Product Description

"Jessie's Journey" is an unforgettable account of a way of life that has all but vanished. It is the story of Jessie, her seven sisters and their unconventional childhood roaming the country in an old blue Bedford bus. In this moving, honest and heart-warming memoir, Jess describes her life among an extraordinary people and their never-ending struggle to survive as free nomads. Jessie's parents lacked material wealth, but they clung to 'the richness that comes from freedom, a traveller's freedom.' Living as they did on the edge of "respectable" society, prejudice was never far away, but their world was brimming with laughter, love and adventure. Earning their living hay-stacking, beach-combing, ragging, midden-raking, berry-picking, fortune-telling and hawking, Jessie and her family travelled the length and breadth of Scotland and beyond. Reflecting on the friendships, feuds, trials and tribulations of her boisterous family, Jess recalls a magical childhood, surrounded by the sea spray, birch woods and wild places of a Scotland few of us will ever know.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #183693 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 245 pages

Review
'The story of ... the family events, the moments to cherish, the strange and peculiar aspects to life -- and the sheer joy of living.' Dundee Courier 'A vividly told account of the author's unconventional childhood roaming the country, a never-ending struggle to survive as free nomads. The family's riches came from freedom, in a world full of laughter, love and adventure.' Scots Magazine 'Jessie's Journey recounts a magical childhood and offers a fascinating insight into the world of Scotland's traditional travellers.' Sunday Post

Rob Scott, Highland News Group
[...] recounts a magical childhood and offers a fascinating insight into the world of Scotland's traditional travellers.

The Sunday Post
'Jessie's Journey recounts a magical childhood and offers a fascinating insight into the world of Scotland's traditional travellers.'

Customer Reviews

Absolutely wonderful
Well, if anyone out there has a yearning for their child-hood (like me and I suspect, most people) then I suggest Jessies Journey is the place to start.
It took me 2 days to read this book (my normal timescale reckons between 2 to 3 weeks), and 1 very annoyed wife and 1 very angry boss later but well worth it in the end.
Jessie transports you on a fantastic journey that includes, bullying, stories of old, love, fantasies, hardships infact experiences that every single one of us can relate to!

Unfortunately, I am not an author and thats a shame because I cannot put my enthusiasm for this book into words. All I can say is fantastic followed by a lot of !

Jessie's Journey
A fabulous book. Don't read it on trains, planes etc or people will wonder why you are chuckling the whole time. It's the story of Jess, a Travelling Person (tinker, if you must) and her mainly nomadic childhood on the roads of Scotland.

Home was an old Bedford bus and as it takes Jess and her sisters and mam and daddy throughout much of Scotland, whilst the family earns a living in varioous seasonal work, we learn of the prejduicie and sometimes sheer hatred she and her family meet.

Despite that, as I've indicated, it's not a sad book, though there are unhappy times. The humour of the situations and all that she experiences as a lively, intelligent child, comes through all the time. There's the time she finds a man and woman making love and is convinced the man is murdering her; the escapade with her cousin's slow worm in his troozers (for which a relative tells the innocent 7 year old she's a 'dirty wee girl' and the time she offended God (and his woman).

Yes, you'll need as hanky to dab the eyes occasionally, but above all this is a wonderfully written book which will appeal to all teen/adult ages..

Thoroughly recommnended. The first time I've ever felt moved to write a review on Amazon.

about time
It's a treat to read such a refreshing biography of a time gone by, instead of all the banal celeb rubbish that's churned out day after day, month after month.