Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #302058 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Stephen Torsi, The Bookseller
"had me laughing, cringing, sad and sympathetic in equal measure...a tender and awkward coming of age story with astonishing detail"

Bookseller
`a wonderfully fresh and funny account of teenage confusion'

Sunday Times, Scotland
"a brutally candid account of life as a gay teenager"

Customer Reviews

A far from mundane Mussleborough
Cameron's witty and at times moving description of what she in a recent interview named the crucial year of her life, makes for both an enjoyable and insightful read into the mind of a public figure with a very down to earth background. From the logging of her obsession with teachers and girls at school, to the poignant observation of her adoptive father's fight against lung cancer, the story of small town life in Scotland is far from mundane.

I found her frank and honest approach to the awareness of her sexuality at such a young age a revelation to read about, and I think heterosexual and gay readers alike will find that they are able to connect in some way.

Cameron speaks of many of the common (and some not quite so common) insecurities and fears of young adolscence, with just the right amount of humour and compassion inbetween. Whether you are a fan, or know very little of this comedian as I did, the book will make you laugh and cry in equal amounts. A book about belonging and the beginning of self-discovery, I'm looking forward to the next one to see how it all turned out.

Fabulous!!!!
I thought I had forgotten the 70's but this book brings it all back I mean who remembers: Pippa Dee parties, arctic roll, Embassy Regal, fights after school, playing cards in a caravan, Butterflies on TV, Chopper bikes, Ford Cortina's, Starsky and Hutch, Girl Guides - badges and captains and handbooks etc., school careers interviews, school disco's - snogging and more!! The list is endless and Rhona remembers it all and says it like it is - how does she do it?

However, along with this is an honest and touching account of her struggle to fit in and the loss of her father.

Truly brilliant!

Brave!
I read this novel cringing with shock, surprise, and embarassment every few pages, and not just at Rhona's exploits but at how much I had forgotten about my own childhood. Did we really do all those things that Rhona is so brave to put her hands up to? "Kays catalogue" says it all really.

But other than being cringeworthy, this book is a good read especially for those readers (me) who are sick to death of so-called celebrities publishing their childhood memoirs in the dim hope that they have something important to share, (they dont). Rhona is just like every one of us, it feels as if you are reading your friend's tale, because you actually care, you can share experience, and it feels as if you are gossiping with Rhona, sharing these horrible moments over a vodka and coke.

When Rhona needs to get serious toward the end of the book, she does with a childlike exactness and boldness. I had tears rolling down my cheeks, soaking my pillow, before I realised. Its quite a gift to be able to make me cry!

Great book - and thanks for the conclusion to Jamie's story!