Handstands In The Dark: A True Story of Growing Up and Survival

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As a teenager, Janey marries into a gangster family and even though her husband beats her and she is always threatening to leave it seems that they are still together, which I wasn’t expecting. First-hand, Janey saw the gangland violence and met extraordinary characters within an enclosed and seldom-revealed Glasgow underworld – from the grim and far-from-Swinging 60s, to the discos of the 70s, to the tidal wave of heroin addiction which swept through and engulfed Glasgow’s East End during the 1980s.

Handstands in the Dark by Janey Godley - Google Play Handstands in the Dark by Janey Godley - Google Play

Not being such a vaunted personality of the likes of Nigel Benn,Brian Clough,Mohamed Ali or Tony Adams who all came from similarly impoverished backgrounds to make good in their chosen professions.Glad I got to shake the hand of a genuine person,a true survivor and honour graduate of the University of Life. In amongst a crowded carriage silent tears unashamedly ran down my cheeks, and for me that's a rare thing having been brought up on a rough South London Estate,crying was the last thing I'd do. I have just got to know Janey Godley through her entertaining vignettes of Nicola Sturgeon on Facebook. A vivid, intimate and darkly funny account of a life less ordinary, Handstands in the Dark tells the story of how one girl escaped a chaotic family and became one of the UK's most popular comedic talents.

Handstands In The Dark - Janey Godley

In 2016, Godley was pictured standing outside Donald Trump's Turnberry Golf resort holding a sign stating "Trump is a Cunt", which went viral. However on an empathic level,my heart went out to her and the level of suffering she went through as a child, and having met her, how well she turned out. Multi-award-winning Scottish comedienne, playwright, award-winning blogger, best-selling author and former Scotsman newspaper columnist Janey Godley has performed her comedy shows and one-woman play around the world, including off-Broadway in New York. Janey has had a life of ups and downs just like the rest of us but she has had more than her fair share. Born in the tough East End of Glasgow and married into one of the city's most notorious criminal families, Janey Godley's young life was far from ordinary.Godley decided to use a stage name, saying to her husband: "I don't want to be Janey Storrie any more, because your family let me down, and I don't want to be Janey Currie because my family let me down. But not to be too judgemental, at some point she needs to take responsibility for herself and her actions - I’m sad that stage wasn’t reached in this book. In 2020, Godley wrote and starred in a series of short films titled Alone, about a recently widowed housewife whose abusive husband has died of COVID-19, as part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Scenes for Survival webseries. The only people I wanted to meet Thatcher were the Brighton bombers, but I suppose in her circumstances this is understandable. I have no idea how she stayed on the right side of the tracks - despite being surrounded by alcohol and drugs throughout her formative years, she did not succumb and instead dedicated herself to her daughter and husband’s work in the pub.

Handstands in the Dark: A True Story of Growing Up and

From the grim and far-from-swinging ’60s, to the discos of the ’70s, to the tidal wave of heroin addiction which engulfed Glasgow’s East End during the ’80s, Janey was witness to an extraordinary underworld – as well as religious sectarianism, abject poverty and a frightening family of in-laws. She details her life story in the underbelly of East End Glasgow from the 1970s to 1990s and the book does not pull any punches.The fact she got the opportunity to party with Prince, who I love was just the icing on the cake for me.

Handstands In The Dark - Penguin Books UK

It’s a hard read but also very inspiring in terms of what people are capable of and their strength of character. I think when you’re lucky enough to come from such a loving family it’s hard to contemplate anything else.Janeys book is a beautifully written autobiography of a woman who has overcome some of life’s toughest battles. challenging - it haunts your dreams, the story of a hard poverty fueled youth in 1970s Glasgow roughside. Janey tells her story in a frank and honest way which is breathtaking – the things she’s lived through are unbearable and it’s testament to her that she’s survived and thrived now. In 2006, Janey was nominated and was close runner-up for the annual Scotswoman of the Year title as ‘the most inspirational woman in Scotland’; at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, she won the Spirit of The Festival Award.