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Or Forever Be Damned
For lovers of theatre, dramatic sagas and British Historical Fiction, this eBook was also paperback released in October 2014:
Mona — a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, is tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stagestruck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat — a Catholic rough-diamond child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life.
So begins their lifelong enmity.
Or Forever Be Damned is an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’, Salford in the 1930′s Slump — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.
If 'Or Forever Be Damned' were a fabric, it would be brocade — rich, detailed, textured, and often interwoven with threads of silver or gold.
Mona — a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, is tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stagestruck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat — a Catholic rough-diamond child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life.
So begins their lifelong enmity.
Or Forever Be Damned is an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’, Salford in the 1930′s Slump — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.
If 'Or Forever Be Damned' were a fabric, it would be brocade — rich, detailed, textured, and often interwoven with threads of silver or gold.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2014
11 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
C.S. Burrough
3 books141 followersSydneysider C.S. Burrough began life in the UK. After studying Performing Arts full-time he worked on West End theatre productions and toured shows internationally for nearly two decades, settling in Australia in the early 1980s. He has written and published since 1989 in anthologies and newspapers, producing full-length works, novellas and short stories and is a prolific book reviewer. Several of his works are held and catalogued in the National Library of Australia, and most are listed at AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource. His historical saga Or Forever Be Damned (2014) was published by Silky Oak Press. He is a Featured Contributor in the Soul Vomit: Domestic Violence Aftermath (2014) anthology, by Broken Publications. He is a contributing author to the Showcase: Spark (2024) anthology by Tale Publishing.
For previous work see AustLit: https://tinyurl.com/vvn87rf
Other links:
C S Burrough book review blog:
https://csburrough.blogspot.com/
Amazon.com Author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/csburrough
For previous work see AustLit: https://tinyurl.com/vvn87rf
Other links:
C S Burrough book review blog:
https://csburrough.blogspot.com/
Amazon.com Author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/csburrough
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 6, 2014
This is a fantastic tale, built around strong, three-dimensional characters and set in a history recent enough for most readers to strongly emapthise with. Although the story unfolds over several generations, the narrative drives forward like a locomotive and is at once poignant and exciting thanks to the impeccable worsdmithing talents of this author. I feel like Mona, Ambros, Kat, Ginny, Thaddeus, Gideon, Martha, Lydia, Sissy, Seth and all the wonderful, warm, ensemble of neighbours have become an extended family. I'd fully recommend it, it deserves a place in the classics.
August 21, 2014
The author has no doubt carved a masterpiece with his perfect articulation of characters from the very beginning. Particularly, there is a close sense of connection when he writes about siblings relationship. One of the lines I can take away from this book:
"Relationship between siblings was altering from their clumsy,tongue-poking system of semi-silent banter, with bruising knee digs and rib-gouging elbow nudges to something more complex".
It is a story which has got a mixed blend of love, grief, hatred and all other human emotional aspect and a thoroughly recommended read if you're after historical fiction. I was given a copy in exchange for a honest review. I look forward to read more by this author.
"Relationship between siblings was altering from their clumsy,tongue-poking system of semi-silent banter, with bruising knee digs and rib-gouging elbow nudges to something more complex".
It is a story which has got a mixed blend of love, grief, hatred and all other human emotional aspect and a thoroughly recommended read if you're after historical fiction. I was given a copy in exchange for a honest review. I look forward to read more by this author.
August 22, 2014
“Or Forever be Damned…” is a thoroughly engaging family saga that is a work of true historical and social relevance, taking us from the height of British Imperial power and importance and on through the ensuing decades of decline and decadence: Societal values changing; some for the better, many not so. It is a work of not only historical pertinency, relayed in painstaking accuracy, but it is a study of social structure, involving disparities of class, religion and region. I was intrigued by the premise of the novel and by the subject matter: such topics within the novel being personally relatable; career situations and regional flavor so on point that only one who truly had lived in these places or times and known these people and their lives could convey such to the reader. And how C. S. Burrough has painted his canvas with such devotion to detail, such accuracy! His evidently painstaking devotion to authenticity is the gift he presents to the generations of readers who will be drawn to this tale. It reads as the historical saga it so clearly is, with an ease and flow that is well paced and involving. One is drawn into the story-line from the first chapter.
It is a book to be considered on many facets. There is the startling fact of the changing times’ effects on attitudes, formalities, manners and practices. Then there is the story itself, apart from social relevance. Characters are well drawn and true, memorable for possessing identities gleaned from an authenticity born of knowledge. This genuine flavor makes the characters live. There is not the orthodox protagonist verses antagonist, as characters display both endearing and unfortunate characteristics, being at once sympathetic, then flawed. I prefer this, as it calls upon you, the reader, to reach your own determination as to whom is the more sympathetic and worthy of our emotional investment, thus keeping the reader engaged in the story-line, allowing one to reach one’s own conclusion of any message to be drawn from the epic saga. And epic it is! This is a work to be considered. It is also a work that will live with you long after you finish it.
Whilst reading this work I was wondering what particular message the author might be trying to pass along to the reader, if he had one at all – consciously or otherwise. But as I concluded the final page it came into clarity, exactly what message, what conclusion ought to be drawn from this fine work. I am glad to have read this work for that, and I would wish to thank the author for his efforts to that end. I would highly recommend this work to anyone, and would challenge them to discover what their own sincere conclusions would be upon finishing. Whether or not the author intended it, there is a message.
It is a book to be considered on many facets. There is the startling fact of the changing times’ effects on attitudes, formalities, manners and practices. Then there is the story itself, apart from social relevance. Characters are well drawn and true, memorable for possessing identities gleaned from an authenticity born of knowledge. This genuine flavor makes the characters live. There is not the orthodox protagonist verses antagonist, as characters display both endearing and unfortunate characteristics, being at once sympathetic, then flawed. I prefer this, as it calls upon you, the reader, to reach your own determination as to whom is the more sympathetic and worthy of our emotional investment, thus keeping the reader engaged in the story-line, allowing one to reach one’s own conclusion of any message to be drawn from the epic saga. And epic it is! This is a work to be considered. It is also a work that will live with you long after you finish it.
Whilst reading this work I was wondering what particular message the author might be trying to pass along to the reader, if he had one at all – consciously or otherwise. But as I concluded the final page it came into clarity, exactly what message, what conclusion ought to be drawn from this fine work. I am glad to have read this work for that, and I would wish to thank the author for his efforts to that end. I would highly recommend this work to anyone, and would challenge them to discover what their own sincere conclusions would be upon finishing. Whether or not the author intended it, there is a message.
September 15, 2014
Or Forever Be Damned by C.S. Burrough
The author spent 2 years researching this historical saga. The research is obvious. There is great breadth and detail with regard to food, fashion, hardship, illness, culture and politics. The theatre backdrop to the story is essential and fascinating.
This soaring family saga covers generations and decades. It is grand in its involvement for the reader and in the shared experience of the pain and difficulty of the lives which have been endured.
The war decades are very like the despair and hardship described in Down and Out in Paris and London, and The Road to Wigan Pier. When reading during these decades one experiences the shortages, suffering and destruction. It is difficult to believe that humans could survive this horror. Many did not of course.
The characters are flawed, have strengths and talents, and affect each other positively and negatively. The story is very much a tragedy, but it is also a story of lives lived, of decades endured, or relationships shared and destroyed. It is difficult to actually like any of the characters. They are all so flawed and all cause so much destruction though their flaws. They are interesting to observe. The first half of the book is brutal and life is very difficult. The final half of the book is fascinating but remains harsh. The decades swept past.
I have to compare this book to the grand and majestic saga The Mists of Avalon which also covers generations and decades lived and endured. The similarities with the tragedy and suffering of the families in the two books seems worth noting.
A great and memorable read. The level of research and historical detail is noted and very appreciated.
The author spent 2 years researching this historical saga. The research is obvious. There is great breadth and detail with regard to food, fashion, hardship, illness, culture and politics. The theatre backdrop to the story is essential and fascinating.
This soaring family saga covers generations and decades. It is grand in its involvement for the reader and in the shared experience of the pain and difficulty of the lives which have been endured.
The war decades are very like the despair and hardship described in Down and Out in Paris and London, and The Road to Wigan Pier. When reading during these decades one experiences the shortages, suffering and destruction. It is difficult to believe that humans could survive this horror. Many did not of course.
The characters are flawed, have strengths and talents, and affect each other positively and negatively. The story is very much a tragedy, but it is also a story of lives lived, of decades endured, or relationships shared and destroyed. It is difficult to actually like any of the characters. They are all so flawed and all cause so much destruction though their flaws. They are interesting to observe. The first half of the book is brutal and life is very difficult. The final half of the book is fascinating but remains harsh. The decades swept past.
I have to compare this book to the grand and majestic saga The Mists of Avalon which also covers generations and decades lived and endured. The similarities with the tragedy and suffering of the families in the two books seems worth noting.
A great and memorable read. The level of research and historical detail is noted and very appreciated.
September 1, 2014
Mona Dingwall is the elder sibling to her brother Ambrose and lives with her family in a row of tiny terraced houses in Salford in 1935. His meeting and befriending of Kathleen Teal, begins a feud between Mona and Kat that lasts through the war and beyond.
Throughout the book Burrough includes references, products and advertising that describe Britain between, during and after the World Wars. Language and dialect are contemporary with each era. Life during this time is graphically described, evoking the smells, sounds, fear and destruction during the Blitz and the long years of rationing that followed.
Mona and her family are beautifully described, against the ever changing background of world events. I loved Sissy and Ginny!
This is a well-written and well-constructed book, following the lives of two women in their search for acclaim on the stage and the families and circumstances that aid or thwart them. For most part, I enjoyed the writing style, happy to look up words in the dictionary, but my only criticism is that sometimes, the descriptions were so long and full of so many long words, I forgot what they were describing! There were fabulous, magical descriptions and phrases but I felt they were sometimes lost in too many words as they didn't shine out as they should.
This is a recommended 5* read for those enjoying historical, well-written fiction.
Throughout the book Burrough includes references, products and advertising that describe Britain between, during and after the World Wars. Language and dialect are contemporary with each era. Life during this time is graphically described, evoking the smells, sounds, fear and destruction during the Blitz and the long years of rationing that followed.
Mona and her family are beautifully described, against the ever changing background of world events. I loved Sissy and Ginny!
This is a well-written and well-constructed book, following the lives of two women in their search for acclaim on the stage and the families and circumstances that aid or thwart them. For most part, I enjoyed the writing style, happy to look up words in the dictionary, but my only criticism is that sometimes, the descriptions were so long and full of so many long words, I forgot what they were describing! There were fabulous, magical descriptions and phrases but I felt they were sometimes lost in too many words as they didn't shine out as they should.
This is a recommended 5* read for those enjoying historical, well-written fiction.
August 25, 2014
C.S. Burrough's extraordinary novel spans eight decades beginning in Salford, Manchester in 1935 as a young woman hangs out the washing across coibbled streets. It is a novel of great capacity not only stretching the years, but also counties and conitinents whilst exploring familial jealousy, desire, ambition, competition and personal success. Beautifully structured with a compelling narrative, Burrough's writes with great attention to detail and builds such clear, bright images one can taste them in ones mouth forever craving the next spoonful. Thoroughly recommended.
August 17, 2014
A wonderfully told story! The characters are compelling. I felt as if I was living the history through the story and generations. Highly, recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction it's one of the best I've read in a long time.
January 14, 2015
"OR FOREVER BE DAMNED" is a British saga that spans from 1935 to present day, and reading it was like taking a trip down memory lane. I was born in 1939 and have seen the changes over the decades that C.S. Burrough has described so elegantly in this historical novel. He brings the family characters to life as they struggle through the blitz.
This is a well-written book of family life of love and hate, although I found some of the descriptions rather long. I enjoyed, and highly recommend it.
This is a well-written book of family life of love and hate, although I found some of the descriptions rather long. I enjoyed, and highly recommend it.
November 29, 2015
Just couldn't get in to this book. Maybe sometime in the future I will pick it up again.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews