Ferry Tales
South Queensferry – the Ferry, it is called by those who live there – sits on the southern shore of the River Forth. The main part of the town nestles between the approaches to the road bridge across the river and that crossing’s much older and more famous neighbour, the Forth Rail Bridge.
Nowadays, the town is regarded as another suburb of Edinburgh, having been gradually absorbed by the city. But back in the 1950’s and the early 1960’s, the period when the stories in this collection are set, the Ferry was a separate entity belonging to the county of West Lothian, rather than a part of Edinburgh.
The town was much smaller then, almost village-like. It was a time when the ferryboats still ran and the distillery was still working and the dockyard was in full swing. But it was also a time of austerity, when people were still recovering from the War years and many families were still poor. Saddest of all, as was the case elsewhere in West Lothian, it was a time of sectarianism, when freemasonry was powerful and anti-Catholicism was rife.
The stories in this collection revolve around Brendan Gisby's family when he was growing up in the Ferry during that time.
Nowadays, the town is regarded as another suburb of Edinburgh, having been gradually absorbed by the city. But back in the 1950’s and the early 1960’s, the period when the stories in this collection are set, the Ferry was a separate entity belonging to the county of West Lothian, rather than a part of Edinburgh.
The town was much smaller then, almost village-like. It was a time when the ferryboats still ran and the distillery was still working and the dockyard was in full swing. But it was also a time of austerity, when people were still recovering from the War years and many families were still poor. Saddest of all, as was the case elsewhere in West Lothian, it was a time of sectarianism, when freemasonry was powerful and anti-Catholicism was rife.
The stories in this collection revolve around Brendan Gisby's family when he was growing up in the Ferry during that time.
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Reviews |
Deb Hockenberry, Reviewer (USA)Brendan Gisby has done it again! In this touching memoir, we're transported back to 1950/60's Scotland where the author grew up and are given a glimpse of his childhood.
I highly recommend this collection of short stories for anyone who enjoys travelling back to a simpler time. Both adults and young adults will like this humorous, sometimes sad but very relatable memoir. In this collection of short stories, we meet his family and his friends and know everybody. If we don't know them personally, we're close to people very much like them. We suffer the hardships he and his family (and so many other families at the time) had to endure. We go on childhood adventures with him. We work alongside Mr. Gisby and his father. We even take his Dad's place at work at one point in the book. While this reviewer was reading Ferry Tales, she couldn't help but think things like: "You'd think he's talking about my sister." Or, "I had a friend just like that." There were several times throughout the book when I'd think, "I used to do things like that!" What is best about this book is that you don't have to be from Scotland to relate to these stories or the cast of characters. Ferry Tales shows you throughout the book that people are the same the world over. Like Mr. Gisby's other books, the characters and places are painted so realistically that we can reach out and touch them. G. Robinson, Reader (UK)This book of short stories set in South Queensbury, on the River Forth around the 1950s/60s, tells the true adventures of a young boy, his family and friends and neighbours in the community. Told with warmth and an insight into life's various ups and downs in that era.
I thought the author brought the characters to life and made one feel they were there with them. I found this book easy to read and interesting. Each anecdote is well written, the characters believable, and the incidents realistic. A social history with a human face which should appeal to a wide range of readers. |