A Fish Supper and a Chippy Smile: Love, Hardship and Laughter in a South East London Fish-and-Chip Shop - Softcover

Kemp, Hilda; Kemp, Cathryn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140915842X ISBN 13: 9781409158424

Publisher: Seven Dials, 2015

Synopsis

'A brilliant memoir of a strong woman' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader review
'A must-read that will break your heart but also make you laugh' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader review

'Oi, Hilda, the sign outside says you're frying today but I ain't seeing nothing done in ere!'
The voice cut through my daydream. Already there was a queue of hungry customers on the cobbled street of London's East End.

In 1950s and 60s Bermondsey, the fish-and-chip shop was at the centre of the community. And at the heart of the chippy itself was 'Hooray' Hilda Kemp, a spirited matriarch who dispensed fish suppers and an abundance of sympathy to a now-vanished world of East Enders.

For Hilda knew all to well what it was like to feel real, aching hunger. Growing up in the slums of 1920s south-east London, the daughter of a violent alcoholic who drank away his wages rather than put food on the table, she could spot when a customer was in need and would sneak them an extra big portion of chips, on the house.

As Hilda works in the chippy six days a week, she hears all the gossip from the close-knit community. There are rumours that the gang wars are hotting up: the Richardsons and Krays are playing out their fights. And the industrial strike is carrying on for a painfully long time for the mothers with many mouths to feed. At home, Hilda's children are latchkey kids, letting themselves in from school and eating whatever is in the larder until she gets in from her long day at work.

With a cast of colourful characters - dirty ragamuffins, struggling housewives, rough-diamond gang members - Hilda's story is one of grit, romance, nostalgia and British endurance. Told to her granddaughter Cathryn, this memoir is the uplifting sequel to 'WE AIN'T GOT NO DRINK, PA' and a testament to a woman who lived life to the full, enjoyed laughter and loved fiercely - even though her heart was broken many times over.

'A lovely, nostalgic portrait of a strong woman in a vanished world' Prima

About this title

About the Authors

'Hooray' Hilda Kemp was born in 1922 and worked in a fish-and-chip shop in South London in the 1950s and 60s. Before she died (in her 80s) she told her life story to her granddaughter, the journalist and author Cathryn Kemp. She was a larger-than-life character who, despite her difficult life, was known for her indomitable good humour and her tough spirit throughout her hardships.

Cathryn Kemp is an award-winning journalist and author. She has written across the spectrum of the British press, both tabloid and broadsheet, and online, and for many magazines. In 2002 she won the Peter Wilson Award for Journalism before running her own, highly successful press agency writing for radio and television. She is the author of PAINKILLER ADDICT, published by Piatkus in 2012, which won the Big Red Read Prize for non-fiction in 2013. This is a personal and lovingly crafted account of her grandmother's life and her legacy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Seven Dials
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 140915842X
• ISBN 13: 9781409158424
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288