Books / Authors
Just a 77-year-old boy from Bristol
A 77-year-old blogger has writen about growing up in Bristol during and after the war in a new book and e-book, Just a Boy From Bristol.
Bristol of the 40s and 50s finds a new voice to help it come alive thanks to Michael Kelly, with descriptions of clothing, rations, and American soldiers offering chewing gum near the BRI.
“There I was, yet to reach the age of three, and I was already wandering around St Paul’s all alone and unattended. I considered the area to be my manor; it was my hood, and I strutted around those streets like a miniature boss.”
Through the war years, it is just Michael, his mum and his sister. He treats this with a small child’s attitude and an older man’s understanding.
“She knelt in front of me, looking me in the eyes. ‘And, until your father gets home, you will have to be the man of the house.’
“I liked the sound of that, because Mum had already told me that the ‘man of the house’ always had the biggest portions of food.”
In the Frenchay author’s debut publication, some scenes paint current day Bristol in a dramatic fashion.
“We turned the final bend into our bit of Hotwell Road, and walked into an inferno. Anchor Road was burning from one end to the other.
“Jacob’s Wells Road was badly damaged and there was a massive fire on College Green as the big shop that Mum loved so much became a pile of smouldering embers, and a memory.
“The sky over Brandon Hill was blood red, and Park Row was on fire again.”
Kelly learns about betrayal and growing up but this isn’t a story designed to tug at the heartstrings.
It’s not a saga or melodrama but rather a well-written work that brings a modern day audience back to war-time Bristol to show them the sites.
Some are occasionally set on fire while at other times a young boy marches to the beat of a Salvation Army band or picks up contraband such as hot bread from the bakery even when it can only be sold the day after so that people don’t eat too much; hot bread being difficult to slice.
This is an account from a Bristol boy who made me see the city for a second as he does: rich, vibrant and a member of my family.
Just a Boy From Bristol is available to buy from Cardiac Cards on North Street or from Amazon as a book or e-book. Follow Kelly on Twitter via @boyfrombristol.
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