mother didn't love her. This book is very well written and so deserved that it has been recognised by the city of Birmingham who have named a square after Kathleen Dayus in the Jewellery Quarter.

[Polly Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book about 4 times now and love it, it reminds me of stories told by my mother. My family/ancestors are from Birmingham and it's comforting to be able to read how they would of once lived. My daughters are now reading the books (there are 4) and love them equally.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an immensly readable memoir especially to someone from Birmingham. I loved the young Katie's spirit, and often cringed for her. Her life was unbelievably tough, we are so spoilt now! Growing up in a tiny back to back in Hockley with her siblings, father and undemonstrative mother who Katie believed never loved her,sometimes the subject of her mother's violent temper, Katie often went to bed hungary or crying.
There is some humor too, for instance the family's exploits when they go hop-picking are quite amusing - not that I would have much relished sleeping on straw beds in a barn. All in all a good read. However the ending seems very rushed to me - suddenly we are given a precis of the next twenty years or so of Kathleen Dayus's life - evnts which are covered in the next two volumes of her autobiography.

[Janine Last · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen Dayus was born early in the 1900's and grew up in the slum area of Birmingham. This is her story, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always the grinding poverty. This book is mostly about her early childhood, and she has written two more books about her later years.