Once in a House on Fire

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Summary: Once in a House on Fire
Review: 3 September 2000. I have just finished this outstanding book. It is incredible how someone with so much suffering within their life can motivate themselves to better themselves. I wanted to shout at times to let the mother realise what was happening to her own children within a disfunctional household. Andrea holding the family together; her sisters looking to her for strength; the constant terrifying fear locked behind that front door; willing her mother to live and move away from her own suffering. Staggered that this is a book written about lives in the 1970's and 80's in UK. It should be a text book used for social workers and the police force. I hope that Ashworth is in the process of writing further books - I long to hear how things shape out for herself and her sisters. I am sure that the book and her achievments have been her therapy. It certainly puts into reality our own stresses and weaknesses. I shall certainly be passing this book to friends!(with a handkerchief!)

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Summary: An enlightening look at abuse
Review: A gripping story of the horror of growing up in a household cursed with poverty and abuse. Andrea Ashworth is clearly a brillant mind, writing with clarity, wit, and poignancy about her troubled childhood and family. While I greatly enjoyed the book,especially the author's amazing recall for cinematic-type detail, I yearned to know more about her feelings toward and relationships with her sisters, mother, and stepfathers. I became so involved with her family that I was disappointed not to learn what became of each of them after she left for Oxford.

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Summary: Everyone Should Read This Book
Review: Andrea Ashworth is brave, smart, and amazing. I will later tell you why. First, I will discuss the base of the plot of the book. I have read this book about her childhood and teenage memoirs of life with her family, and know now what she went through. Following the death of her real father, she lived through a situation with two different abusive stepfathers, who emotionally and physically abused her mother, and occasionally her and her younger sister. This type of situation is an oft kept "secret" in this world-a subject that does not often get talked about; a problem that very rarely gets "cured". Against a backdrop of East London, and Canada, Ashworth recalls her tale. It is amazing that Ashworth, who is now an adult, remembers details far back into her childhood so vividly. It is amazing that she got through that part of her life without too many "visible" scars. I will not tell too much more of the story, you must read it for yourself. But again I say that Andrea Ashworth is brave, smart, and amazing. She is brave to recall this story; smart to address it, so that this world renowned secret can be uncovered and maybe tackled as a real problem for many families; and amazing to survive and then tell it to us later. Her story surely helped her deal with her past, and thus it will probably help others learn about abuse in families, and help others who may or may not have experienced similar situations in their lives as well.

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Summary: very powerful
Review: In 'Once in a House on Fire', Andrea describes her often miserable childhood in Manchester during the seventies and eighties. After her dad drownes everything seems to go wrong for the family. They keep on struggling in search for some happiness and love. The sad thing is that eventhough I kept on hoping and wishing, along with Andrea, her mum and her sisters that 'this time all will turn out right', it never does and actually you knew it wouldn't all along. Andrea Ashworth is really good at creating the right atmosphere the whole way through. She keeps you in her grip by telling you about their home situation without hesitation even where it concerns her mum's position which is quite miserable. Because she does so you can't help but feeling sorry for the mother too, eventhough she creates most of the situations herself by picking out the wrong men for instance. Although the book is at times really depressing, (I did shed some tears), Andrea is able to keep her spirits up most of the time which makes the book very pleasant to read. She is a brave girl and I admire her guts!

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Summary: You'll never forget it
Review: Some books disappear from your memory a day after you've read the last page. Some books stay with you forever, and constantly bounce back with tidbits of emotion. Andrea Ashworth's 'Once in a House on Fire' clearly fits in the second category. How she managed to survive intact and come out at the other end as a seemingly balanced person is beyond belief.

A brave tale witten by a very brave young lady who coped with the horrors of growing up with abusive 'fathers'. Five stars for the book - ten stars for surviving.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: This book is amazing... I couldn't put it down. That she writes beautifully is a given. Read it. But it's a frustrating read too. I felt incredibly angry towards her various step-fathers and mother, especially the mother, who simply let it happen. I admire Andrea's strength and love for her mother. Andrea is the same age as me; I am five days older and have lived a completely different life - I feel humble. She's amazing. It's not an easy read in terms of the subject matter, but it's a book you should read.