A Virago Modern Classics 1983 / First Printing- Cover shows some signs of wear with creasing to edges and corners. Residue from sticker on spine. Binding is tight and square with no creasing to spine. No marks or writing observed in text. . . . . . . . . . I first read this about 25 years ago, when books published by Virago were freely available in public libraries. The novel is set in the 1930s in a deprived area of Nottingham and concerns the staff and pupils of an Elementary school. Most of the children are from very poor families; the teachers are mainly from a higher class, yet do not earn a great deal, so they live in lodgings or share houses with other women. Madge, the narrator, takes on some adult education classes (as we would call them now) to earn a little more, and these classes turn out to be very difficult. (Imagine the exuberance of ?Grange Hill' with slightly older pupils, add a lot of unpleasantness and even violence, and you've got it). It's a strange title, but Madge doesn't complain. She is very accepting of her life and narrates in a very matter-of-fact way which is entirely convincing. Occasionally she worries about her future - hence the evening classes. The teachers are a mixed bunch, including a Communist and one who has come from the same social class as her pupils, but who is now ?respectable' ? or is she? ? she must deal with pregnancy and abortion, a truly shocking thing at that time for an unmarried woman. The father of her baby is one half of a rather silly Bohemian couple who have a sort of open marriage. The mothers of the schoolchildren have their own respectability, shunning any girl who is forced into prostitution to earn money. The Great War hangs over the novel; the caretaker is shell-shocked, and the Headmistress, we find, was engaged to a man who was severely wounded and who now lives in ?one of those homes. The introduction by Janet Morgan is informative. This is an absorbing book, especially for those interested in social history, and deserves to be better known. -- Provincial Lady
Title: I'm Not Complaining (A Virago modern classic)
Edition: First Thus
ISBN Number: 0385279612
ISBN-13: 9780385279611
Location Published: Doubleday: March 1984
Size: Trade Paperback
Book Condition: Collectible - Good
Categories: Fiction
Seller ID: 88654
