Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system

It wasn’t just luck that steered the Guardian columnist to Oxford and into a media career ... She reflects on the subtle mechanics of class (and an early encounter with a naked future PM)Children know. They breathe it in early, for there’s no unknowing the difference between nannies, cleaners, below-stairs people and the family upstairs. Children are the go-betweens, one foot in each world, and yet they know very well from the earliest age where they belong, where their destiny lies or, to put it crudely, who pays whom. Tiny hands are steeped young in the essence of class and caste. In nursery school, in reception they see the Harry Potter sorting hat at work. They know. And all through school those fine gradations grow clearer, more precise, more consciously knowing, more shaming, more frightening. Good liberal parents teach their children to check their privilege – useful modern phrase – but it swells up like a bubo on the nose. There’s no hiding it.I can summon up the childhood shame at class embarrassments. Aged seven like me, Maureen, with her hair pinned sideways in a pink slide, lived in a pebble-dashed council house by the water tower. They were at the other end of Lindsey, more hamlet than village, half a mile down the road from my father’s pink thatched cottage set in the flat prairie lands of Suffolk, where I spent half my time, the other half in London, shuttling between divorced parents. I envied Maureen for what looked to me like a cheerful large family... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 12:00:56 UTC ]
News tagged with: #harry potter

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system'


‘Practical, life-affirming, positive’: How Hearst UK is creating more uplifting content

The magazine group has been publishing more positive, feel-good content based on audience research. The post ‘Practical, life-affirming, positive’: How Hearst UK is creating more uplifting content appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hearst uk #uplifting content #magazine group #hearst


Publishing's First Quarter in 2020: A Good Start, Then the Virus

Publishing sales got off to a decent start in 2020—but as the new coronavirus increased its grip on the country’s economy, sales have softened. The business outlook for the second quarter is, at best, uncertain. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing sales #good start


‘Hood Feminism’ makes a convincing — and urgent — case about how race and class divide women

Mikki Kendall’s bracing collection explores raging disparities and the limits of a movement Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-08 18:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


PRH UK Starts Furloughs

Penguin Random House UK is the latest U.K. publisher to take cost out of the business in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin random house


A Reading List for Your Quarter-Life Crisis: Critical Linking, March 29, 2020

An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-29 10:30:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #quarter-life crisis #critical linking


An unvarnished look at the troubled life of novelist Robert Stone

Madison Smartt Bell’s “Child of Light” is a revealing biography of the author of “Dog Soldiers” and “A Flag for Sunrise.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-27 17:30:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dog soldiers


Alexandra Chang’s ‘Days of Distraction’ experiments with form to reveal the complexities of modern life

The debut novel intersperses the story of a tech reporter in Silicon Valley with Facebook posts, tweets, Google results and other fragments. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #alexandra chang #modern life #tech reporter #silicon valley #facebook posts #debut novel


The Best Roald Dahl Books: 5 Books to Get You Started

This prolific children's book writer is beloved by many generations of readers, and we've rounded up some of the best Roald Dahl books. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-25 10:35:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prolific children #book writer #ve rounded #children's book


Scholastic Starts Temporary Staffing Reductions

The publisher is looking to reduce labor costs by temporarily closing some distribution centers and implementing measures including a combination of furloughs, shortened work weeks, and voluntary unpaid leave. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #temporarily closing


An Attentive Memoir of Life in Parma

The value of “writing a life” that Wallis Wilde-Menozzi undertook a quarter century ago is now the model to express our times. Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2020-03-20 16:10:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Scott Turow Finds the Thrilling Life, in Court and in Books

In the author's latest legal thriller, an aging lawyer angles for one more win before retirement. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Gratitude as a Way of Life: PW Talks with Galen Guengerich

Guengerich, a senior minister at New York City’s Unitarian Church of All Souls, sets out to create a modern template for spirituality based on gratitude in 'The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today' (Random House, June). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house


Life, Lust, and Science in Arlene Heyman’s Debut

The novel 'Aritfact' traces the coming of age of an independent woman biologist. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


British Book Awards 2020: Books of the Year shortlists revealed

The eight shortlists for the British Book Awards have been revealed with heavyweights Margaret Atwood, Bernardine Evaristo, Philip Pullman and David Walliams all in the running for the Book of the Year accolades.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-20 00:59:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bernardine evaristo #philip pullman #david walliams #book of the year #british book


PRH and Pan Mac lead British Book Awards trade shortlists

Penguin Random House and Pan Macmillan lead the pack among the shortlists for the trade categories of the British Book Awards 2020. Penguin Random House has 17 nominations and Pan Macmillan has 12. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-19 16:38:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade categories #pan macmillan #penguin random house #british book


British Book Awards: Ceremony Postponed, Some Winners Announced

The British Book Awards, while announcing a coronavirus postponement, name some winners and shortlistees in two categories. The post British Book Awards: Ceremony Postponed, Some Winners Announced appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-19 16:31:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #winners announced #british book


Sam Pink’s ‘Ice Cream Man’ explores life on the fringes

The story collection follows dishwashers, sandwich makers and machine operators going about their days. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-19 14:59:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #story collection


Rowling, Smith and Oliver make British Book Awards '30 from 30' shortlist

JK Rowling, Zadie Smith and Jamie Oliver have made the shortlist for the British Book Awards "30 from 30" trophy that will crown one book the “best” of the past three decades. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 13:31:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jk rowling #zadie smith #jamie oliver #british book


British Book Awards Small Press winners revealed

The nine winners of the regional and country round of the British Book Awards Small Press of the Year accolade have been revealed. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 11:49:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #country round #year accolade #british book #small press


How Do I Incorporate Short Stories Back Into My Reading Life?

A reader who fell out of love with short story collections ponders how best to make reading short stories part of the routine again. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-18 10:39:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reading life #short stories