Book - Pie 'N' Mash & Prefabs by Norman Jacobs

This book is set in the post-Blitz era and so is full of the type of innocent hope that only existed then, or for those under nine years old. I love this era. Everyone was incredibly grateful for the end of the war, which was, for a change, one not of the UK’s making.

Pie 'N' Mash & Prefabs follows Norman’s family into the Hackney prefab they were offered to live in and immediately loved the space and perks they became accustomed to. Norman and his siblings may no longer have bomb sites to play around on but now they had running water, electricity, space and a garden - all things they were grateful for coming from the rubble-strewn East End.

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin" 

The Jacob family was one of the fortunate ones though as Dad was an accomplished carpenter and earned well enough to feed the whole family. Capital punishment was dished out as haphazardly as the horrendous school dinners but Norman could come home for lunch; his mum started a job in a nearby factory after he started school but soon gave it up again so she could be home at lunchtimes. This also meant they could still tune in to Listen With Mother, which I learn ran all the way to 1982.

His mum came from a Jewish family and so they pronounced bagel bygal and nosh meant to eat. He did wonder why he never spent time with his maternal grandfather and learnt much later that it was due to him being violent towards his grandmother. With six kids and no independence, she couldn’t leave, even when he threw out their 11-year-old son who dared to defend his mum and ended up living 20 years with family friends. And so his parents didn’t spend too much time with him but regularly travelled around on the bus together visiting other family members. It’s interesting fifty years later, we still haven’t fully got rid of the stigma attached to domestic violence.

The book goes all the way through to post-education years and as this was a time of full employment, Norman had a pick of manual and office jobs. He decided on Teacher Training College.

I love the insight of this book. It’s another memoir that teaches me about real social history - not just the dates that were drummed in during the history lessons that I soon forgot. It’s a true glimpse into east ender’s life who, people who I guess, consider themselves to be the true Londoners.