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Ten's A Crowd #1
Ten's a Crowd (part one): The Heartwarming Story of a Glasgow Family
The first instalment in McCabe''s compelling series of novels about the McCallister family. With Mum, Dad and eight kids to feed, life in the Glasgow of the Seventies, was never going to be easy for the clan McCallister. They were short of money, overcrowded and had to rely on second-hand furniture and an outside toilet. But despite their lack of material possessions it was a happy home, full of love and laughter (and a few tears). Based on McCabe's own upbringing on the south side of Glasgow, the Ten's a Crowd series has become a real favourite.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2014
70 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 8, 2019
My mum bought me this book when I moved to Glasgow earlier this year. Ten's a Crowd tells the story of a family of ten living in a small flat in 1970s Glasgow. Pregnancy, marriage, trouble with the law and a host of other events keep the family's life interesting. As the author notes in the preface, this book has its basis in childhood memories but is not supposed to be an entirely autobiographical account.
McCabe is a talented writer, though his prose lacks polish and his editor may have fallen asleep on the job once or twice. Punctuation goes awry every so often and some of the dialogue needs a bit of tidying up, but overall this is a good read. It's paced well with and infused with the cultural atmosphere of 70s Glasgow. It even inspired me to visit The Barras last weekend!
A couple of complaints; one relates to the Ibrox disaster, a horrific event in which 66 people were killed. In the story, one of the protagonists acquaintances, a six year old boy is killed in the disaster. In reality, the youngest victim was an eight (or possibly nine, depending on which report you read) boy. I don't think it's quite "on" for the author to insert a fictional person into a real tragedy for the purposes of adding emotion to his book. Yes, I know it's not meant to be a true story, but it still shouldn't have been exploited in this way.
My final issue is that the book isn't really "heartwarming". It's largely a story of deprivation, domestic abuse and cruelty. That's not a bad thing though. A bit of grit and realism is all the better. But the McCabe should resist the urge to view the past with rose-tinted specs, even if he does have fond memories of family life.
Overall, I liked this book enough to want to continue onto the next one (which my mum also bought me!). McCabe is obviously talented and I wonder if his writing will grow stronger with each book? We can only hope, and if it is so, I will open a bottle of "Famous Goose" and dance in the streets of Govan.
McCabe is a talented writer, though his prose lacks polish and his editor may have fallen asleep on the job once or twice. Punctuation goes awry every so often and some of the dialogue needs a bit of tidying up, but overall this is a good read. It's paced well with and infused with the cultural atmosphere of 70s Glasgow. It even inspired me to visit The Barras last weekend!
A couple of complaints; one relates to the Ibrox disaster, a horrific event in which 66 people were killed. In the story, one of the protagonists acquaintances, a six year old boy is killed in the disaster. In reality, the youngest victim was an eight (or possibly nine, depending on which report you read) boy. I don't think it's quite "on" for the author to insert a fictional person into a real tragedy for the purposes of adding emotion to his book. Yes, I know it's not meant to be a true story, but it still shouldn't have been exploited in this way.
My final issue is that the book isn't really "heartwarming". It's largely a story of deprivation, domestic abuse and cruelty. That's not a bad thing though. A bit of grit and realism is all the better. But the McCabe should resist the urge to view the past with rose-tinted specs, even if he does have fond memories of family life.
Overall, I liked this book enough to want to continue onto the next one (which my mum also bought me!). McCabe is obviously talented and I wonder if his writing will grow stronger with each book? We can only hope, and if it is so, I will open a bottle of "Famous Goose" and dance in the streets of Govan.
September 24, 2023
Funny, charming and real; 'Ten's a Crowd' is the slighty-true story of Cliff McCabe's childhood growing up in Glasgow with a huge family. I found all of the little stories to be entertaining and despite there being so many characters in the family, as the novel progressed I really got a good grip of who was who as everyone is so unique.
When I started 'Ten's a Crowd' I didn't realise that McCabe had written so many books in the series so I'm looking forward to continuing on hopefully. His writing style is very straightforward and that makes for a quick, easy reading experience. The stories and characters within the novel are entertaining enough on their own that there is no need for flowery descriptions or language.
Also appreciated that the dialogue doesn't skew too strongly in Scots as that definitely makes books harder to recommend. As it stands, I would definitely recommend this to anyone regardless of whether they were Glaswegian, Scottish or from the other side of the world. It does deal with a lot of serious topics though: alcoholism, domestic abuse and legal troubles to name a few. So keep that in mind!
I'd picked this up randomly from the library and I'm glad I did, it is a great little novel that I would never have come across online. I'm quite invested in the (ever-growing) McCallister family now and can't wait to see what drama they get into next.
When I started 'Ten's a Crowd' I didn't realise that McCabe had written so many books in the series so I'm looking forward to continuing on hopefully. His writing style is very straightforward and that makes for a quick, easy reading experience. The stories and characters within the novel are entertaining enough on their own that there is no need for flowery descriptions or language.
Also appreciated that the dialogue doesn't skew too strongly in Scots as that definitely makes books harder to recommend. As it stands, I would definitely recommend this to anyone regardless of whether they were Glaswegian, Scottish or from the other side of the world. It does deal with a lot of serious topics though: alcoholism, domestic abuse and legal troubles to name a few. So keep that in mind!
I'd picked this up randomly from the library and I'm glad I did, it is a great little novel that I would never have come across online. I'm quite invested in the (ever-growing) McCallister family now and can't wait to see what drama they get into next.
December 25, 2023
Ten’s a Crowd: The Heart-Warming Story of a Glasgow Family by Cliff McCabe is a captivating novel that takes readers on a delightful journey into the heart of Glasgow through the lives of the McCallister family. Based on McCabe's own upbringing, this book offers a touching and often humorous account of growing up in a large, close-knit family. The book's charm, wit, and genuine emotion make it a delightful read.
January 6, 2018
An ok read, probably more like 2.5 stars. It finished really abruptly I thought, but I’ve realised now that there’s more to follow. I like reading about the large family but wasn’t massively drawn in by the stories.
September 2, 2020
Family Fun
This book tells of a large family, with not a lot of resources. However, despite all their troubles they still seem to get by and make the most of life. A reality check for gen Y . Well written lighthearted family saga.
This book tells of a large family, with not a lot of resources. However, despite all their troubles they still seem to get by and make the most of life. A reality check for gen Y . Well written lighthearted family saga.
January 24, 2018
Great read with brilliant anecdotes of life in a different era.
Well written and presented with humour and dignity for people who had nothing in very hard times with hard people
Well written and presented with humour and dignity for people who had nothing in very hard times with hard people
July 7, 2019
Great first instalement in a series, well worth a read.
February 6, 2020
The hilarity of Glasgow's patter will ensure I read additional parts.
March 13, 2021
AI laughed out loud at this book.It was just the thing to escape for a while.,I am now on the next book..
March 24, 2024
Having grown up in the Glasgow area in the 70's, this book is like a welcome blast from the past. I shall be reading the rest of them. Stories of when life was way more innocent, and way more fun.
January 4, 2016
Great read
This was a really good read.I enjoyed the way it reflected how hard life was but they didn't realise this they just got on with whatever hardship came by and it was daily life,brought back a lot of memories as I had a chopper bike and the steak pie and tatties!!
This was a really good read.I enjoyed the way it reflected how hard life was but they didn't realise this they just got on with whatever hardship came by and it was daily life,brought back a lot of memories as I had a chopper bike and the steak pie and tatties!!
June 11, 2016
Hard life.
A story about life in the early seventies when flats where going up, and tenements coming down one families struggle to keep their family together despite drinking fighting and thieving honestly written, it's about living in a time of struggle.
A story about life in the early seventies when flats where going up, and tenements coming down one families struggle to keep their family together despite drinking fighting and thieving honestly written, it's about living in a time of struggle.
February 4, 2015
While I enjoyed most of the content of this story the appalling punctuation and serious lack of it annoyed me all the way through. Not an author I would go back to.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews