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No Cake, No Jam: Hardship and Happiness in Wartime London
No Cake, No Jam is the heartwarming true story of a little girl’s London childhood during the Blitz, and of how she rose above adversity through sheer guts and strength of character. Marian Hughes was born in the same year as her father committed suicide. She spent most of her early childhood with her elder sisters and brother in Spurgeon’s Orphanage in South London. There she learned to love extravagant hymns and to receive regular beatings. Suddenly, when Marian was ten, her mother appeared. All four children were swept up by their mother to live in a damp and filthy flat off Baker Street. There began a life of moonlight flits, camping, and squats. Marian’s mother forgot to feed her children, and paid no attention to school or the bombing. Marian soon turned to begging and stealing to help the family get by. Marian’s brother and elder sisters left home as soon as they could, but Marian remained to support her deranged and frequently violent mother, evading Care and Protection Orders and often running away. Then the day finally came when Marian had to sign the papers to have her mother committed. From that moment, 14-year-old Marian had to find out if she was strong enough to live for herself. . . Throughout all the twists and turns of her childhood, Marian never lost her spirit and never faltered in her loyalty. Full of vigor, truth, humor, and curiosity, No Cake, No Jam is a passionate celebration of a life and love.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 27, 2019
Oh my goodness, Wow, what a different story. It's amazing Marain Hughes survived. She once walked from Wales to London, on her own as a teenager. What's especially interesting is she never felt sorry for herself, she just got on with it. If you like reading these types of stories then I can highly recommend.
September 8, 2020
A story of a young girl growing up during the second world war, passed from orphanage to orphanage and then into the hands of her mentally ill mother could have been a sad and depressing tale. But it is not.
No Cake, No Jam tells the story of Marian Hughes’ harsh childhood in not one but two orphanages after her father commits suicide and her mother is left unable to cope with her four young children. At age 12 Marian’s mother returns to reclaim the family but her increasingly violent outbursts cause the newly reunited family to break apart.
For years Marian tries to help her mother. She takes to stealing, and roaming the streets begging to provide food and her mother’s cigarettes. She is picked up by the police and spends time in a remand centre but time and again her plight (and that of her increasingly paranoid mother) is ignored. Social workers declare the home ‘suitable’. Police, called to a violent affray call it ‘a domestic’ and leave. Despite the hunger, the beatings and the fear, Marian remains at her mother’s side and her love for her mentally unstable mother shines through in her writing. As she says, her mother could not help her illness and some of their adventures, when her mother was ‘well’ were hilarious. Marian made me weep for her mother as well as her teenage self.
Eventually, having had to sign her mother into a mental hospital, Marian begins to question herself, others and God. But even this cannot keep the teenaged Marian down. As she says ‘up bubbled my cheerful self.’
This book could quite easily have been depressing and sad, yet all Marian’s travails are told with humour and optimism. She tells of stealing cakes and toys, snatching the cane from her headmaster’s hands to avoid another beating and doing moonlight flits with her mother to avoid paying the rent with a rare candidness and humour which elevates this book to something special.
No Cake, No Jam tells the story of Marian Hughes’ harsh childhood in not one but two orphanages after her father commits suicide and her mother is left unable to cope with her four young children. At age 12 Marian’s mother returns to reclaim the family but her increasingly violent outbursts cause the newly reunited family to break apart.
For years Marian tries to help her mother. She takes to stealing, and roaming the streets begging to provide food and her mother’s cigarettes. She is picked up by the police and spends time in a remand centre but time and again her plight (and that of her increasingly paranoid mother) is ignored. Social workers declare the home ‘suitable’. Police, called to a violent affray call it ‘a domestic’ and leave. Despite the hunger, the beatings and the fear, Marian remains at her mother’s side and her love for her mentally unstable mother shines through in her writing. As she says, her mother could not help her illness and some of their adventures, when her mother was ‘well’ were hilarious. Marian made me weep for her mother as well as her teenage self.
Eventually, having had to sign her mother into a mental hospital, Marian begins to question herself, others and God. But even this cannot keep the teenaged Marian down. As she says ‘up bubbled my cheerful self.’
This book could quite easily have been depressing and sad, yet all Marian’s travails are told with humour and optimism. She tells of stealing cakes and toys, snatching the cane from her headmaster’s hands to avoid another beating and doing moonlight flits with her mother to avoid paying the rent with a rare candidness and humour which elevates this book to something special.
January 7, 2021
This story warmed my heart.
June 9, 2023
I loved it. It's a very gripping read. It came to me at the perfect time of my life, as I have been grappling for the last 5 or so years with the neglect of my upbringing. The overall moral of choosing love and choosing to put out love really spoke to me. Luckily my mother and now have a good relationship, and I am healing from my childhood. Without this book, I don't think I would have been able to take that step.
Hughes seems like she would have been an absolutely magnetic and fascinating person to know. Unlike most of these "old person rambling" books that I love so much, this book doesn't dwell on telling the reader off for being modern. She just gets on with her story like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I hope that I can start to approach the loving and free spirited woman Hughes was, and I hope I can repair my relationship with my siblings in the way she was able to (as I do so dearly want to be friends with them.)
Hughes seems like she would have been an absolutely magnetic and fascinating person to know. Unlike most of these "old person rambling" books that I love so much, this book doesn't dwell on telling the reader off for being modern. She just gets on with her story like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I hope that I can start to approach the loving and free spirited woman Hughes was, and I hope I can repair my relationship with my siblings in the way she was able to (as I do so dearly want to be friends with them.)
July 5, 2021
What an extraordinary book.
An incredibly honest and unflinching account of the author's childhood through orphanages, various institutions and many many poor housing situations with her mother who suffered various mental health problems. She doesn't apologise or try to gloss over her criminal activities but you understand that she really didn't have any other options open to her, it was a matter of survival.
It is an amazing testament to the resilience of this child that she seems to find little pockets of positivity amongst the chaos and cruelty that she faces on a daily basis. A lesser spirit would have been broken very early on.
It was good to see the resume of her later life, marriage, children and reconnection with her brother and older sisters after many years of separation. If anyone deserved it, she did.
An incredibly honest and unflinching account of the author's childhood through orphanages, various institutions and many many poor housing situations with her mother who suffered various mental health problems. She doesn't apologise or try to gloss over her criminal activities but you understand that she really didn't have any other options open to her, it was a matter of survival.
It is an amazing testament to the resilience of this child that she seems to find little pockets of positivity amongst the chaos and cruelty that she faces on a daily basis. A lesser spirit would have been broken very early on.
It was good to see the resume of her later life, marriage, children and reconnection with her brother and older sisters after many years of separation. If anyone deserved it, she did.
November 4, 2020
I bought this book as part of some research I am doing in preparation for a crime novel set in 1940s London. Although it didn’t add too much to my research I couldn’t put this book down. The author vividly brings together the horrors of a neglected childhood where the constant cravings for food and basic necessities lead her into criminality. It is surprising that she even made it through to adulthood. It’s a horrendous story of abuse and deprivation that eventually works out well.
Thoroughly recommend this well written and heartfelt book.
Thoroughly recommend this well written and heartfelt book.
April 28, 2022
A memoir of a London childhood during and after WWII. I worried that, with the story being described as "heart-warming" on the book cover, that this could fall into "poverty porn" territory; fortunately, it never did. I think the author did an incredible job of being honest and clear-eyed as she narrated her navigation and survival of an extremely challenging upbringing.
Spoiler(ish): I think what actually I found compelling was the afterword, where it becomes clear that the impact of trauma has lifelong consequences.
Spoiler(ish): I think what actually I found compelling was the afterword, where it becomes clear that the impact of trauma has lifelong consequences.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2018
It was at times a bit hard to follow as the narrative jumped across different stories and various time frames.
The story centred on Marian who guides us through the trails and triumphs of growing up in a dysfunctional family, how she survived on her own during a world war and then tells of the confusing awareness of first love.
If you can forgive the narrating transitions, then you are in a pleasant surprise with this book and the epilogue at the end is welcoming conclusion.
The story centred on Marian who guides us through the trails and triumphs of growing up in a dysfunctional family, how she survived on her own during a world war and then tells of the confusing awareness of first love.
If you can forgive the narrating transitions, then you are in a pleasant surprise with this book and the epilogue at the end is welcoming conclusion.
March 19, 2018
I choose this rating as reading Marions life story taught me that even if you have had a really bad up bringing it don't make you bad and you can do better for yourself .
There is nothing I dislike about the book she is honest and straight about the life she led .And it was wonderful to read the comments from her own children about how much she loved them and they loved her and the wonderful life she gave them .
There is nothing I dislike about the book she is honest and straight about the life she led .And it was wonderful to read the comments from her own children about how much she loved them and they loved her and the wonderful life she gave them .
November 10, 2021
Memoirs can be tricky. They can tell a great story, or they fall apart all over the place with chopped up stories which are difficult to follow. This memoir falls somewhere in the middle. It starts off with fractured bits and pieces but as the author ages the story begins to make more sense. And then it becomes a train wreck that you can’t stop reading. It’s sad, but Ms. Hughes certainly persevered. It’s amazing she even survived.
January 16, 2018
Wasn't sure to start but by chapter three I was hooked. Compelling true story of the misfortunes of one family in war time England centered around one child. Although it sometimes doesn't flow, the content is interestingly enough to read it through to the end. Like the epilogue at the end. Brave & bold the characters draw your sympathy- a good read.
June 9, 2019
Enthralling
I was engrossed from start to finish. How wonderful that this lady overcame or learned from all the difficulties of her childhood, and achieved what she had always desired: home, family, love and security. It's also wonderful that she continued to look after her beloved Pops returning his love and loyalty until his death.
I was engrossed from start to finish. How wonderful that this lady overcame or learned from all the difficulties of her childhood, and achieved what she had always desired: home, family, love and security. It's also wonderful that she continued to look after her beloved Pops returning his love and loyalty until his death.
December 13, 2024
No Cake, No Jam was a random find on sale that has turned out to be one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. Turning such a terrible start in life into such optimism and bold defiance is incredible but even better that life rewarded her so fully. Definitely up there with Angela's Ashes and Shuggie Bain. Loved this book so much!!
September 19, 2018
I loved every minute reading this fantastic book.
Mariana life story is told at a fast pace. I found her life fascinating. Her resilience amazed me. I wish I had met her. I highly recommend this book.
Mariana life story is told at a fast pace. I found her life fascinating. Her resilience amazed me. I wish I had met her. I highly recommend this book.
March 10, 2020
A great insight to poverty and life
A honest open look at the real life of the poor in such a terrible time. The real cruelty of people in authority who thought themselves better than others less fortunate. And how things have changed for the better in most cases.
A honest open look at the real life of the poor in such a terrible time. The real cruelty of people in authority who thought themselves better than others less fortunate. And how things have changed for the better in most cases.
August 30, 2020
A True story of innocence and growing up
Fantastic story of siblings with a mother with mental health problems struggling to cope her children come through a lot of hardship and elder ones leave the youngest to deal with mum and she suffered the most
Fantastic story of siblings with a mother with mental health problems struggling to cope her children come through a lot of hardship and elder ones leave the youngest to deal with mum and she suffered the most
November 19, 2018
Good book
Top book. Could not put it down it is the best book I have read on along time thank you
Top book. Could not put it down it is the best book I have read on along time thank you
January 15, 2020
I loved her and I loved her story. Should have been heartbreaking but it wasn’t because she found good everywhere. I wish she had been my friend.it would have been an honour to know her
August 17, 2020
An amazing story of survival and determination.
September 12, 2020
Wonderful byography
Started slow then could not put it down . Read into the night and morning . Well written - felt I was with her , both in sad and happy times...
Started slow then could not put it down . Read into the night and morning . Well written - felt I was with her , both in sad and happy times...
October 16, 2020
A very difficult wartime childhood of poverty and neglect makes an interesting read. Good but not brilliant.
January 1, 2021
I really didn’t like this story it was boring I was glad when I had finished it. Really couldn’t recommend it.
March 9, 2021
A wartime memoir about a girl and her siblings and their mentally ill mother. Vividly written and very readable. Recommended.
February 27, 2021
This is a memoir of a difficult childhood during World war Two.
This book is well written and interesting to read.
Recommended to fans of this type of book.
This book is well written and interesting to read.
Recommended to fans of this type of book.
April 21, 2023
Brilliant book with all the emotions running through the story
March 12, 2021
The autobiography starts with Marion Hughes' earliest memories, her years spent in an orphanage. Her father has committed suicide, and her mother has abandoned Marion and her three siblings. But Hughes' mother was not an ordinary woman thrown on hard times, but the spoiled daughter of a wealthy family, disowned by that family after their patience wore out with their wayward offspring.
Not surprisingly, the orphanage is pretty bad, but nothing compared to what happens when Mommie Dearest shows up one day to claim her children. For even though Mrs. Hughes wants her children, she has no intention of taking care of them. The woman spends her days smoking and lazing in bed like a female Fagin while her children live a vagabond existence stealing food, money, and anything else they can get their hands on to support themselves and their mother. The family even spends months living in a tent in a field, robbing snares for meat and living like gypsies. The children are constantly weaving in and out of the hands of social workers and police cells while Mrs. Hughes shows no interest in whether they might disappear permanently one day or not.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Hughes raises her children with a mixture of smiling flattery and raging tantrums of towering violence in which she physically injures her children, including one episode in which she smashes a bottle so hard over Marion's head that she gives her daughter a skull fracture and a hospital stay. These episodes always start with Mrs. Hughes taking exception to some trivial remark or event, then maliciously setting the child up for a fall with a flurry of angry accusations, while working herself up into a rage while the frightened child-victim tries to ward off the coming storm. Fortunately, Marian and her siblings manage to leave their mother's clutches one way or another and work their way into a more normal life. Near the end of the book Mommie Dearest reappears and goes into one of her old rages, but Marian clobbers the woman, an episode which leaves the author feeling horribly guilty, but which the reader cheers on as Mommie's just desserts.
All throughout the story it is repeated that Mrs. Hughes is mentally ill. Her children call her mentally ill, the police call her mentally ill, and the social workers call her mentally ill. But it's obvious to anyone who isn't an idiot that Mrs. Hughes is not insane. She is simply a sociopath. This is the way sociopaths behave. There is a selfish rationality behind all her actions, such as her attempts to coerce her children via terror as well as her general indifference to danger and the welfare of the children that is typical of sociopaths.
All in all, this is a harrowing story, and it's surprising the Hughes children weren't more psychologically damaged by their upbringing.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL30576...
Not surprisingly, the orphanage is pretty bad, but nothing compared to what happens when Mommie Dearest shows up one day to claim her children. For even though Mrs. Hughes wants her children, she has no intention of taking care of them. The woman spends her days smoking and lazing in bed like a female Fagin while her children live a vagabond existence stealing food, money, and anything else they can get their hands on to support themselves and their mother. The family even spends months living in a tent in a field, robbing snares for meat and living like gypsies. The children are constantly weaving in and out of the hands of social workers and police cells while Mrs. Hughes shows no interest in whether they might disappear permanently one day or not.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Hughes raises her children with a mixture of smiling flattery and raging tantrums of towering violence in which she physically injures her children, including one episode in which she smashes a bottle so hard over Marion's head that she gives her daughter a skull fracture and a hospital stay. These episodes always start with Mrs. Hughes taking exception to some trivial remark or event, then maliciously setting the child up for a fall with a flurry of angry accusations, while working herself up into a rage while the frightened child-victim tries to ward off the coming storm. Fortunately, Marian and her siblings manage to leave their mother's clutches one way or another and work their way into a more normal life. Near the end of the book Mommie Dearest reappears and goes into one of her old rages, but Marian clobbers the woman, an episode which leaves the author feeling horribly guilty, but which the reader cheers on as Mommie's just desserts.
All throughout the story it is repeated that Mrs. Hughes is mentally ill. Her children call her mentally ill, the police call her mentally ill, and the social workers call her mentally ill. But it's obvious to anyone who isn't an idiot that Mrs. Hughes is not insane. She is simply a sociopath. This is the way sociopaths behave. There is a selfish rationality behind all her actions, such as her attempts to coerce her children via terror as well as her general indifference to danger and the welfare of the children that is typical of sociopaths.
All in all, this is a harrowing story, and it's surprising the Hughes children weren't more psychologically damaged by their upbringing.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL30576...
July 31, 2009
Picked this up in a second hand book shop.
After I had read William Woodruffs The Road to Nab End
When you read the intro on the inside of the cover you want to know how did this person survive to write the book.
What appeals to me is reading the memoir or autobiography of a non celeb
in our culture of celebrity.
After I had read William Woodruffs The Road to Nab End
When you read the intro on the inside of the cover you want to know how did this person survive to write the book.
What appeals to me is reading the memoir or autobiography of a non celeb
in our culture of celebrity.
September 1, 2014
What a little spitfire Marian Hughes was. An amazing story. After a truly tough start to life, Marian somehow overcomes it all to live a life full of all she never had; the close, loving family, lived in 'the palace' of her dreams.
November 28, 2016
a great book, Marian had a hard life as a child, she was a brave child. loved London and also the countryside. Like many she loved to read. I really enjoyed this book, a must read. It made me thankful for my happy childhood.
January 18, 2020
Interesting account of a woman’s hard life with her mother, who suffered with mental health. She went on to then cope with living alone with her step father and then future husband. Good all round autobiography.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews