In 1944 in the UK at the height of World War II Mary McLeod, a 35 year old unmarried woman who had arrived in Oxford 3 years earlier, discovers she is pregnant. So begins this remarkable true story of 2 people, Mary and her daughter Angela, the author of this memoir, as it follows the life of them both as they face up to the reality of a pre-welfare state Britain. This memoir traces the impact of the prejudices and hardships experienced by Mary in her battle to keep her daughter and to build a life of respectability. Divided into two parts this fascinating memoir first tells the story from Mary's point of view describing her illicit affair, the horrors of being banished by her family and the roller coaster of emotions throughout her pregnancy and beyond. The second part is from her daughter's perception of the sorrow and inconvenience she appears to have caused. This is not a mis-memoir but is peppered with colourful characters and hilarious interludes.
