Comments on: A. S. Jasper’s Hoxton Childhood

By: Stefany Reich Silber

Stefany Reich Silber — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 22:57:30 +0000

I have a copy of A Hoxton Childhood and I have had it for decades. I am not sure how I got it but it is a paperback version, was printed in 1969 and cost 65p! I just read it again today. I hope I can get the sequel.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 14:28:18 +0000

The wise postscript added so much.
Personal histories are so important — They welcome us into the lives of others, and affirm
the story tellers. These illustrations are wonderfully evocative – a perfect match with the
narration.
Many thanks.

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 11:07:34 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

Excellent piece. Survival in the early 20th century was not that easy on this side of the pond either. I recall my mother telling me how some winters her mother made her and her siblings “pick coal” in bags along the nearby railroad tracks. This was in Lynn, MA, ten miles north of Boston.

Loved Jasper’s story and sketches too. Gracias …

By: John Barrett

John Barrett — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 07:56:13 +0000

This vivid description here of the Hoxton district, portrays early life in the East End is word perfect. Families knew how to survival we see many strengths in character, key here is togetherness with some families odd jobbing to pull-through despite depressions & wars. E Enders survived with total flexibility work wise, they are still here in this shrinking world. People in the bigger world are fascinated by this successful and changing London community many love them. I am sure visitor numbers are on the up. Best wishes for author A Jasper’s book launch, this will be an evening to remember for him and others. Poet John

By: Greg Tingey

Greg Tingey — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 07:51:20 +0000

The differences in social conditions …
Visible in one family, never mind the wider scene:
My paternal grandfather died when my father was 13 ( 1926) as a result of the Edwardian slum-factory conditions in which he had worked.
But my maternal grandfather died in 1954, aged 86, because his working life had been in much better circumstances, where he never wanted for food.

[ This is also an advert for Grammar schools, which enabled my orphaned father to rise from his very poor origins to retire as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry … ]

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 07:39:26 +0000

I like his fluid style of writing which makes the narrative so lively. Good luck with the launch! Valerie

By: gabrielle

gabrielle — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 06:09:09 +0000

My relatives come from the East End and have been traced back to at least the 1700s. I’m not a royalist because difficult for me to know about the grinding poverty that existed back then & deprivations that still exist today, albeit in a different way, right on their doorstep.

By: Herry Lawford

Herry Lawford — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 05:55:10 +0000

I echo the comment about Zola – and love the unsentimentality of his writing.